Opinion Is Burton disinterested?

[Raikkonen]

The team needs a very good halves coach.

 

[Geoff Chambers]

The team needs a very good halves coach.

Well why Gould and Cc haven't got Reynolds back in filling that role is beyond me. One of the all time greatest going to waste

 

[Shire Dog]

I don't know what's happened. I thought he had a pretty decent first season despite the circumstances and showed his potential as a half, especially once Potter took over and we started playing more attacking footy.

He's regressed since then and had a bad year last year. Maybe some of that was Burton buying into his own hype and not working as hard on his game..

I don't think our one out style helps our attack in general though. Hopefully Salmon and Curran having that ball playing ability in the middle can help open up our attack across the park.

I hate the thought of Burton not working out for us he still has years on contract.
At this point in time I’ll put these two trials aside and just wait and really hope there’s a big improvement against Parra.
CC might need to make an call early this season which will be disappointing considering they’ve had an entire summer program.

 

[Shire Dog]

I agree Mahoney was a bigger issue than Burton last night

Spot on but CC needs to sought out our hooker it seemed that the direction of play wasn’t on point at all.
Burton needs a bigger voice and take charge.

 

[Geoff Chambers]

Spot on but CC needs to sought out our hooker it seemed that the direction of play wasn’t on point at all.
Burton needs a bigger voice and take charge.

Cc needs to sort himself an upper cut and get a bloody clue and stop believing his own hype and wake up.

 

[Shire Dog]

Cc needs to sort himself an upper cut and get a bloody clue and stop believing his own hype and wake up.

I know everyone is chomping at the bit after a long break,let’s keep our fingers crossed the boys come out with an A game against Parra.

 

[D0GMATIC]

Cc needs to sort himself an upper cut and get a bloody clue and stop believing his own hype and wake up.

And you should stop sipping your own bathwater

 

[Trinfly]

Just one game where he runs at every opportunity he puts D in two minds.

I remember Tbaz early 2000s from memory had been directing traffic and he reached out to Daley or John's for an opinion he was low on confidence and was told to run the ball we played them that week and he carved us up with man of match performance

 

[Berries]

What does everyone see in him? If he had a Ben Roberts Broncos game I could handle the hype. He has an Australian level attack outside of him and he can’t utilise it. He will kill our season before a change is made.

 

[maroondog72]

Spot on but CC needs to sought out our hooker it seemed that the direction of play wasn’t on point at all.
Burton needs a bigger voice and take charge.

TBH I don’t think Burton is capable of taking charge of our attack, he’s given no indication in the time he’s been at the club that he can be a dominant playmaker, if they are going to persist with him at 5/8th they have to strip it back to running the ball and kicking for field position, our attack won’t improve until reed straightens up and his service has been extremely poor in both trials, I think the only way we get the best out him is to reduce his minutes we have plenty of players that could do a job for 30-40 mins at DH

 

[B-Train]

What does everyone see in him? If he had a Ben Roberts Broncos game I could handle the hype. He has an Australian level attack outside of him and he can’t utilise it. He will kill our season before a change is made.

Would we be better with Sexton and Hutch as a halves combo though? Or any other combination without Burton in it? Not including our youngsters who aren't ready yet, there are no other viable alternatives that are going to make us better or more of a threat in attack.

Also, I don't buy this he's killing Kikau etc narrative. Kikau has been disinterested and in poor form himself and it has nothing to do with Burton. Kikau had 15 metres last night and had similar games last season. That can't all be on Burton. Kikau needs to lift his game too..

 

[Berries]

Would we be better with Sexton and Hutch as a halves combo though? Or any other combination without Burton in it? Not including our youngsters who aren't ready yet, there are no other viable alternatives that are going to make us better or more of a threat in attack.

Why do you think I am so worried about the season. I think Burton cops it a little bit extra due to his price tag and the fact everyone else last year were dropped or moved around to try new things except him.

 

[B-Train]

Why do you think I am so worried about the season. I think Burton cops it a little bit extra due to his price tag and the fact everyone else last year were dropped or moved around to try new things except him.

Yeah I understand that's the reason for the extra scrutiny. It's the same in any sport for any hyped player on a hefty salary..

Still though it's like he can't win sometimes. People hammer him (and rightly so) for bombing too much and not varying his kicks and he nails a great chip kick with perfect weight and a good chase that gets a repeat set, then does a little short kick behind the line for Fox that nearly led to a try.

So while he still doesn't engage defenders or straighten the attack enough, at least he varied his kicks better a few times last night.

 

[Berries]

Yeah I understand that's the reason for the extra scrutiny. It's the same in any sport for any hyped player on a hefty salary..

Still though it's like he can't win sometimes. People hammer him (and rightly so) for bombing too much and not varying his kicks and he nails a great chip kick with perfect weight and a good chase that gets a repeat set, then does a little short kick behind the line for Fox that nearly led to a try.

So while he still doesn't engage defenders or straighten the attack enough, at least he varied his kicks better a few times last night.

I was impressed with his kicking last night, said it several times in the game day thread. He’s had them in the past , good kicking days but the rest of his game is still lacking.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Would we be better with Sexton and Hutch as a halves combo though? Or any other combination without Burton in it? Not including our youngsters who aren't ready yet, there are no other viable alternatives that are going to make us better or more of a threat in attack.

Also, I don't buy this he's killing Kikau etc narrative. Kikau has been disinterested and in poor form himself and it has nothing to do with Burton. Kikau had 15 metres last night and had similar games last season. That can't all be on Burton. Kikau needs to lift his game too..

Burton is killing Kikau and I called it the moment we signed him. Not sure why you're trying to throw a proven performer in Kikau under the bus for a bloke that isn't a proven performer.

 

[Bulldogsteve]

Yeah I understand that's the reason for the extra scrutiny. It's the same in any sport for any hyped player on a hefty salary..

Still though it's like he can't win sometimes. People hammer him (and rightly so) for bombing too much and not varying his kicks and he nails a great chip kick with perfect weight and a good chase that gets a repeat set, then does a little short kick behind the line for Fox that nearly led to a try.

So while he still doesn't engage defenders or straighten the attack enough, at least he varied his kicks better a few times last night.

spot on mate the hater on here have never laced a boot or are soccer players

 

[CrittaMagic69]

spot on mate the hater on here have never laced a boot or are soccer players

He's shit, shut up.

 

[axeman23]

Okay so I rewatched the first 40 mins of the game with special attention on Burton, I noted that he may not be totally at fault here, I think a big factor is Mahoney who seems to be the dominant figure in the direction of the team and Burton doesn't have the voice to overrule him and call for the ball.

Burton touched the ball 14 times

4x Dummy half

6x 5th tackle kick

The 4 times that he received the ball early in the set were mostly quality plays.

4th tackle - Gets a repeat set kicking to the corner

3rd tackle - passes early to Critta who almost gets around his opposite to flick to JAC

2nd tackle - Grubber for JAC/Xerri

4th tackle - received from Taafe and passes to Xerri who runs out of space on the left.

One of the times that he did try to go to look for the ball on the right, Mahoney decides to go left and Hutchinson makes a break where Burton would have been.

It's almost like Mahoney had obsession with going to the right, even the few times that they were set up to go to the left, the ball would die at first receiver with Taafe or Mann trying to step against the grain instead of going out the back to Burton.

I think Burtons problem is that he doesn't have a bigger voice or is still developing the character needed to take control of the team. Mahoney needs to take a step back a bit.

Your last point is why don't mind Burton losing the captaincy, especially in favour of Critta who is more of a natural communicator/organizer, more suited to the role. You CAN have your captains who just roll up their sleeves and lead from the front-line, ripping in. But having a solid organizer/communicator is the more traditional captain material, and it makes sense why. That doesn't make Burton less of a player, just a different role. But yes, he probably does need to put the foot down more, and certain other players need to step back a bit for optimal team success. I BELIEVE (personally) that Critta would be an even more effective captain from fullback, where he can see more of the field, but we'll see if someone else puts their hand up first. He certainly played well, if briefly, in his stint last night at centre...

 

[wendog33]

Would Taafe be a better 7 option with Burton. Weren't they halves partners in U19's?

 

[B-Train]

Burton is killing Kikau and I called it the moment we signed him. Not sure why you're trying to throw a proven performer in Kikau under the bus for a bloke that isn't a proven performer.

I'm not throwing anyone under the bus. He needs to play better. As does Burton. It's the half's job to help set up tries and line breaks for the 2nd rower but it's not all on Burton if Kikau has multiple games where he doesn't do much or gets below 50 metres. It can't always be all Burton's fault. Kikau can look for the ball more and take more runs from inside our own half..