Matt Burton was almost surprised that his cheeky tactic to distract good friend Nathan Cleary as he lined up a shot at goal actually worked.
Burton and the Bulldogs ruined Cleary’s 200th NRL game on Thursday night as they triumphed 32-16.
Cleary had put up a wonderful pinpoint kick for Tom Jenkins to score his second try just after half-time, and the co-captain had the chance to put the visitors in front for the first time in the game.
But Cleary’s kick cannoned back off the left upright.
Replays later showed Burton tossing the ball into the air three times just before Cleary moved in.
Burton smiled about the incident when approached by this masthead in the sheds, saying: “I didn’t think he’d miss that. I was cheering. I thought he would have been watching the ball, not watching that [tossing the ball]. It must have worked.
“We knew it was a big occasion for Nathan, with 200 games. We had to go after him, and I thought we did a good job on him.”
Cleary said he had no idea what Burton was up to, and was more disappointed with the result and lack of commitment for the 80 minutes.
The NRL proposed a $5000 fine for a Parramatta trainer when he ran in front of Cleary as he lined up a kick in 2022.
The Panthers were hit hard last year when trainer Corey Bocking ran in front of Jayden Campbell as he lined up a kick on the Gold Coast. The club described the incident as an “honest mistake”, but Bocking, who now works for South Sydney, was hit with a five-match ban, and Penrith fined $50,000. The NRL took into account there had been five previous incidents involving Penrith trainers since 2021.
Former Tigers prop David Klemmer distracted then Parramatta skipper Clint Gutherson as he tried to win the match with a penalty kick in 2024, only to miss. Klemmer’s punishment was trying to explain to his kids after the game why he celebrated wildly and made an “up yours” gesture to Gutherson.
The NRL confirmed on Friday that referee Gerard Sutton had the power to blow a penalty and order Cleary re-take the kick, but only if he felt Burton was genuinely being a nuisance.
Cleary was certainly making no excuses as his side lost for the first time this year, and what quickly became a milestone to forget.
“We weren’t fully committed in stages when we needed to be, and Canterbury were,” Cleary said.
“We made our left edge do too much work with the ball, and they were under the pump in defence. They’ve been incredible to start the year, and sometimes it takes something like this to get back on track and work it out.
“It was a disappointing night for myself. Sometimes that’s rugby league. Previous weeks, things were coming off, but against the Dogs they weren’t.
“It was a bit frantic at different times, the ball was hitting the ground, we were taking risks when we didn’t need to – I was taking risks when I didn’t need to.”
The Panthers had started the year in such devastating form that fans started flooding online forums and talkback radio about how the Class of 2026 might go through the year undefeated. There was also a push for mass Origin inclusion, including centre Casey McLean.
Coach Ivan Cleary smiled when asked about the Dogs’ success attacking McLean, Blaize Talagi and Tom Jenkins, and said: “Maybe they’re getting ready for Origin camp. A couple of boys went back a couple of pegs; they’re young, and it’s just a good part of the experience for them.
“We got reminded what a good hard game of footy looks like, and I’m sure will be better for it.”
Panthers representative back rower Liam Martin left the ground in a knee brace and will undergo scans on Friday.
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