Matt Burton has been NSW 18th man twice as many times as he’s taken the field for his state, but there’s no questioning his commitment to the unwanted role.
Not when the Bulldogs star was around for boots, mouthguard and a private plane owned by a “good mate” worth a lazy $800 million just in case the Blues needed him for emergency duties once again.
Burton’s bye week leading into Origin I was interrupted by clubmate Stephen Crichton’s game one injury scare, when the Canterbury skipper was in doubt right up until game day.
Burton, who has taken the field twice for NSW since 2022 and been 18th man five times, was in his home town of Dubbo when the call came from Blues management.
If Crichton wasn’t fit, South Sydney’s Campbell Graham would be called in to debut. And if he could get to Brisbane, Burton would be 18th man with the chance to play if any further late dramas struck or a HIA was caused by foul play.
So he called Wes Maas – the Dubbo-raised one-time Rabbitoh, founder and majority owner of the Maas Group.
Standby man: Matt Burton.Credit: Getty Images
After two games with Souths in 2002, Maas took a $14,000 bank loan, a bobcat and a tip truck and started a construction materials and equipment company that is now valued at $1.5 billion. As for the 45-year-old himself, his estimated worth was pegged at $814 million last year.
“There wasn’t going to be a flight straight from Dubbo to Brisbane, they’d been booked up, and obviously you want to give Critta as much time as possible to be right,” Burton said after joining NSW camp, again as 18th man, for game two in Perth.
“Because they couldn’t make a call on Critta until 8am game day, the situation was pretty tight. Dubbo to Sydney and then flying to Brisbane, that was going to be too much running around and too tight again with not many flights.
“I didn’t have any footy gear or anything either. I was on holiday. So I was ringing the Dogs and my manager for boots and footy kit, just having that ready in case.
Wes Maas ranked on this year’s Australian Financial Review 2024 Rich List with an estimated wealth of $814 million.Credit: Nic Walker
“And I had a good mate with a plane in Dubbo who was ready to go, and I think he was pretty keen to do it, to be honest. It would’ve made an awesome story, right?
“Even to be there, ready to go. But even better, Critta came good and you saw how he played, so it all worked out.”
Laurie Daley and his staff were suitably impressed with Burton’s willingness to go above and beyond.
Especially when his ability to play in the halves, centre and forwards at a pinch has made him the perfect 18th man, even if the Bulldogs aren’t particularly happy to keep losing him to standby duties.
Canterbury have made the point that wider Origin squad members could easily be picked from NRL clubs who have the bye leading into Origin, or those players could at least be available at club-level before joining the state set-ups afterwards.
Burton would prefer to be playing too. And wryly noted “I’ve got experience,” when it came to the potential late call-up to Suncorp and preparing to play on short notice.
“You obviously want to play, I can’t lie and say I don’t want to or anything, but they made the right decision,” Burton said.
“NSW got the win and played really well at Suncorp, that was massive. I’m happy to always be a part of the group and keep pushing to play.”
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