NRL 2020: How Penrith’s Matt Burton can emulate John Sutton – NEWS.com.au

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary could mould demoted young gun Matt Burton into a John Sutton type ball playing forward in a bid to keep him at the club long-term.Burton is contracted at the Panthers until the end of 2021, but he can’t crack the NRL team with Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai the preferred halves.
The Dubbo junior excelled in Cleary’s absence at five-eighth with two tries in two games before being relegated to the bench for three weeks.
Burton hasn’t played for the past fortnight, but Cleary wants to ensure the talented utility returns to the NRL ranks.
The Panthers coach is even prepared to shift the NSW under 20s representative to the forwards in a role like former premiership-winning South Sydney captain Sutton.
“Matt is growing every day – he is one of those kids who is tall, and I look at him and John Sutton comes to mind,” Cleary told Sportsday NSW radio.
“Who knows – I don’t know. He is only 20 and he has probably put on five kilos since he has come into the full-time ranks around this time last year.
“I don’t know where that is going to stop, but he is a very good footballer and we are happy to have him.”
Cleary revealed he‘d received an apology via email from the Wests fan who he was involved in an exchange with after Penrith’s win over the Tigers last Saturday.
The Penrith coach was caught by TV cameras blowing kisses to the enraged fan, which drew the ire of Tigers officials including chairman Lee Hagipantelis who called Cleary “unprofessional”.
Cleary said he wished it didn’t happen, but the air had been cleared.
“It was just one of those things that happened and I wish it didn‘t happen, but it did,” Cleary said on Friday.
“I got an apology and actually reached out back to him so it‘s all good there. I guess it just shows that everyone cares and is passionate about the game and a the end of the day I don’t think anyone was hurt.
“We exchanged emails and it was a bit like I suppose when you play, you hope things get left on the field so there‘s no real drama there.
“Everyone seems to have got some stories out of it, hopefully it helped there somehow.”

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