Centre for me Wendy. Always was and always will be.
Which is why any scout is only as good as how good any scouted player becomes.
Gould at Penrith was adamant Burton was going to be a gun half.
Yet Barrett saw Luai as the long term half to partner Cleary, so developed their combination. Whether it was something Gould saw in Burton at training or simply because he was by reports a gun 5/8 or FB coming through the juniors, that Gould decided he was the man we needed to build a team around.
Yes Burto has had some good names, notably kicking for JAC to score, he himself taking the line on or kicking an angled field goal, but he's hardly had any try assists compared to other halves.
His lack of progress is certainly a worry. He played enough FG games at Penrith, as a centre, to understand the role of a 5/8 first hand, and now we have Sexton, that takes all that pressure off him to steer the team around, but seriously, can anyone ever recall him receiving a ball, digging into the line like DCE or Johnson or Reynolds or Brown, pulling defenders to him and releasing a 2nd rower or centre, I sure can't.
Is it fair to say that his lack of progress has infact put us back 3 or 4 years, as we still struggle to mount consistently serious attacking raids.
He will be given at least another year. Goulds reputation as a scout though is coming under serious scrutiny. Is it fear by Gould that Burton isn't a 5/8, nor is Crighton a FB, they are both centres, that is behind Goulds pursuit of Taffe?
Burton is a big body. He could be a better tackler, his boot is enormous, but it's the deft art of digging into the line, straightening the attack to pick up runners that he has to work hard on. SOS to a top notch half.......Shifty, Cronk, Thurston, Johns? If he can't pick it up, it's actually not that surprising considering only 20% of good graded juniors ever make it to NRL level.
If not 5/8, then we try him at 13. He costs too much to be a big left centre.
