NRL Grand Final 2021: Matt Burton readymade for the big stage, Moses Leota’s Origin eligibility blow
Matt Burton’s junior coach says the Panthers centre was always a ‘big-game’ player and he is expecting the Bulldogs-bound young gun to shine in the NRL grand final.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Even when he was running out for St John’s Dubbo Junior Rugby League club, Penrith centre Matt Burton was a “big-game” player.
It’s why Burton’s junior coach Bernard Wilson believes the 21-year-old is primed to deliver in Sunday’s NRL grand final against South Sydney.
“I think he’ll be a little nervous … but he will take it in his stride. He’ll be exceptional,” Wilson said.
Watch Fox Leagues’s massive line-up of Grand Final week coverage on Kayo including live pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage with full analysis from the best team in the business. New to Kayo? Start your free trial >
“I’m expecting something special. He’s a calm, relaxed footballer by nature and he’s comfortable in that environment.
“With Penrith, the players have each other’s back and everyone knows what their job is, so it takes a little bit of pressure off you. He’ll handle it.”
Wilson first coached Burton in the under-6s in Dubbo and went on to work with the talented junior for another six years. From the start, Wilson knew Burton’s competitive nature would help the playmaker forge a path to NRL success.
“I remember he was always talented and he could do those things that other kids could not do on the field,” Wilson said.
“He could find a big play in an important moment to change the momentum of a game. But I think the biggest attribute was that he loved winning, he still does. He’s such a competitor.”
Burton will go from a grand-final appearance this weekend to link with wooden spooner’s Canterbury and former Penrith assistant coach Trent Barrett at Belmore.
With just six NRL games under his belt, the Bulldogs snared Burton in late 2020 on a three-year deal. Canterbury powerbrokers pushed hard for Penrith to release the youngster so he could immediately join the club.
But Penrith refused and now Burton is about to line up in a grand final.
“We had a couple of chats about what he was going to do, but he was always happy to stay at Penrith and bide his time,” Wilson said.
“He’s learned so much this year just by being part of this group at Penrith.
“Really, the beneficiaries of it are Canterbury.
“They’ve just got a player who has had another year of experience in first grade, playing big games, big moments, pressure moments, they are the winner in that sense.”
With Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai owning a mortgage on Penrith’s halves combination, Burton has played in the centres this season.
Earlier this week, Burton was named Dally M Centre of the Year but he is committed to wearing the No.6 for the Bulldogs.
“I don’t think it has changed my mindset of being half, that’s where I want to play,” Burton said. “But it really has helped me as a player and helped my development to learn another position.
“Playing at centre this year has been really good for me. I now know what a centre wants from his halves and I can use that when I’m playing in the halves and that’s going to help me in the long run.”
Burton’s time at centre has allowed him to become a playmaking understudy to Cleary and Luai. “I try and pick up as much as I can during the game off both Nathan and Romy (Luai) and take in as much as possible,” he said.
PAIN DRIVING PANTHERS’ GLORY RUN
— Dean Ritchie
Seize the moment. No regrets. Give it everything.
These are the motivational words club legend Greg Alexander has for his aspiring Panthers just 12 months after dramatically crashing out in last year’s grand final.
Burned and haunted for months, Alexander declared Panthers players must capture and seize Sunday’s grand final against South Sydney – or face more gut-wrenching anguish.
“It’s one of those moments in your life — you need to grab it. No regrets. Give it everything,” Alexander said.
Alexander said the pain of losing last year’s grand final to Melbourne should motivate and inspire his battered Panthers to victory.
Penrith players have the opportunity to exorcise 12 months of heartache with Alexander saying: “If you get to a grand final and lose, that’s shattering.
“That sits in the back of your mind all off season and all season because it’s not easy to earn that chance to play in a decider again.
“There’s nothing more disappointing in the game than losing a grand final. It’s a massive blow and it sticks with you all season. And that is also the greatest motivator.
“So much can go wrong in a season. So when you do get a chance, that will help you overcome any feeling that they’re not 100 per cent.
“We are a bit battered but I don’t think that will be an issue. There is that motivation to do what you didn’t do the previous season and that can be a powerful thing and pretty strong. I think that will get them past whatever soreness they may be feeling.
“The team dealt with it (the 2020 grand final) at the start of the year. They addressed the grand final at some stage during the off season.
“You never know when another grand final will come around again but the Panthers have earnt the right to play in this grand final.”
It’s been exactly thirty years since Penrith claimed the club’s first title with a dramatic and late win over Canberra. Penrith had played Canberra in the decider the previous year and lost. The similarities with this current side are eerie.
“Like 30 years ago, this team has been given the chance to correct what went wrong the year before and to create their own piece of history,” Alexander said.
“The hardest thing about losing a grand final is that it’s over so quickly. The season is over and you’re on holiday, that’s it. I’m also a big believer in the ‘you have to lose one to win one’ slogan. I was shattered in 1990, disappointed.
“This side is in a similar position to us. This current side has come a different way because we had the week off.
“This team has had to do it the hard way. The three matches they have played have been exhausting performances. But the excitement and chance to do it right will be enough to lift them.”
Penrith must carry the burden of favouritism into the big game. The TAB has the Panthers as firm $1.67 favourites with Souths to $2.25 outsiders.
REVEALED: PANTHER’S ORIGIN ELIGIBILITY BLOW
— Fatima Kdouh
Moses Leota will never wear the Blue of NSW but come Sunday, the Penrith Panthers prop could own an even more prized possession, an NRL premiership ring.
Leota bolted into contention for the 2020 series only to miss out due to the depth in Brad Fittler’s middle stocks at the time.
Fittler then selected Leota in his emerging squad in January and was on the cusp of naming the Panthers forward in his extended side for Origin III.
But with Ronaldo Mulitalo’s Maroons selection furore in mind, Fittler made discreet inquiries about Leota’s eligibility only to find out the softly spoken Panther, who arrived in Australia as a 13-year-old, missed the age criteria by a “matter of months”.
A player must have lived in NSW or Queensland before their 13th birthday to be eligible to represent either state.
“It’s pretty sad but it is what is it is,” Leota said.
John Webster, who coached Leota in Under 18s for St Mary’s Saints, said the 26-year-old’s ineligibility was a huge blow for the Blues.
“He’s an Origin player right down to his shoelaces. Big, strong and would never let anyone down,” Webster said.
While Leota might never get a taste of the Origin arena, the Saints junior is making up for it with back-to-back grand final appearances.
But Leota’s journey to the NRL’s biggest stage has not always been a smooth one.
Barely a teenager, Leota packed his bag for what he thought was a holiday to Australia, leaving behind his mum and siblings.
“It was only supposed to be a holiday … my family asked me if I wanted to stay and I ended up staying,” Leota said.
“I came over with my nan and cousin, the rest of the family stayed in New Zealand. We stayed with an aunty. I didn’t know my dad until I got to Australia. I met him when I first got here and we’ve been building a relationship since then.
“In the beginning it was pretty hard. There were a few sleepless nights, I was really missing my family back home. But I eventually got over it … and my life is pretty good at the moment.”
But before things were as good for Leota, the hard running prop had to navigate the hardships that were part of every day life for someone from Mt Druitt.
“To me it was every day, the hardship was normal … you’d see ‘some stuff’ but it was normal,” Leota said.
“There are a lot of temptations, the kind that can hurt you, like drinking and partying.
“Especially in Mt Druitt, some of the kids there don’t have it easy like other kids, and sometimes they turn to the wrong people as role models.
“Back when I was a bit younger, before under 20s, I used to like to go out with the boys and drink. Sometimes it was happening a bit too often.”
But Webster never doubted Leota would ultimately make the NRL.
“I first met him when he was 17. I could tell he was dedicated and had what it takes to move past any of the distractions that might come living in Mt Druitt,” Webster said.
“He never missed a training session. He was there even when he didn’t have to be.
“I used to pick him up for training. One night he called me, he didn’t have training, and asked me to swing by and pick him up.
“I wanted him to have a night off so I told him I was running late and couldn’t do it.
“I’m setting up the training session, I look up and see his big head out of a car window yelling ‘I thought you were running late’.”
Leota was part of Penrith’s 2015 NYC championship-winning side, which included the likes of halfback Nathan Cleary, five-eighth Jarome Luai, fullback Dylan Edwards and fellow softly spoken enforcer James Fisher-Harris. He beat all to be awarded the club’s player of the year that season.
Leota made his NRL debut the following year but has only just established himself as a stalwart in Penrith’s pack.
Despite the challenges and obstacles that stood in Leota’s way, the prop never doubted that one day he’d line-up in the NRL.
On Sunday, Leota lines up for a grand final against South Sydney.
“But at the end of the day what I wanted was to make the NRL, and yeah, I made it,” Leota said.
SHUCK YEAH: OFFBEAT DIET DRIVING CLEARY
Nathan Cleary couldn’t tell you how many oysters he has knocked back in the past three months. It’s so many he has lost count.
The Penrith halfback hasn’t been shucking the molluscs as an indulgence but rather as an unorthodox remedy to aid with the recovery of his busted right shoulder.
Mum Bec, who is on the Sunshine Coast to support Nathan and her husband Ivan, has been studiously supplying her son with oysters.
“I don’t remember, but it was a lot,” Cleary told News Corp.
“My mum has been up here (on the Sunshine Coast) and she has been buying me oysters for the shoulder so it’s been good.
“I’m just trying to find any edge I can to try and get the best possible outcome.
“I just try to give myself every chance to use my body in its best shape possible.
“Obviously with the shoulder now, I wanted to do whatever it takes to get it the best as it could be so I wouldn’t let the team down.”
Cleary’s unconventional approach to injury recovery started in 2018 when the playmaker suffered his first serious injury. Not one to complain, Cleary had secretly carried an ankle injury which, like his shoulder, required off-season surgery to repair.
Bed-ridden and looking to speed up his return to the training paddock, Cleary stumbled on an online article suggesting that eating oysters could help shorten the recovery period.
“I had read some article and it was about how oysters help in the joints and in the tendons … it turned into a bit of a running joke with the boys actually,” Cleary said.
While Cleary’s teammates have thumbed their nose at eating oysters, drinking bone broth has received less resistance.
Assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo first introduced Cleary and the playing group to the health and recovery benefits of bone broth.
“I started taking bone broth last year,” Cleary said. “Cam Ciraldo actually got me on to it.
“I think it has been really good for my body in recovery and has really helped me out a lot. It’s just another routine now.”
Cleary suffered a labral tear to his right shoulder after a partial dislocation trying to make a tackle during the first half of Origin II in June. He subluxed the shoulder again in the second 40 minutes.
PANTHERS PRIDE PHONE WALLPAPER HERE
The NSW halfback knew instantly he had suffered a serious injury but refused to let the Maroons get a sniff of the severity of the situation.
Cleary has taken the same stoic approach for Penrith since returning to the field in round 22.
At times, Cleary has reeled away from tackles clutching at his heavily strapped shoulder but each week has survived every gruelling 80-minute test.
Last week, halves partner Jarome Luai told News Corp that Cleary refuses to show any chinks in his armour.
“Nath doesn’t complain about his shoulder so no one knows if he is sore or not,” Luai said. “He does every training session, that just shows what kind of player he is.”
But Cleary’s rehabilitation has a lot more to do with the endless hours Penrith medical staff have spent keeping him on the field to help guide the Panthers to back-to-back grand finals.
“It’s actually feeling really good,” Cleary said. “I have to thank the physio team and the medical team for all the work they have put into me.
“I’m grateful for what they have done … every week, I’m just trying to strengthen it as much as I can. It’s not a painful thing. It’s about trying not to get it into the wrong position and being aware of it.”
While Cleary’s talent on the filed is undeniable, to his teammates, the 23-year-old’s greatest attribute is his unwavering work ethic off the field.
Cleary has not only shown steely dedication to his shoulder rehabilitation but still finds the time every week to leave no stone unturned when it comes to preparing to take on his opposition on the weekend.
The hours of ‘homework’, studying the playbook and video review are just another way Cleary gets an ‘edge’ that the top one per cent of elite athletes are searching for constantly.
“That’s just something I do for peace of mind each week,” Cleary said. “I know if I’ve got my preparation right and what I want to do, then there are no excuses come game day.
“I have to find the time to make sure I am fully prepared.
“Obviously there are a few more commitments this week than normal. The important thing to me, though, is how we play on Sunday, that’s my main priority.
“So I’ll do whatever it takes to find the time to get my preparation right and, at the end of the day, that’s part of the process. You have to get the preparation right before you get out there before you play the game.”
Penrith fell unexpectedly at the first hurdle in week one of the finals against South Sydney.
Cleary was critical of his own performance in that match. In particular, the way he targeted rookie fullback Blake Taaffe with his normally devastating kicking game.
This Sunday, when Cleary comes up against the Rabbitohs in the decider at Suncorp Stadium, the halfback is confident he won’t be making the same mistakes twice.
“One thing that happened in the first week, Blake had that early drop so I probably went after him a bit too much rather than playing the field position battle,” Cleary conceded.
“It’s kind of different each week and each game you get in, the flow of the game. I had a bit of a kicking plan when we came into the game, but it changes in the game, and that’s something you have to adapt to.”
The 16-10 week-one loss forced Penrith to forge a path to the grand final the ‘hard way’.
It put the men from the foot of the mountains on a collision course with fierce western Sydney rivals Parramatta and then finals foes Melbourne.
“It has felt like a very different journey to what we went through last year to get to a grand final but I feel proud to be here again,” Cleary said.
“Especially doing it the way we have had too … from our own doing. Losing the first week, we had to go the hard way about it and beat two great sides in Parramatta and Melbourne.
“They were two wars of a game. They were full-on.
“The whole season has been full-on in a way, we have had different bumps, a bit of a rollercoaster throughout this year in what has gone on. I guess the different form slumps, the injuries and Origin during the middle of the year.
“I’m grateful and so proud to be back here again.”
Last weekend, Cleary helped sink the Storm in the preliminary final with a trickshot dummy half play he borrowed from the Sydney Roosters that led to a Stephen Crichton try in the first two minutes.
Asked if he has a devastating play planned for the Rabbitohs on Sunday, Cleary replied: “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
‘Pretty sad’: NRL ‘should be embarrassed’
In a battle of the footy codes on Friday night in Sydney, the AFL has claimed a huge victory in the heart of the rugby league world.
‘Shattered’ Thurston’s brutal Cowboys truth
The Sharks have booked a place in the NRL prelim but Cowboys club legend Johnathan Thurston has laid his former side’s issues bare.