The Canterbury Bulldogs have announced a huge player coup, signing St George Illawarra winger Brett Morris on a four-year deal.
The signing will see Morris join the club from 2015 until the end of 2018, and join his brother and Kangaroos and Blues teammate Josh in moving from the Dragons.
The move had been touted for a long time, but today it has been made official, with the Bulldogs adding to the side that managed to make it all the way to the 2014 NRL Grand Final.
Morris has scored 112 tries in 169 first grade games, and has one of the best strike rates in the game. With no big-name fullback on the books for 2015, it remains to be seen whether Morris will remain on the wing, or move to the back, a position he has expressed his preference for in the past.
The Bulldogs heirarchy were understandably pleased with the signing, with Raelene Castle saying the capture of the other Morris was “a significant signing for the club.”
“To be able to get a player of Brett’s calibre and profile is exciting. We look forward to him joining the squad in preparation for the 2015 season,” Castle said.
Coach Des Hasler echoed Castle’s sentiments..
“Brett is an experienced player that has played at the highest level and we are keen to get him into our set-up and be part of our squad for next season and beyond,” Hasler said.
Josh Morris seemed extremely pleased about the prospect of playing with his twin on a regular basis at club level.
“We obviously played footy together since we were six and although I chose a different path back 2009 when I decided to come to the Bulldogs, it is great that we will be able to go out there together every week and do what we love,” Josh said.
“He is a great player and I believe he will fit into the culture we have here at Belmore very easily.”
Muzz
Guest
Ken, Both those players are contracted to the end of 2017 on those amounts - Moylan $400k Tedesco $450k a year. Would you take Moylan and Sam Moa or Dugan for the same money? """"""""""""""""" Adam Reynolds and SKD or Marshall for the same money? It's clear that the club is paying over"s for a number of players hence the panic.The current formula/model isn't working based on 2014 results.
peeeko
Roar Guru
moylan is on 400k? when did he sign?
Renegade
Guest
Not when no other club wanted him.... I can't see how anyone could justify paying someone $750k when everyone else offered him zero. His not a good fullback, he is a brilliant ball runner but could not pass to save himself.... that's why Mary shifted him.
Ken
Guest
Both those guys played great this year but this was effectively their rookie seasons. Great talents, who could well be on million dollar salaries in a couple of years but Dugan, who is a proven performer (rocky off-field history aside) with 100 club games and now a fixture at Origin (fullback just opened up too), surely fits pretty neatly between them and the megastars
Jt dragon
Guest
Happy for bmoz .... Not happy for us. Although I do think it'll take him a while to grasp the fb position. He wasn't great when he played there in the red v. I predict he'll stay in the number 2 jersey. And why wouldn't he with jmoz inside him. That will probably be the best edge in the comp. especially defensively. Bmoz is known for his finishing but his defense will be missed. I'm disappointed but I think it was a necessary evil for the greater good ...... If it's managed properly from here on. Beale , Farrell & quinlan will all go as well I suspect but we need to go back to ground zero
Xnowmann
Guest
Almost right except we are not bringing Liccha over to play in reggies. He will be our hooker.
Gappy
Guest
Possible dog line up next year 1. Perrett 2. B. Morris 3. J. Morris 4. Lafai 5. Thompson 6. Reynolds 7. Hodkinson 8. Tolman 9. Mbye 10. Graham 11. Jackson 12. Pritchard 13. Eastwood 14. Big Sammy 15. Klemmer 16. T Rex 17 Funicane What do people think?????
byrner
Guest
Or just maybe the 1/2 and 5/8 can set up the outside men as the have been for 100yrs. Its only a new thing for FBs to play as an extra 5/8.
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
right, but your entire backline will be useless with bmoz at the back cause he's useless at setting up his outside men. R the outside backs all of a sudden gonna be putting themselves into space?
Muzz
Guest
Ken http://www.zerotackle.com/nrl/rugby-league/players/james-tedesco/ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/matchwinner-matt-moylan-is-poised-to-become-penriths-next-1-million-star/story-fni3gfvk-1227029613671
Benchwarmer
Guest
I was referring to the entire back line not just bmozz
Ken
Guest
Who knows really? I don't think he was heart-broken about it or anything - my comment was a bit of a throwaway. 'The team decided' that Nightingale offered more. Morris had some great games at fullback, on the kick return and in broken field play his tackle breaking power and speed can be compared to Inglis or Hayne. Those guys though have a whole other side of their game, theoretically a couple of key injuries in last years WC and either of them could have been thrown an Australian no.6 jersey (and probably won man of the match). Half the forward pack would have to be injured in a club game before Morris's name came up for a halves spot.
Ken
Guest
I think we're mostly on the same page. Dugan the centre is being paid too much. I think the Dugan the fullback can justify it though, he is not the fullback those guys are but if you use them as a benchmark then 30-40% less is about right. I'd be surprised if either Moylan or Tedesco were on that much right now (did they sign new contracts this year?), but unless they get hit with second year syndrome, next contract they will be looking for money in the Dugan range.
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
he'll be dangerous from kick returns, but a fullback who can't set up his outside men is useless
Christian D'Aloia
Roar Guru
I suppose that's true, but I still think the statement "BMozz at the back will trouble many teams” is true because of his pace and excellent support play. He'll be an improvement on Perrett, regardless.
Christian D'Aloia
Roar Guru
Yeah that's fair enough, I was just thinking that this time around he'll have actually spent the pre-season getting ready for fullback instead of being thrown in there.
Muzz
Guest
I think Stockwell has also been released.
Muzz
Guest
Morris started well at fullback but as the season wore on he struggled with all the running and extra work in general.His form dipped and was moved back to the wing. He's 2 years older now and the game is 5 times the speed under the new rules so i can't see him managing any better this time round.I'm not bagging the guy, just responding to your question.
Renegade
Guest
Every player at the dragons is being played overs..... Dugan is without doubt the biggest culprit then Benji and the two wingers.... well they've got rid of one - unfortunately for the dragons he was probably the best of the bunch.
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
you recall incorrectly.He played well against the Tigers who were absolute garbage and he had his moments running the ball (as one would expect from the best winger in the world) but when it came to setting up his outside men he was pretty useless