Once seen as a key part of Australia's future on the international stage, the attacker has spent the past few seasons leading a nomadic existence as a footballer.
After two successful years with Adelaide United from 2006-2008, stops in Greece, Korea and Newcastle didn't provide him with a long-term home but he has arrived in Wellington and made a promising start to the new A-League campaign with the Phoenix.
He scored the winning goal during last Saturday's 2-1 victory over Central Coast and looked dangerous without finding the back of the net during the Phoenix's season-opener against Perth two weeks ago.
The thing that's easy to forget about Burns is that he's still only 26.
"The media can say I didn't live up to expectations but I'm quite happy with where I've been," Burns said. "My career's been pretty good so far and I'm only 26, so there's a lot to go.
"A lot of people say I haven't kicked on, or whatever, but I'm pretty comfortable with where I am at. I'm pretty proud of my honours. It's just as you get better, there are higher expectations."
Burns has quite a list of honours. He played for Australia at numerous age-group levels and has also been capped seven times by the Socceroos.
Softly-spoken with the look of a surfer, Burns is the type of player who fits into Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick's system.
Merrick values players who can hold possession and play with the ball, which suits the diminutive Burns.
It was the two unsuccessful years that Burns spent in Korea that damaged his reputation the most as his stay at Incheon United was punctuated by 10 months out with a knee injury.
"It's character building, definitely," he said of his Korean sojourn. "If you get injured for 10 months, it doesn't matter what club you're at, you're not playing. I've matured as a player and learned a lot from the Korean style of football."
A loan stint with Newcastle during the last A-League season proved he could still play at this level and Merrick wasn't worried about his past.
"He's still only 26 so he's got a big future ahead of him, probably another eight or nine years, and he's back to playing quality football on a regular basis," Merrick said.
Despite having not played for Australia since 2011, he would love to force his way back into the national side ahead of January's Asian Cup.
"I'm always there or thereabouts for the Socceroos -- basically I'm on the fringe," he said. "So if I can string some games together and some goals then I put myself in with the best chance to be back in that squad. But that's not really my focus. Basically it's just winning here."
And that's exactly what Burns and Wellington hope to do against the Newcastle Jets at Westpac Stadium today.
- By Daniel Richardson of APNZ
