Sydney Roosters winger Brett Morris confirmed he and brother Josh were close to finalising a new deal to continue their friendly try-scoring rivalry for another season with the back-to-back premiers.
The Morris twins crossed for two tries apiece in the same match for the first time in their NRL careers as the Roosters downed the Wests Tigers 38-16 at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night and Brett admitted afterwards that they spurred each other on to score.
“Obviously if Josh gets one out there on the field I am going. ‘well I need to get one now’, so there is that rivalry there but it has never been anything more than a bit of fun,” Brett said.
“We like scoring tries but that is the first time that [both brothers scoring twice] has happened since we were 20-odd years old so that is cool.”
Brett’s 164th career try put him to equal fifth with Terry Lamb on the overall premiership try scoring list and he needs just two more tries to surpass Andrew Ettingshausen (165), while Josh is now 18th after surpassing Steve Renouf with his 143rd try.
Match Highlights: Wests Tigers v Roosters
With the pair poised to play on next season, Brett now has third-placed Steve Menzies record of 180 tries in his sights, while Josh needs 12 more tries to move into the top 10.
“We are both competitive guys and obviously we enjoy scoring tries but we don’t look at the records or that sort of stuff,” Brett said.
“We are footballers and we go out there to try and do our job to the best of our ability and if scoring tries is part of it that is what you are going to do.
“Obviously we are still enjoying our footy and love getting out there and ripping in. Those tries are bonuses.”
While Brett joined the Roosters last year, Josh only arrived in May after gaining a release from Cronulla to play with his brother for what was expected to be their final season.
However, both are playing so well that a new deal that will see the twins, who turn 34 on Sunday, play into their 35th year with the Roosters.
“Nothing has been finalised at this stage but we are both enjoying our footy,” Brett said.
“We love going into training every day, we have got a really great group of fellows there and obviously the staff there make going to work every day a pleasure.
“The end is only around the corner so you want to enjoy as much of it as you can. For myself personally it has probably been the favourite two years of my rugby league career. I have really enjoyed it.”
Brett Morris scores on the right edge
Roosters coach Trent Robinson is also enjoying watching the Morris brothers play and he remarked in the coach’s box that he wished he had coached them 10 years earlier.
“It looks like they have grown up playing footy since they were four and it looks like they have watched a lot of footy along the way,” Robinson said.
“They have thought about it, put it in the memory bank and they have bought it out along the way.
“For any young footy player that wants to be an outside back come to the game and watch them. Don’t just watch them on television, watch them move, watch them make decisions.
Josh Morris joins Brett with a double
“When other people are walking, they will make these decisions that will put them in good positions to score tries, to save tries … they are the ideal guys to watch play footy.
“They just know how to find the try-line and they just get into positions and do that. There is a little bit of space and the ball bounces, and they are there to pick it up and score.
“I expected this season to probably be it for them. I’d like to think that we gave them a new lease of life as well in the way they enjoy their footy and they gave us a way in which we play outside backs in a certain way.”