Despite Hayne's demotion to the San Francisco 49ers practice squad, Dugan believes he should continue to pursue his NFL dream and ignore approaches to return to the NRL. "I think it is a good thing for him, not having that experience, it could only go one way, so being put in the practice squad gives him a chance to develop," Dugan said.

"It obviously means that the club has high hopes for him, too, because they are putting that time and effort and money into him to develop him. If everything goes to plan I can't see why he couldn't be full time next year after 12 months in the game learning everything and learning it right."

In Hayne's absence, Dugan has made the Blues No.1 jersey his own but the 25-year-old is keen to play in the centres again and has spoken to St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor about the switch.

However, the move will only occur if McGregor believes the team will benefit by Dugan playing in the centres, as he did for NSW and the Dragons in 2014. "I have a desire to play centre; I have spoken to Mary over the last year about it and we have a couple of good players coming through that could slot into fullback," he said. "I felt like I only touched the surface playing centre in 2014 so I feel like I can improve a lot, it was exciting playing there and I loved playing there. If I was to be picked there again, I would grab it with both hands.

"But for me it is just about playing wherever the team needs me and if I play fullback again it wouldn't bother me; I played a full season there for the Dragons and I played three Origins there last year so it is something we will talk about more after Christmas."