Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has revealed that he has never seen Matt Burton “so happy” after moving him from the halves to the centres in a bold spine reshuffle.
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Starting the season alongside Lachlan Galvin in the halves and cementing the No.6 jersey since arriving at the club, Ciraldo made the shock decision to revert Burton back to the centres as the club looked to get their season back on track.
While the decision raised eyebrows externally, it has delivered immediate results, with Burton returning to his best form and looking far more free in his new role.
“I’ve never seen him enjoy his footy as much as he has in the last two weeks,” Ciraldo said.
“He’s just out there having fun competing, and that’s why they play.
“He loves seeing them competing and the smile on their face and that’s what Burto’s doing right now and that’s when he plays his best footy.”
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Due to them winning in back-to-back weeks against the Sea Eagles and Titans following the reshuffle, it now appears increasingly likely that the former Panther will remain in the outside backs for the remainder of this year’s campaign.
Meanwhile, Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton confirmed that he is fit and available for State of Origin selection after being withdrawn from the NSW Blues squad for Game II, just an hour after being named.
“I’m all good. Everything’s good. God willing, see what happens but just want to celebrate tonight,” Crichton said.
It is understood that he is set to come into selection calculations for the series-decider as Blues coach Laurie Daley contemplates making several changes to his line-up.
This comes as Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs is the player who is likely to make way, with Sea Eagles star Tom Trbojevic another candidate to play in the centres for the Blues.