The mystery rich-lister on stand-by to fly Matt Burton in for Origin duty
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.
After two games with Souths in 2002, Maas took a $14,000 bank loan, a bobcat and a tip truck and started a $1.5 billion construction materials and equipment company – which has since seen the 45-year-old's estimated worth 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.
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Sexton, meanwhile, has been a steady and reliable presence at halfback for the resurgent Bulldogs on their charge into premiership calculations this season. But even as a difficult call looms, Ciraldo said his two options would not be pitted against one another this Sunday. "There's no shootout, there's an opportunity to get two points against a really hard-working South Sydney team," Ciraldo said. "I feel like we've created a really good environment here where we're developing better people and better players every day. "The only thing we ask is that they put the team first, and that's what 17 players will do this week." Ciraldo also insisted off-contract Sexton remained content at the Bulldogs, despite the mid-season arrival of Galvin appearing to threaten his future at the club. "You wouldn't have found a happier guy than Toby Sexton after that win. There is a lot of bullcrap (speculation) that goes on out there," Ciraldo said. "But we just have a laugh about it and get on with it." Along with Manly and the Sydney Roosters, the Bulldogs are among three teams without any byes before any of the Origin fixtures. Kurt Mann, Max King, Stephen Crichton and Burton are all missing against the Rabbitohs, the Bulldogs' second of three games without their Origin contingent. Canterbury suffered a 36-point thrashing from a Dolphins side missing only one representative player in the first of their Origin-affected games last month. But Ciraldo shrugged at the fixturing quirk, pointing out the Bulldogs had it easier in other ways. Canterbury are spared a trip to Auckland this year, and leave Sydney only twice after the Origin period. "The scheduling ends up working itself out in the end,'' Ciraldo said. "We've had less travel, but we miss guys for those games and that's all right. "By the end of the year, you play 24 games, you play all the opposition. To be in the finals series, you've got to deal with all these things." Cameron Ciraldo insists he won't look at Canterbury's clash with South Sydney as a shootout between Lachlan Galvin and Toby Sexton for the Bulldogs' coveted halfback spot. Mid-season signing Galvin has been promoted to the starting line-up for his second Bulldogs game amid the State of Origin-enforced absence of five-eighth Matt Burton. But when he returns for round 17, coach Ciraldo will need to choose between superstar teen Galvin and Sexton as first-choice halfback to partner five-eighth Burton. Sexton was shifted to hooker to accommodate former Wests Tigers star Galvin coming on from the bench at halfback during Monday's defeat of Parramatta. And for all the speculation that the versatile Galvin could play in the back-line or back row at the Bulldogs, Ciraldo admitted after the match that the teenager's position of choice was in the halves. Sexton, meanwhile, has been a steady and reliable presence at halfback for the resurgent Bulldogs on their charge into premiership calculations this season. But even as a difficult call looms, Ciraldo said his two options would not be pitted against one another this Sunday. "There's no shootout, there's an opportunity to get two points against a really hard-working South Sydney team," Ciraldo said. "I feel like we've created a really good environment here where we're developing better people and better players every day. "The only thing we ask is that they put the team first, and that's what 17 players will do this week." Ciraldo also insisted off-contract Sexton remained content at the Bulldogs, despite the mid-season arrival of Galvin appearing to threaten his future at the club. "You wouldn't have found a happier guy than Toby Sexton after that win. There is a lot of bullcrap (speculation) that goes on out there," Ciraldo said. "But we just have a laugh about it and get on with it." Along with Manly and the Sydney Roosters, the Bulldogs are among three teams without any byes before any of the Origin fixtures. Kurt Mann, Max King, Stephen Crichton and Burton are all missing against the Rabbitohs, the Bulldogs' second of three games without their Origin contingent. Canterbury suffered a 36-point thrashing from a Dolphins side missing only one representative player in the first of their Origin-affected games last month. But Ciraldo shrugged at the fixturing quirk, pointing out the Bulldogs had it easier in other ways. Canterbury are spared a trip to Auckland this year, and leave Sydney only twice after the Origin period. "The scheduling ends up working itself out in the end,'' Ciraldo said. "We've had less travel, but we miss guys for those games and that's all right. "By the end of the year, you play 24 games, you play all the opposition. To be in the finals series, you've got to deal with all these things."
