New Rooster Morris expects to cop a hammering from Woods

Josh Morris expects three weeks of sledging from Aaron Woods ahead of his round five match against the Sharks to start when they attend TAFE together on Tuesday.

Morris made his final appearance for Cronulla in Saturday night’s 12-10 loss to Melbourne at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium and will join his twin Brett at Sydney Roosters on Monday.

The ex-NSW and Australian centre won’t have long before coming up against his former team-mates as the Sharks host the Roosters on April 12 and Morris knows what reception he can expect.

“I think you could have heard Aaron Woods out there tonight with no crowd so I am sure I am going to get hammered by him but it is all part of it,” Morris said.

“We go to TAFE together and he is into me there as well so I have got no doubt he will have his A game ready for me.

“We are doing our carpentry course and we go two nights per week so I am sure he will start warming me up on Tuesday.

“He will have me on the edge of my seat  for three weeks and get out there and absolutely give it to me.

“We are good mates so he is sad to see me go but he understands the reasons why.”

While excited for the chance to play alongside Brett again, Morris has mixed emotions about leaving Cronulla.

Despite two narrow losses to South Sydney and the Storm, he believes the Sharks are a team on the rise under the coaching of Josh Morris.

“It would have been nice to end with a win but it is a pretty young side and they would have learned the hard way in that last 10 minutes how to close out a game,” Morris said.

“I have had a very enjoyable 18 months at the Sharks and they are a great bunch of boys in that change room.

“They have got some great young talent and I think you saw Ronaldo [Mulitano] out there tonight, he was outstanding as was Sione [Katoa] on the wings, so they are in a good position.

“I think the Sharks pathways is probably one of the better ones, you see the young Sharks come through and progress to first grade so someone will come in and take my position, I have got no doubt about that.”

Cronulla coach John Morris said that boom centre Bronson Xerri (shoulder) was expected back for next Saturday night’s clash with Newcastle, along with strike second-rower Briton Nikora (knee).

Josh Dugan is also edging closer to his first appearance of the season after overcoming a knee problem, while Matt Moylan may return against the Roosters.

Captain Wade Graham failed to finish the match against the Storm but Morris said he was hopeful the foot injury that forced him from the field in the 67th minute was only minor.