Not exactly a shock.
Burton, well he either needs time to adjust to half again, or to be a centre, not sure yet, but he has talent. So far from what ive seen of Burton he is a superior centre. Origin level at centre. As a half, i havent watched his junior games, and in the couple of games Penrith ran him at half, he was ordinary. we may want a 6 and move him to backs at some point. Too early too call but. By seasons end we will know more.
Flanagan, well he hasnt been the reason for our form imo, thought hes not killing it either. Most of the team needs a kick up the ass tbh. We will know more about Flanagan's ability to get where we need him to, by later in the season.
Dufty...well he probably averages out to be midfield or a little lower in the NRL fullback ranks. Meaning he can be top 4 and bottom 4, even in the same match. So somewhere in between is right. I have seen him be T Turbo like in odd matches for dragons, and for the whole matches too. He's shown glimpses with us this year so far. So its in him. But consistency is a big problem he has. And defence. If we cant improve him by years end, then give JAC a crack there, since hes keen to and a chance of killing it there.
Mahoney will fix the 9 issue as you said.