‘What an idiot’: 16yo fan kicked out over disgraceful laser act

A teenage fan has been kicked out of Saturday night’s NRL match after shining a laser in the eye of Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton.

Matt Burton was targeted with a laser.

Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton called out a fan who tried to put him off a conversion by shining a laser in his eye in a stupid act during Canterbury’s 36-32 win over South Sydney.

The incident in the ninth minute came during Burton’s conversion of Blake Wilson’s first try.

Watch every game of every round of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Burton was distracted during his run-up before calling out the act to the referee and he then proceeded to drill the conversion from the sideline.

Matt Burton doesn't let a laser in his face break his focus!

📺 Watch #NRLSouthsBulldogs on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/F9YaKbZudc
✍️ BLOG https://t.co/pdmJL0TIYI
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/2ZWDpjjqRspic.twitter.com/VcR6zPeUdj

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) July 8, 2023

“Hello, what happened there?” Voss said.

“Burton has been targeted with a laser in the crowd.

“A laser on the face. We can do without that. We are all here for a bit longer and I hope he kicks it.

“Burton from the sideline and yes. Stick the laser up you know where.”

Matt Burton was targeted with a laser.

On ABC’s Grandstand Rugby League, Andrew Moore unloaded on incident.

“I hope he gets charged by police,” he said. “What an imbecile.

“Who comes to the footy to shine a laser at some bloke’s eye? At a part of a ground where there’s no one there? You’re easily going to be picked out. What an idiot.”

Referee Liam Kennedy told Burton he would make a complaint to the Accor Stadium ground manager to follow up on the matter and try and find the culprit.

“I will have a word to the ground manager,” Kennedy said.

Martin Gabor tweeted that the offender was a 16-year-old kid who was evicted by stadium security.

“More information on the laser incident at Accor Stadium. Reports a 16yo kid was evicted by security,” Gabor tweeted.

“It took just eight minutes for security to find the kid who was having his picture taken with Reggie the Rabbit.”

The Bulldogs went on to lead 24-12 at halftime and 36-22 with 8 minutes to go, but two late tries made it interesting with the Rabbitohs just falling short.

Originally published as ‘What an idiot’: 16yo fan kicked out over disgraceful laser act