Jarome Luai isn’t the first Panthers five-eighth to arrive at a struggling club with massive expectations. What can he and the Tigers learn from Matt Burton’s early Bulldogs struggles?
For one glorious year, Jarome Luai and Matt Burton starred together on Penrith’s left edge, winning the 2021 Grand Final. In that match, it was Luai’s silky hands feeding a rampaging Burton into acres of space to open the scoring against Souths, who contained the Penrith five-eighths future head coach, Benji Marshall.
Matt Burton traded Penrith for Belmore in 2022, arriving with heavy expectations of revitalising one of rugby league’s underwhelming clubs’ fortunes. So far, Burton’s Bulldogs life has been mixed. There have been flashes of both brilliance and mediocrity, with plenty of lessons learnt along the way.
His faulty start is more a by-product of poor planning and management as opposed to anything Burton’s done. Sure, his performances haven’t been lights out but the surrounding structure has been absent of the qualities necessary for his flourishing; notably a dominant forward pack and ship-steadying halfback.
