Matt Burton axed from captaincy in massive Bulldogs call

Canterbury has pulled one of the biggest shocks of the 2024 pre-season in announcing the club’s co-captains have been axed.

Matt Burton of the Bulldogs. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo has made one of the biggest calls of the 2024 season by axing co-captain’s Matt Burton and Reed Mahoney.

The club announced on Thursday new recruit Stephen Crichton will lead the club in 2024 with Canterbury desperate to snap a seven-year drought of playing finals football.

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Crichton was the club’s biggest star signing ahead of the 2024 season, making a high-profile move from Penrith.

Despite missing the start of the Bulldog’s pre-season training, Crichton has been given the job ahead of Burton and Mahoney.

Burton and Mahoney had been thrown straight into the position ahead of the 2023 season after arriving at the club at the end of 2022.

Burton finished his final season with the Panthers as a New South Wales State of Origin representative player.

With a number of huge signings in recent years, including Viliame Kikau, the pressure is on the Dogs to deliver this season.

The club announced Crichton’s selection in a club statement.

Crichton signed a four-year-deal with the Bulldogs in January, 2023.

Matt Burton. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

There’s plenty of intrigue as to where Crichton will play this year after it had previously been assumed that he will move to fullback at the Dogs.

However, the club has also signed Blake Taaffe and Connor Tracey.

Taaffe was given the No. 1 jumper for the club’s pre-season trials.

“I just want to lead with my actions,” Crichton said.

“I’ve been at a successful Club and I’ve seen what good leaders look like and I’ve learnt a lot from the older boys that I was with and I’ve taken a few things from each person that I can implement in my life on and off the field, as well as in being a leader.

“Going into the camp I knew straight away the boys were nervous and I knew that my communication and leadership could bring the boys up a bit and make them excited.

“I was looking at the back end of the camp, when camp was finished, and where this team could go to and I knew that they needed a leader to get them through the camp. So, I just kind of took on that role from the start.

“We have a lot of leaders that were talking through camp just as much as me, and I wasn’t trying to put that pressure just on me, I leaned on them, the other senior boys, just as much as they were leaning on myself.”

Crichton will be one of the youngest captain’s in the NRL at the age of 23.

Ciraldo said Crichton’s leadership qualities became evident as soon as he arrived at Belmore, foxsports.com.au reported.

NRL star Stephen Crichton fronts the media in his Bulldogs jersey. Picture: David Swift.

“Stephen is a really good reader of energy. He understands when people are a little bit flat, low on energy, and when it’s a bit quiet, and he can change the mood in an instant. Sometimes that’s with some annoying music or sounds, or loud noises that he comes up with but he’s great at bringing people together,” Ciraldo said.

“He really understands bringing positive energy to the group and he’s been such a valuable asset to us this pre-season.

“Reed [Mahoney] and Burto [Matt Burton] have played integral roles in setting the foundation for our team’s success, both on and off the field. They did an exceptional job being thrown in the deep end last year and put their hands up during a challenging year to help guide our young squad. There were a lot of lessons and learnings out of last year and both Reed and Burto will be better from the experience of it.”

The Bulldogs face Parramatta at CommBank Stadium in Round 1 on March 9 and have their final pre-season hit out against the Sharks on Friday.

Originally published as Matt Burton axed from captaincy in massive Bulldogs call