Coming into Round 21 of the NRL season, Burton had experienced a few quiet weeks in the halves after excelling in the centres earlier in the year including scoring a hat-trick against the Rabbitohs in Dubbo.

Saturday's performance was arguably Burton's best in the halves in his short career, the former St Johns and Dubbo CYMS junior scored two tries, running for over 200 metres while as well as having three line-breaks and seven tackle breaks.

READ ALSO:

Both Burton's tries were a showcase of his skill, the first was set-up by Viliame Kikau who threw a long ball to the Dubbo native who raced down the sideline before stepping inside NSW Blues and Roosters fullback to race away while his lethal left foot step saw him evade five defenders to score.

After the match, Penrith coach Ivan Cleary was pleased with the performance of Burton who is filling in for injured halfback Nathan Cleary.

"Matt was terrific today," he said.

"I think he'd probably admit that over the last few weeks he has been a little bit quiet. He just ran the ball, forced a beautiful ball from Viliame Kikau and when he gets in space you can see what he can do."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: