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By Christian Nicolussi
November 9, 2020 — 7.52pm
Trent Barrett wants to build his Canterbury team around Kyle Flanagan and is pushing for in-demand Penrith playmaker Matt Burton to be at Belmore for the start of the 2021 season.
Barrett officially started life at the Bulldogs on Monday and addressed his new-look coaching staff of David Furner, Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa, as well as high-performance staff Dan Ferris and Luke Portese.
The entire playing group will assemble next Monday to be addressed by Barrett - and potentially a Zoom greeting from All Blacks legend Steve Hansen - before the work starts on turning the club around.
Fans are excited by Flanagan's signature, and Barrett has made it known he would love Burton to join him.
Burton, 20, has a year left on his Panthers deal but former Penrith assistant Barrett knows the youngster will struggle to play regular first grade while halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai are fit.
Penrith are prepared to play him in the centres or back row in a bid to keep him from signing elsewhere. They are also trying to re-sign Isaah Yeo, Luai and Stephen Crichton.
"He's only a young player but he's someone with a lot of ability and whose pathway is a bit blocked at Penrith.
"He'd certainly be handy. He needs to decide where he wants to be in 2022 and 2023 first.
"We've got two spots left. There will be a lot of moving parts in regards to recruitment.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what we have here. There are some players I don't know a lot about, and because there was no Canterbury Cup this year there are players who haven't played a lot of footy.''
Blake Green on Monday announced he would remain at Newcastle next year, which was a mutual decision reached between the five-eighth and Canterbury, and another excuse to up the ante when it comes to Burton.
Bulldogs fans are already impressed Barrett landed Flanagan, and you can only imagine their response should he convince Burton to switch clubs.
Barrett had watched Flanagan for a long time and was clearly pumped to work with the former Roosters half.
"Kyle is very important for us, he's a very good young player and someone we can build our team around for a long time,'' Barrett said.
"I'm very excited to get hold of him. The skill set is there and he ticks a lot of boxes.
"He's calm, a good kicker of the ball and a good organiser. He walked into a premiership team stuck between two internationals in Luke Keary and James Tedesco. It was never going to be easy for him but he did a great job and we're lucky to have him.''
The entire squad will listen to Barrett and his team's vision before some of the senior players resume the last of their holidays. Recruit Nick Cotric remains in NSW Origin camp while Raymond Faitala-Mariner is quarantining in New Zealand and will join next week's meet-and-greet remotely.
Meanwhile, Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien was grateful Green would hang around next year.
"Blake was massively influential in the short time he spent with us during 2020 and we could not be happier to welcome him back again for 2021," he said.
"His experience is invaluable, he is a natural leader with a brilliant rugby league brain, adding key ingredients to complement our existing roster.
"He will continue to play that role with our young halves and his combination with Mitchell Pearce will only continue to grow.''
November 9, 2020 — 7.52pm
Trent Barrett wants to build his Canterbury team around Kyle Flanagan and is pushing for in-demand Penrith playmaker Matt Burton to be at Belmore for the start of the 2021 season.
Barrett officially started life at the Bulldogs on Monday and addressed his new-look coaching staff of David Furner, Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa, as well as high-performance staff Dan Ferris and Luke Portese.
The entire playing group will assemble next Monday to be addressed by Barrett - and potentially a Zoom greeting from All Blacks legend Steve Hansen - before the work starts on turning the club around.
Fans are excited by Flanagan's signature, and Barrett has made it known he would love Burton to join him.
Burton, 20, has a year left on his Panthers deal but former Penrith assistant Barrett knows the youngster will struggle to play regular first grade while halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai are fit.
Penrith are prepared to play him in the centres or back row in a bid to keep him from signing elsewhere. They are also trying to re-sign Isaah Yeo, Luai and Stephen Crichton.
"We'd love Matt on board here next year,'' Barrett told the Herald.
"He's only a young player but he's someone with a lot of ability and whose pathway is a bit blocked at Penrith.
"He'd certainly be handy. He needs to decide where he wants to be in 2022 and 2023 first.
"We've got two spots left. There will be a lot of moving parts in regards to recruitment.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what we have here. There are some players I don't know a lot about, and because there was no Canterbury Cup this year there are players who haven't played a lot of footy.''
Blake Green on Monday announced he would remain at Newcastle next year, which was a mutual decision reached between the five-eighth and Canterbury, and another excuse to up the ante when it comes to Burton.
Bulldogs fans are already impressed Barrett landed Flanagan, and you can only imagine their response should he convince Burton to switch clubs.
Barrett had watched Flanagan for a long time and was clearly pumped to work with the former Roosters half.
"Kyle is very important for us, he's a very good young player and someone we can build our team around for a long time,'' Barrett said.
"I'm very excited to get hold of him. The skill set is there and he ticks a lot of boxes.
"He's calm, a good kicker of the ball and a good organiser. He walked into a premiership team stuck between two internationals in Luke Keary and James Tedesco. It was never going to be easy for him but he did a great job and we're lucky to have him.''
The entire squad will listen to Barrett and his team's vision before some of the senior players resume the last of their holidays. Recruit Nick Cotric remains in NSW Origin camp while Raymond Faitala-Mariner is quarantining in New Zealand and will join next week's meet-and-greet remotely.
Meanwhile, Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien was grateful Green would hang around next year.
"Blake was massively influential in the short time he spent with us during 2020 and we could not be happier to welcome him back again for 2021," he said.
"His experience is invaluable, he is a natural leader with a brilliant rugby league brain, adding key ingredients to complement our existing roster.
"He will continue to play that role with our young halves and his combination with Mitchell Pearce will only continue to grow.''
