I would love to see and compare Burts return yardage and line breaks from the returns with stats for our other option in Hayne.. when Burt runs the ball back at least he runs the whole way back unlike Hayne who jogs the first 10 metres only to goosestep.. fool himself and get tackled...
I agree with the deleted stuff
BUT
you can't really make those claims can you?
Burt has made 61m in kick returns this season. In 2 games. That's horrid.
Hayne made more than that in each and every game he played as fullback last season.
It's really stupid to say that Burt is a better returner of the ball than anyone - I think it's ok to be a Parra fan, but to still accept that Burt is the worst returner of the football in the league UNLESS he happens to get a broken defensive line to attack.
He is
terrible at returning the kick - even he knows it, which is why he passes it to Grothe and Reddy all the time (or whoever is on the wing!).
If you have the ball and have an open Runner nearby.. you are wise to promote the ball to them to gain yardage out of your own Red-zone.. that is something that most Coaches encourage .. so to me I don't see a problem with it.
That's not why Burt does it - he does it because he is so bad at returning the ball into the defence. It's no use pretending he's good at it - he's simply not, but that's ok. It's just one of his limitations as a footballer. Nobody is perfect (Grothe keeps trying to offload 4m out from his own line on the 1st tackle...) - I just don't understand why people try and say 'No WeI - BurtZoR is ReElLy eLiTT aT reTurnsZ'. It's as dumb as that sentence looks...
You will also note how many defenders are usually hanging around Mateo when he runs because they know what he can do... Makes it hard for anyone to be a 2nd/3rd phase runner AND.. it isn't only the Fullbacks role to run as a support player.
I think the point is that Burt used to do this much more in the past - it's a crucial part of his game - getting the offload and getting into open space. That's the point of him in the footy game, to run free and finish off half chances. That's what he's really good at - I'm sure even Luke himself would admit he needs to be better at that this season.
Good news is that it's only 2 games old - personally I think Burt will get back to form in this regard.
And - yes, it's not
only the fullbacks role - but it's much easier for them to do it (not explaining why now - watch/ coach some footy for a while then you'll get it).
I saw the footage and again.. Burt was doing his job. He was closing the field down but remaining uncommitted in case a kick through or infield pass was made.. It was obvious for all to see that Hindy had it covered and it allowed the cover defence to close the play down completely. Again.. I see nothing wrong with what he did.
Again - I reckon even Burt himself would disagree with you here.
There was no support inside, and there's no reason to assume that a second rower is going to be able to chase down a winger. Burt was in the best position to chase and didn't - that was poor.
Luckily Hayne saved Burt's bacon, and Hindy came over the top and finished off the good work.
This board is ridiculous.
Some people go over the top in their Burt bashing (because he's bad at something, they assume he's bad at everything)
And then others reply by saying that Burt has never done a thing wrong (of course he has - he has some serious limitations as a player!)
You can admit he's a limited player, but still like what he brings! I know he can't tackle, and he's a weak returner of the footy - but I'm on my feet when he actually finds a bit of space, because that's where he's great.
Oh - and his goalkicking has been GREAT the last 3 years.
