Penrith has selected wantaway star Matt Burton in their upcoming NSW Cup trial match against the Bulldogs, potentially flagging him as a replacement for the suspended Brent Naden.
Burton has already signed at Canterbury-Bankstown from the 2022 season, but the Panthers are refusing to let him walk early unless they get a significant player in return.
Despite Burton and his manager attempting to move cross-town before the 2021 campaign, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster believes the Panthers will attempt to utilise his talents this season.
“They’re not going to move on Matt Burton, as much as the Bulldogs will try and get him there early, as much as his manager will try and agitate to get him there early,” Webster said on 1170 SEN’s Morning with Matty White.
“There is no way in the world, unless Penrith gets a quality player from the Bulldogs, that he will go.
“They’ve already asked for Dylan Napa, and then I was told they weren’t that keen on him anyway.
“I can’t see them letting go of Matt Burton early.”
With Burton and a raft of players across the league signing with opposition clubs while they’re still under contract, Webster believes the NRL player recruitment model must be flipped on its head.
“The situation and the stalemate regarding Burton shows you how much the contract system in the NRL needs to be blown up and started again,” Webster added.
“Whether it's trade windows, a draft or something.
“But this stupid situation where players are signed to clubs a year before the season, it’s just craziness.
“You have a situation where Matt Burton has signed with a club 14 months before the next season is going to start, and then the club where he is going to has to play whatever tricks to get him there early.
“It’s been going on in rugby league for way too long and it’s got to change.”
Listen to Webster’s full chat with Matty White below.
