Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould has endorsed Matt Burton for Kangaroos selection in the Rugby League World Cup amid whispers the Canterbury playmaker is set to be named in the squad.
Burton will be included in Australia’s squad for the Prime Minister’s XIII clash with Papua New Guinea and is firming for World Cup selection, according to Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Chammas.
Australia will face PNG in a Prime Minister’s XIII game in Brisbane on September 25, before travelling to England for the World Cup and beginning its campaign against Fiji on October 15.
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“He can play a number of positions, he’s in that ilk of player now and I think it’d be a great experience for him to go away,” Gould said on Nine’s 100% Footy.
“I know he’s looking forward to it.
“We had actually booked him in for surgery last week; he had a little problem with his ankle.
“But we’re happy to suspend that just to wait out (and see) what happens with the World Cup tour.
“If he goes, good luck to him.”
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Burton was brilliant for the Bulldogs in his first season at the club, thriving in his switch from the centres at Penrith to five-eighth at Canterbury.
The 22-year-old claimed the Bulldogs’ player-of-the-year award last week.
Ponga can’t handle towering Burton bomb
He also had a blinding State of Origin debut in game two of this year’s series, starring for New South Wales in a 44-12 win over Queensland in Perth.
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Burton scored the opening try of the game, produced a one-on-one strip on Dane Gagai to pave the way for a match-sealing Nathan Cleary try, and tormented Queensland with his wizardly bombs.
“Is this going to America?” Andrew Johns said on Nine’s coverage.
“Are the NFL scouts watching this?
“Look how much it is swinging away.
“That is phenomenal.”
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