Inside story: The making of Matt Burton’s lethal kicking arsenal

With wild 40km/h winds set to have their say in the Bulldogs-Sea Eagles elimination final, Matt Burton is poised to wreak havoc with his devastating aerial attacks. See the inside story of the making of Burton’s lethal kicking arsenal.

Guy Burton knew his son Matt could kick a football when the roof on the family home began to leak.

“We’d get a downpour and there’d be water coming down in the lounge room,’’ Guy said.

“So I’d get up on the roof and there’d be broken tiles everywhere.

“From up on the roof, I could see the next-door neighbour had broken tiles too.’’

Burton was nine years old when the biggest kick that rugby league has ever seen was born.

Out the front of the family home in Dubbo, Matt would swing his left leg with as much precision and consistency as the hands of a ticking clock.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

In his primary school shorts and shirt every afternoon until the sun went down, Burton would launch balls so high they would crack roof tiles.

Other times, the Bulldogs star would aim his Steeden grenades towards the power lines out on the street.

Matt Burton has one of the deadliest kicking games in rugby league.

“You’d be in the kitchen and every few minutes you’d hear the electrical wires sizzle. (So) I’m not really surprised he’s doing what he does now,” Guy said.

What Burton is doing, or more poignantly, what the 24-year-old plans to do over the head of Sea Eagles champion Tom Trbojevic in Sunday’s NRL elimination final at Accor Stadium, is launch a psychological air raid in a bid to keep this Bulldogs fairytale season alive.

What Trbojevic has coming, is a floating object that is akin to catching a cat from a 40-story building.

Not to mention, Sydney is bracing for winds of up to 40km/h on Sunday, which is set to make the Manly fullback’s job infinitely more difficult.

So lethal is the Burton bomb, with a hang time of 5.35 seconds that is superior to some of the best kickers in the NFL, that his agent David Riolo has an open invitation from NFL scouts sitting in his email inbox.

The average hang time for an NFL punt kick is between 4.2 and 5 seconds.

It’s a feat Burton can routinely accomplish.

Six of the 36 punters who featured for NFL teams this season are Australian, including Michael Dickson, who was the highest-paid punt kicker in 2024 after signing a deal with the Seattle Seahawks worth $21 million.

Fellow Aussie, Mitch Wishnowsky at the San Francisco 49ers, rounds out the top-10 highest-paid punters, with a $16.5 million contract.

Burton will be 27 when his current deal at the Bulldogs ends in 2027.

“It’s there for whenever Matt achieves everything he wants in rugby league, which remains his focus for now, including winning a premiership with Canterbury, playing State of Origin and Tests for Australia,’’ Riolo said.

“He’s only 24, remember. There’s time for that (NFL) later on.’’

The average salary for an NFL punter is $2.2 million, which would almost triple Burton’s current wages.

Former AFL star Ben Graham, the first Australian punter to compete in an American NFL Super Bowl, is well aware of Burton’s sublime kicking exploits.

“There’s no doubt he is an exciting prospect if he was to pursue an NFL career down the track,” Graham said.

Like Guy, Craig Johnston spotted Matt’s talent long before NFL scouts began leaving their number.

The owner of The Athlete’s Foot in Dubbo, Johnston gifted Burton his first pair of football boots when he was six.

“He was committed, even then,’’ Johnston said from his popular store.

“All he ever wanted to be was a footballer. He is such a terrific kid.”

Johnston sponsored Burton a new pair of boots for more than a decade, right up until the five-eighth moved to Penrith as a teenager.

He recalls the genetic advantage that Burton had, even as a boy.

“He always had a bigger foot than the other kids,’’ Johnston said.

“If the other kids were a size-four boot, he’d be two sizes bigger all the way through.’’

Standing at 190cm, Burton’s height gives him an advantage that is only accentuated by his long hamstrings, which help slingshot his left-foot kick.

What isn’t as well-documented is Burton’s ‘freakishly’ long toes.

It has been suggested that Burton’s size-14 feet is also a major factor in his ability to launch the best kick in the NRL.

Former Canterbury teammate Brent Naden once revealed Burton’s toes are like ‘springs that flick up’ and generate ‘extra oomph’.

“He wasn’t taking the piss … it’s bad genes, bad genes,” Burton said.

Johnston, who has made a living out of sizing-up people’s feet, confirmed: “It’s true, his second toe is bigger than his big toe.’’

Guy Burton with his business card which references his son Matt, the former Penrith player and current Canterbury star.

And in a preview of things to come, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo also received an insight into the Burton family genetics.

“I was at Matt’s son’s (Noa) first birthday the other week and Matt’s little nephew was kicking the football around the backyard like you wouldn’t believe,’’ Ciraldo laughed.

“Matt’s mum turned to me and said, ‘He’s kicking the footy just like Matt was as a little boy’.’’

Sport is nothing without its experts to provide true evaluation and perspective.

Which makes Burton’s bombs even more mesmerising, lauded as “incredible” and “unbelievable” by the game’s greatest-ever kickers including Andrew Johns, Cooper Cronk and Greg Alexander.

“Matt’s the biggest bomb I’ve ever seen,’’ Alexander said.

“His six-foot-three size, with long legs and great hand-eye coordination, are key. You have to have those ingredients and timing to hit the ball at the right spot, at this level.’’

Burton’s development of the torpedo bomb from his Dubbo front yard as a schoolboy to Accor Stadium as an NRL star has been perfected through repetition.

“He still spends up to half an hour after most training sessions practising his kicks,’’ Ciraldo said.

What the fans don’t see is the incredible detail and clockwork symmetry Burton requires to spark fear into every opposing fullback and winger.

Everything, from the angle of the ball before Burton drops it, to where his hands are placed on the ball, the right part of his boot connecting the right part of the ball, must align in harmony.

“That’s what I work on at training, is my ball drop,” he said.

“That’s sort of the first thing that I try to get right. And then obviously the power (of the bomb) that comes out in the game.

“But when it comes to the moment, you need to land the ball (on the foot) in the right spot, and that’s dependent on the ball drop, is the first thing you need to get right.

“I’ve got my own little way on where I position the ball first, so it feels comfortable.

“I put it on a 45-degree angle and put my hand on top of the ball, so then I’ve got a clean drop when it hits my foot.

“I try to strike the ball straight in the middle, the belly of the ball.

“I can feel it when I’ve hit the belly and it goes up, you can feel that you’ve hit it sweet.

The Catch

“First thing is the ball catch and the positioning of it. The less you can adjust it the better so you don’t have to think about it as much and it is sort of a natural flow.

Ball Position

“I usually hold it so it faces more upright. I think most people hold it flat, but I feel like if I can hold it upright and kick under it, it is going to go a lot higher.

Drop and kick

“I am always trying to get as much power as I can through it. I feel like if I’m getting my leg all the way through that’s when I feel like I hit them best and that’s where I get the most power from.

Follow through

“It all flows in together. Where you are holding the ball so you sort of want to bring it through with your foot, the angle of the footy, how high you hold it and obviously your follow through, you want to get as much power as you can bringing everything together.”

There have been moments in matches where the Fox Sports cameras have struggled to track the flight of the ball, such is the sheer height of Burton’s bomb, which given his father’s battle with broken tiles all those years ago, makes it a good thing that Accor Stadium is still without a roof.

Burton offered little remorse towards his targets when asked about the degree of difficulty he aims to impose on his rivals.

“They (opposition) think they have it covered and then at the last moment it just swings away,” Burton said.

Canterbury Bulldogs superboot Matt Burton wears a size 14 shoe. Picture: NRL Photos

“The boys trying to catch it, just tell me how high it looks. That’s something I work on too.

“If I can get it as high as it goes and it gets to a point where it starts coming down and turning away, that’s when I know I’ve hit it sweet.

“The higher it goes, the more unpredictable it is.

“It turns over on itself and starts spinning a different way.

“That’s when it’s the hardest to catch.”

Fans and commentators will have noted that Burton is becoming increasingly selective when he chooses to reach for his power play.

It is becoming less obvious to the opposition, leading to an even greater element of surprise and danger to his rivals.

Yet Guy Burton, who proudly carries business cards that his cheeky mates made for him, which simply states, “Matt Burton’s Dad”, offered a final warning to Manly.

“He hasn’t been doing them quite as much. I think we might see a few in the finals. He’s due,’’ Guy smiled.