Key figures have recalled the details of Matt Burton's move to Canterbury ahead of this season, with the promising half having inked a three-year deal with the Belmore club in November 2020.
Even after lengthy negotiations were settled, Burton was still in the middle of a tug-of-war between the Bulldogs and Penrith, as the former looked to poach the Dubbo product throughout the course of last season on an early release deal.
The Panthers stood firm in keeping the versatile playmaker, who ended his 2021 campaign as a premiership player under Ivan Cleary.
Burton flourished in the centres and when called into the halves for the Panthers despite having just six NRL appearances to his name when signed by Canterbury.
Prior to putting pen to paper with the Dogs, the Panthers had pressed hard to retain the 22-year-old as Penrith chief executive Matt Cameron revealed the club had pleaded with Burton to hold off on confirming his future.
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“The thing we said was ‘if you don’t want to sign with us, just don’t sign with anyone else yet’,” Cameorn told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We said, ‘let us show you over summer what we think we can do with you, because we think you can be one of the best centres in the game.”
Not coming without a fight, the Panthers would soon lose Burton's signature past the 2021 season, but their tussle didn't end there as murmurs of an early release arose.
Despite the Dogs' reported hopes of prying Burton to Canterbury a year early, Cameron and the Panthers had made it clear the five-eighth was a relied asset for the season ahead.
“From the day that Dave Riolo rang me to tell me that he wasn’t accepting our offer, I made it abundantly clear to Dave that we weren’t going to release him, unless of course it was advantageous to the Panthers,” Cameron added.
“We told him that we’re not going to treat Matt any differently, but at the same token we don’t expect to be treated any differently.
“If Matt was upset, he never once showed it. That’s a sign of the person he is. He’s a champion of a kid.”
After Canterbury's major sponsor in Arthur Laundy met with Burton's mum, Lisa, the Bulldogs had the wheels in motion as the club looked to sway the promising half their way.
The level of risk in signing a six-game player to $500,00 per season was on the mind of the Bulldogs as they worked through negotiations, however CEO Andrew Hill was more than confident in Burton warranting the price tag.
“At the time it was still a lot of money for a player that hadn’t played much grade,” Hill told The Herald.
“But some you get right, some you don’t. This one we were all confident that he was a great player, a great young man, committed and conducted himself well.
“We were confident that he would turn out to be the player we thought he would and last year he showed that. I think everyone at the club now would be very happy that we signed him when we did”
Burton has played in all four of the Bulldogs' matches so far this season as Canterbury sit with a 1-3 record, with their new No.6 yet to record a try or try assist to date.
The Dogs will take on Penrith on Sunday at CommBank Stadium as the Panthers look to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
