John Morris was one of those unsung-hero types throughout his NRL career.
A Scone boy, he started his career at the Knights in 2001, but with a couple of blokes named Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus ahead of him as the club’s respective halfback and hooker, he made the move to Parramatta ahead of the 2003 season.
After 92 games with the Eels, he moved to the Tigers and played 72 games on the trot between 2007 and ‘09.
(In fact, he ended up playing 117 games straight for the Eels, Tigers and then Cronulla.)
His final years were spent at the Sharks, the only club where he managed to chalk up a century of games, in a career that netted exactly 300 first-grade appearances.
The magic 300 club – a milestone that only a handful have achieved.
Along the way, he played every position on the park, bar prop – a great indicator of someone with a firm ‘team first’ attitude.
And throughout it all, Morris just quietly went about his business. Never the most talented player, he instead had a great work ethic and squeezed every last drop of talent out of himself.
All of which is to say he’s exactly the kind of player who ends up making for a great coach.
So while his promotion at Cronulla may have come earlier than expected, as a result of Shane Flanagan’s deregistration, it’s no great surprise to see Morris getting a head coaching gig in the NRL.
But I wonder whether this is the right fit for him.
Having been part of the coaching set up at Cronulla since his retirement in 2014, Morris knows the club, its players and systems as well as anyone.
He also, surely, knows its attitude.
With Flanagan and Paul Gallen setting the tone, the Sharks have spent the past four or so years – since the fiasco that was their ASADA-plagued 2014 season – with a serious chip on their shoulders.
Andrew Fifita is the ultimate rugby league enigma – he has the patience of a four-year-old, the temperament of a 14-year-old, the gut of 44-year-old, and he’s one of the best props in the world. His attitude simply wouldn’t be tolerated anywhere else, yet even when he pointed directly at the coaches’ box and gave them a mouthful midway through a game last season, Flanagan and his staff were happy for him to suit up again the following week.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
Wade Graham is lauded for his cunning and guile, is in the top-tier of best ball-playing backrowers and has certainly come a long way off the field since his “I’m not here to paint a f–king picture” heyday. But he’s still the bloke who cheated on a coin toss and laughed about it later.
Is that really the kind of example the captain of your team should be setting? Flanagan seemed to think so, saying Graham was simply “too smart for them”.
I don’t think I really need to go rattle off Paul Gallen’s rap sheet – suffice to say it’s lengthy.
Yet Gallen, Graham and Fifita are the three men that Flanagan puts forward as his captains – his team’s leaders – on a weekly basis.
And so what? The proof is in the pudding – this pride in grubbiness has paid massive dividends, the Sharks having played finals footy every year since 2015 and famously bringing home a first-ever grand final victory in 2016.
By not only endorsing but encouraging a ‘f–k you’ attitude, Flanagan took the Sharks from ASADA-smashed wooden spooners to perennial title threats.
Clearly, it’s what works for the players at the club.
But will it work for John Morris?
Sure, he spent the last five years of his playing career in the Shire, but that was a time of flux, with four coaches in charge during that period – Morris actually wrapped up during James Shepherd’s brief tenure. The present attitudes were hardly set.
And yes, he’s been a loyal lieutenant to Flanagan, but an assistant coach rarely sets the tone. In fact, it’s generally seen as a better idea for the assistant to be a completely different kind of coach to the head honcho – it helps for the boss to occasionally be offered a different point of view.
Furthermore, Morris is never going to succeed trying to be ‘Flanno-lite’ – and he surely knows that. He needs to be his own man.
I just wonder whether he’s got the personality to get this club to fire. Whether he’s sufficiently scum-bag enough to get a team full of grubs to play at their bastardly, brilliant best.
In the simplest of terms, whether this ‘goodie’ can get a team of ‘baddies’ to win.
While I struggle to root for the Sharks, I want to get behind Johnny Morris. But I worry that a clash of personalities will see him end up as a one-season wonder.
James Ditchfield
Roar Rookie
I don't really think it matters about your personality so much as what kind of 'football brain' you have.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
Oh well, if there's an "article on the internet" about it it must be true! lol
Nat
Roar Guru
It will be interesting to see how Gallen plays this. Guys like Fifita and Dugan, once they believe Morris is a certain way, they are not going to change their minds and behave accordingly. Guys like Gallen can influence the next gen with his words and actions. Flanagan is done and not coming back and Morris played no part in that so he deserves every chance and respect from the players.
Nat
Roar Guru
No, none of those aspects are what i’m referring too. Especially the fans. To support a club is a personal choice based on 1000 different elements and socioeconomic background is a very small part. The Oakland team enjoyed success but were widely criticized for their grubby, dirty, bordering illegal play. The same can be argued for the Sharks under Flanagan’s rule. The actuality of this will pass but, like the Oakland team 40yrs on, that memory will remain.
AngryEagle47
Roar Rookie
Nathan brown is not a coach’s anything
BA Sports
Roar Guru
They may, but I think Nathan Brown was 30 or 31 when he started coaching. John Morris is 38. I don't claim to know either personally but I think John Morris at 38 is a fair bit more mature than Nathan Brown was at 30. He will have some challenges as it is widely known it was Flannagan and Gallen's team, so how he manages Gallen - who may be thinking about his potential coaching options in 2020 will be interesting. Gallen may not be the locker room champion he has to win over though. As the younger brigade come through and Gallen loses his power brother in Flanagan, maybe Gallen won't have as much pull and influence with the rest of the team.
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
If he is, then Fifita will walk all over him
Walter Penninger
Roar Guru
IS THIS ARTICLE GOOD OR BAD TIMING?
Busty McCracken
Guest
People have long memories , especially in this game. Melbourne will always be cheats , Manly are still the silver tails for gods sake. So while they may not be offences that should be jailed & even if you forget the whole peptide scandal. Josh Dugan.. repeat offender who you've surely got to understand would rub people the wrong way? Fifita. As above. Graham: cheated a toin coss. (Ask Warner smith or Bancroft how they feel about this being looked at as just being competitive.) Gallen. I'm a staunch nsw supporter and even I dont like the bloke. Carney .. bubbler As a team they pride themselves on loving to get into a scrap. Aka play dirty niggly footy. Support ya team by all means but understand there are reasons people don't like them
Hoy
Roar Guru
I always think coaches who come through with players... end up badly done by... Look at the list of recently retired players, trying to coach their former team mates... not many go well, at all.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Not sure about your comparison with the Oakland Raiders ? That franchise has struggled to establish itself in a permanent location and has shifted between San Francisco & LA locations over the years, and is now apparently moving to Las Vegas in two years ? But they have won 3 x Super Bowls in that time and have decent fan base. Perhaps you are referring to the "Raider Nation" fan base and their working class & tough image ? If so, I'm not sure you can compare the Shire fans to the gansta rappers & celebrities that follow the Raiders ?
Renegade
Roar Guru
2011 was his first year in charge....
Renegade
Roar Guru
There’s 2 players left in the squad from the 2011 team that got “done”... not really a “clean” argument.
Chipswithsauce
Guest
The whole team was done for drug cheating....not really very “clean”
Wayne Turner
Guest
Spot on and excellent comment on Brown when he coached the Dragons - What a waste that was,for both the Dragons and Brown.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
One of the reasons Nathan Brown struggled at the Dragons was he was trying to coach guys he had played with a couple of seasons prior. He was too close too them and was their mate more so than their coach. Had an unbelievable roster but couldn't win a comp with arguably the best squad in the NRL. Once he went overseas he went well. The Sharks may suffer the same fate having a coach that is also mates with his players.
Ronald M
Guest
I don't know about anti-merit but I do know that people are "elected" into positions at clubs that they are wholly unsuitable for. There are too many "older" style clubs that have voting mechanisms in place that allow an ill educated membership to elect individuals for all the wrong reasons. This is not the structure for clubs in the NRL with the size and influence they have today. Clubs need a proper corporate structure with mechanisms in place to protect against rogue individuals or "tickets". Its my view that all NRL clubs should be privatised maybe by listing on the stock market. That would force proper corporate goverance on these organisations.
Ronald M
Guest
I can't be bothered looking for the article but it is there. If you think that someone such as a charismatic coach cannot hold sway over a club board then you are very naive.
Greg
Guest
Exactly right David, the Sharks actually have the cleanest squad in the whole NRL. Here's a list of clubs that have at least one player in their current squad that has has been arrested or charged with a criminal offence: Brisbane, Canberra, Canterbury, Manly, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, Penrith, Souths, St George, Roosters, Warriors, Tigers. That leaves the Sharks, Storm, and Titans as clubs that haven't got any players who have ever been arrested or charged (although Josh Ado Carr was charged with assault and spent a night in prison for breaching bail before he made it to the NRL), but unlike the Storm and Titans the Sharks don't have any players ever caught snorting coke on camera which makes them the cleanest squad in the NRL.
Sam
Guest
Wrong. Flanagan was a rookie coach when the peptide thing happened, a rookie coach has absolutely zero power at a club. To try and say he had power over the board and CEO is ludicrous. I see you're back to your old "I read it in the internet somewhere" sources.