NSW Cup 2021: Panthers will still develop Matt Burton ahead of defection to Canterbury
As Matt Burton prepares to face his future club, Penrith have revealed what their plans are for the 21-year-old five-eighth before he leaves the club.
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Matt Burton is unlikely to play first grade this year unless injury strikes Penrith’s halves, but the Panthers believe the 21-year-old five-eighth can still get plenty out of a season in the NSW Cup.
Ahead of a clash with Mounties, feeder club to Burton’s future destination Canterbury, Penrith NSW Cup coach Peter Wallace said the club is still doing all they can to continue Burton’s evolution as a player.
“Burto needs to use this as a year of development and keep working on his game,” Wallace said. “He didn’t play a lot of footy last year, with another 12 months under his belt playing consistent footy I think it’ll do his development a world of good.”
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The Bulldogs-bound five-eighth is fresh off a scintillating display in Penrith’s 36-26 win over South Sydney in last week’s season opener, scoring a try and creating two others.
Burton’s running game was particularly sharp and he looks to have added some size over the off-season.
It seems unlikely that Penrith will grant Burton an early release to join Canterbury, but he looks more than ready to handle the rigours of first grade.
Wallace will focus on improving Burton’s defence.
“He’s still a young fella, he’s still just 21,” Wallace said. “I’ll work with him a lot on his defence because attack comes so naturally to him — we’re making sure that every week he’s turning up and defending well.
“He is a big fella, it’s nice not having a small half the other team can spot up. We’re looking for him to be physical on that edge.”
The Panthers’ NSW Cup side have copped another blow with fullback Brent Naden suspended for two weeks for a dangerous contact charge.
Naden, who is serving a club-imposed four-match ban from first grade after testing positive to cocaine after last year’s grand final, lined up at fullback in NSW Cup last week and scored in the win over the Rabbitohs.
Young guns dominate
It was Young Talent Time across the NSW Cup last weekend with up-and-coming stars dominating the weekend, with Joseph Suaalii, Sam Walker, Jake Simpkin and Dominic Young all putting in strong showings.
Suaalii scored a double in North Sydney’s 48-20 loss to Blacktown Sea Eagles, including a spectacular leaping effort reminiscent of Israel Folau, while Walker had two try assists.
Simpkin, counted as one of the top young hookers in the league, crossed the stripe in Wests 32-18 loss to Canberra and had a hand in several more tries.
With a little more seasoning, he could well become the long-term hooker the joint venture has been searching for.
Prop forward Tuki Simpkins also impressed for the Magpies, getting through almost 80 minutes at lock, while Harley Smith-Shields and Emre Guler were the best for the star-studded Raiders.
Newcastle were handed a 26-8 loss by Mounties but Young, who cut his teeth in Super League with Huddersfield, produced the play of the weekend with a remarkable flick pass to set up a try to winger Jacob Kiraz.
JERSEY FLEGG
Stars return to bolster Eels
They were downed by the Dragons in a pre-season trial, but Parramatta’s Jersey Flegg side is determined to hit back against the Red V on Saturday.
And this time, the Eels are bringing extra ammunition — Samuel Loizou and Matthew Komolafe.
Australian Schoolboy Loizou has recently transitioned from five-eighth to a utility outside back. He is itching to play footy after spending pre-season with the club’s first grade squad.
“Because of his running mentality, he can play fullback, wing and centre with aggression. He has a great catch and pass as well that sets him up for any of those positions” Parramatta’s Elite Pathways and Coaching Director Joey Grima said.
Robust winger Komolafe starred for the under-16s NSW side against QLD in 2018 and Parramatta are also excited about his development.
“He doesn’t possess an abundance of speed, but he played a recent trial against the Dragons in reserve grade, and he chased down one of the fastest players on the field. He doesn’t understand how damaging he can be yet,” Grima said.
“He’s a really good finisher, he scores a lot of tries … he manages to find the try line when other wingers would get tackled or wouldn’t score the try.”
But even with the added star power, it’ll be a tough contest for the young Eels.
St George showed real grit and stamina in their 10-4 win over Cronulla last week. No tries were scored after the 16th minute as both teams battled through the heat and first-round jitters.
Dragons coach Willie Talau conceded his side veered from their game plan but praised his skipper Matthew Nicholson and hooker Connor Muhleisen for holding on.
“(Muhleisen) is a really smart dummy half, he had to play long minutes on Saturday because we lost our back-up hooker,” Talau said. “He did really well and came up with clutch (penalty) goal kicks that got us over the line.
“(Nicholson) leads by example, boys just follow him. He played long minutes in the heat, doing all the little things that tie our defensive work together.
“Cronulla are historically a top-four team, we knew they’d bring it up the middle … our scramble defence and the character of the group kept us in it.”
Talau believes that the Dragons are tracking well and he expects them to continue building this weekend.
“Parramatta are always a big challenge, they play an offensive style of footy, we’ve got to be on our game” Talau said.
Around the grounds, the Bulldogs and Panthers will fight for back-to-back wins at Belmore on Saturday.
Canterbury’s coach Luke Vella expects a tough battle against Penrith but is confident off the back of last week’s 28-18 win over the Thunderbolts.
“Bailey Biondi-Odo really took the line on, his running game was a real handful. He kicked really well coming out of our own end,” Vella said.
“We also had a young kid from SG Ball fill in, Eli Clarke. He came up with really good carries and really good one-on-one defence.”
JERSEY FLEGG CUP ROUND 2
Saturday, March 20
Bulldogs v Panthers, 10.30am, Belmore Sports Ground
Parramatta v Dragons, 3:30pm, Ringrose Park
Sunday, March 21
Tigers v Roosters, 11:45am, TG Milner Field Sydney
Manly v Rabbitohs, 2pm, Lottoland
Sharks v Thunderbolts, 3:50pm, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Sydney
JERSEY FLEGG CUP LADDER (HEADING INTO ROUND 2)
1 Roosters
2 Bulldogs
3 Panthers
4 Dragons
5 Eels
6 Tigers
7 Sharks
8 Rabbitohs
9 Thunderbolts
10 Sea Eagles
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