2026 Recruitment And Retention

[Les Misérables]

Saw an article just now that said Burton could be released by the dogs.

I'd be happy with a Ponga/Burton swap - we'd probably get enough change for another forward as well.

Burton to play where? Not sure if you saw him in the centres against the Panthers but it was enough for Gould to have decided he wont play another game for the Dogs.

The only players Id take from the Dogs are Latu and Kikau. And it'd need to be both, and even then, we'd be getting a bad deal.

 

[krustykraz]

Where would Burton play?

Not sure.
But we could really do with his kicking game.

 

[Billy]

1 Sharpe
6 Burton
7 Brown
9 Smith

 

[KPGreatness]

Because of his big body, nice size in weight as well, you can see him at lock, I wouldn’t use him as a 6, he just isn’t that good there

 

[HarVeeGee13]

1 Sharpe
6 Burton
7 Brown
9 Smith

14th.

 

[HarVeeGee13]

Burton is a weird player whose position absolutely is 6, but he has certain fit requirements which we don't satisfy. He'd make no sense for us. Watch the other stuff he does besides kick the ball really hard.

 

[bremsstrahlung]

I’d absolutely love to watch him put up some bombs for us.

That’s where the love affair ends though.

I’m pretty content to see what we can get out of Ponga, brown, smith and Sharpe in 2026. I’m not pushing Ponga out the door just yet.

Unless Ponga actually wants out - which is a different story. I’d only be swapping him for an origin calibre forward, 7 or hooker.

 

[frankLauda]

Agree, let's see how next year goes. Ponga can negotiate at the end of next year. All parties are in a better position to make a decision.

 

[Die Hard]

Would be fun to watch Dom and Sharpe run to catch Burton's bombs, even Fletcher Hunt would be a good combination.

 

[Billy]

Burton has a different skillset - but you could also say that about Ponga.

The right coach would get a lot out of Burton.

Bellamy would turn him into a superstar in 1 off season.

 

[Tackleslikeagirl]

Replacing an elite FB with an average 5/8 who has a big bomb.

No thanks

 

[Thieves Like Us]

Yeah, apart from that booming kick I can’t see it. A half back pairing of Smith & Brown should be able to consistently impact on games more. Each playing to their strengths.

 

[krustykraz]

I really want to see what Holbrook can do with the spine in 2026 before they think about releasing Ponga

 

[listo]

Replacing an elite FB with an average 5/8 who has a big bomb.

No thanks

Elite when he feels like it. There were plenty of people on here that were off him this year because he wasn’t having a crack.
I do hope that Holbrook gets him motivated again and that he isn’t like Milford who had all the talent but forgot it all because he coasted for too long.

 

[KPGreatness]

Elite when he feels like it. There were plenty of people on here that were off him this year because he wasn’t having a crack.
I do hope that Holbrook gets him motivated again and that he isn’t like Milford who had all the talent but forgot it all because he coasted for too long.

But that’s the thing, we all know KP has the potential to be the best fullback in the entire comp, he does drift in and out but to be honest I’ve never seen Burton “own” a game, grab it and put the entire team on his back, KP has done that more times than I can count since 18.

I don’t think Burton can ever be regarded as an elite five-eighth, he is a good solid player but he can’t take that next step up, if we are Trading KP for Burton I’d also like another of there juniors for a 1-2 trade because at his best KP is just that damn good

 

[listo]

Like Billy said though, not a like for like swap, we would have a fair bit of coin our way to buy other stocks we need and have a great lineup.
That’s just arguing hypotheticals that will never happen though, I’m just saying that I wouldn't be on here whinging if it happened, I’d have to find something else to go on about.

 

[Die Hard]

Hopefully Ponga has an injury free season and stops being affected by any niggles so he can play his best game. Hopefully under Holbrook he can find his best ability and be a one club player for life.

 

[HarVeeGee13]

Burton has a different skillset - but you could also say that about Ponga.

The right coach would get a lot out of Burton.

Bellamy would turn him into a superstar in 1 off season.

The eternal Melbourne fallacy.

They don’t turn guys into superstars. They are better at identifying the guys who have what it takes to be superstars. Identifying them before anyone else, or seeing it where others didn’t. Big difference. If it could be just anyone they wouldn’t go to these lengths to keep Jonah Pezet.

The ability of their spine players is more important to why that team is so good than Melbourne is to why those spine players have so much ability. Harry Grant is so good dude. He would have been the best 9 in the game no matter who he played for.

Burton was in the Penrith system. Arguably the best development environment there is. It’s way more likely what we see now is what he is, than it is that there’s some great untapped depths there.

 

[KPGreatness]

The eternal Melbourne fallacy.

They don’t turn guys into superstars. They are better at identifying the guys who have what it takes to be superstars. Identifying them before anyone else, or seeing it where others didn’t. Big difference. If it could be just anyone they wouldn’t go to these lengths to keep Jonah Pezet.

The ability of their spine players is more important to why that team is so good than Melbourne is to why those spine players have so much ability. Harry Grant is so good dude. He would have been the best 9 in the game no matter who he played for.

Burton was in the Penrith system. Arguably the best development environment there is. It’s way more likely what we see now is what he is, than it is that there’s some great untapped depths there.

THANK YOU
Someone had to say it, they don’t magically give someone talent, they find people with potential that are getting nowhere and give them the tools to unlock it.

Bellamy would NOT turn him into a superstar in one off-season that’s not how it works.

I agree, what you see is what you get with Burton at this stage of his career, can’t give someone something they physically cannot possess it’s that simple.

 

[HarVeeGee13]

The only one of their four spine guys who’s legitimately a “manufactured” spine player in his position is Hughes. Him becoming what he is now was a multi-year process. 6 is Munster’s best position. Playing with Cameron Smith and then Harry Grant, and Munster at 6, eased that learning curve considerably.

But also, what we see by now is that halfback or five-eighth was likely his best position all along.