Josh Morris (rugby league)

Josh Morris

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Anthony Morris
Born	(1986-08-23) 23 August 1986 Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–08 St. George Illawarra 46 20 0 0 80 2009–18 Canterbury Bulldogs 214 101 0 0 404 2019- Cronulla Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 Total 260 121 0 0 484 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–12 Country Origin 3 0 0 0 0 2008–13 Prime Minister's XIII 3 3 0 0 12 2009–16 New South Wales 14 5 0 0 20 2009–14 Australia 6 4 0 0 16 2010 NRL All Stars 1 1 0 0 4
As of 4 March 2018 Source: [1][2]

Joshua Morris (born 23 August 1986) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition. He is a New South Wales State of Origin representative backline player.

Background

Morris was born in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia.

Josh is the twin brother of Brett Morris who plays for the Bulldogs, both having previously played for the St George Illawarra Dragons. They are the sons of former 1970s St George Dragons, New South Wales and Australian rugby league representative Steve Morris.

St George Illawarra

Following his 2007 first grade debut, he played two seasons for the St George Illawarra Dragons in a variety of backline positions, his preferred position being left centre.

He joined the Bulldogs for the 2009 NRL season in the hope of securing a permanent starting spot in the centres.^[3] Injury permitting, Josh achieved this throughout the season.

He made his representative debut for Country in the 2007 City vs Country Origin match. In 2008, he played wing in the Australian Prime Minister's XIII side in its match against Papua New Guinea.

Canterbury-Bankstown

Josh Morris (left) with father Steve (centre) and brother Brett (right)

Morris moved to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for the 2009 NRL season. In the 2009 State of Origin series Josh was named in the 40 man New South Wales preliminary squad for State of Origin. He was then selected for game 2 and 3, having missed the first game through injury. Morris made his State of Origin debut for NSW 31 years to the day that his dad Steve had made his only test appearance for Australia in 1978.

He was selected in the 24-man squad for the Gilette Four Nations Tour at the end of the 2009 season and made his international debut for Australia against France at Charlety Stadium in Paris on 7 November, scoring two tries playing inside his brother Brett, who also scored twice.

In Round 3 of the 2010 NRL season, he scored the first 4-try haul of his first grade career in the Bulldogs' 60–14 drubbing of the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.

Josh Morris was selected to play on the right wing against Wales in the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations.

At the 2012 Dally M Awards Morris was named the NRL's centre of the year.^[4]. Morris played in The 2012 grand final loss to Melbourne at Centre and nearly scored a try which would have brought Canterbury back into the game but the ball was knocked out of his hands by Melbourne fullback Billy Slater^[5]. Morris played for Canterbury in The 2014 NRL grand final loss to Souths at centre^[6]. On July 10 2018, Morris signed a two year deal to join Cronulla starting in 2019 due to the salary cap crisis at Canterbury where the club needed to offload players. Morris was in talks with the Gold Coast Titans but ultimately decided to join Cronulla as he would have a chance to play under coach Shane Flanagan.^[7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Josh Morris (rugby league).

• Canterbury Bulldogs profile
• Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs profile