Sally said:

The rest of this thread will probably start into a bitching thread about us signing Myler and Ratchford etc but in response to that I just want to make this point.

Morley is pretty unique in terms of his durability, not just because he's so good so old but because of how young he was when he started. Morley was playing for Leeds in the 1994/95 season and playing for Great Britain in 1996.

Look at what happened to the other top forwards that started so young: Farrell, Scully, Fielden, they were all great players but in their 30s they were a shadow of the players they were at their peak, in Scully's case to be fair he was still a great player in the occasions he could get on the pitch, but his final few years he was injured all the time. You could say the same about Mike Gregory too, his final few seasons injuries had taken their toll. These players have been rock hard forwards but their bodies took so much punishment it took its toll, beyond the age of 29 these players were not what they were. They have not been able to shake off bad injuries.

In Morley's case he's had some serious injuries in the past few years but has come back from them and if you add up all the batter he has taken (factoring in the years in the NRL on their hard grounds against all their top players) he must have had more hits and collisions than anybody.

Morley's durability is just incredible. The only player in recent years that I can think of that compares is Ruben Wiki.

I reckon its a combination of three things
1) he has looked after his body better than anybody
2) his technique is very good so he has been efficient in all these collisions
3) he is just hard

It has been a privilege to have had Moz as Wire captain

Absolutely spot on Sal !!

I would add to that, that I think he is probably the best signing ever for wire. And to think, its only a couple of seasons
back, several of our "intelligentia" on this site were saying he was a waste of spacee and a waste of money.

I wondeer if they are still of the same opinion ?

Morley was the most feared and respected player in the NRL for several years. When he is on the field, the oposition
have to take that into account. He is the ultimate Enforcer.

Only wish there was an up and coming replacement in sight.

Best signing ever will be a contentious point, there would be guys like Brian Bevan in the mix. Even in the SL era you could make a case for Briers, Westwood or Michael Monaghan as being the best signing of the SL era but Morley would be up there with any of them.

When we signed Morley on a 4 year deal there was a bit of a gamble. Other clubs were after him and at the time (2006) we were a less attractive prospect in terms of trophy prospects than the others so we had to offer a bit extra to get him, which was offering him the security of a 4 year deal where nobody else was willing to offer more than 2. This was a risk. Nobody knew how long his form or fitness would hold out and I remember a lot of predictions being that he would have one or two good years then fade in the last couple of years of his contract due to injury or age catching up with him. It's easy to look back now and say look how wrong those people look now but it was fair to have doubts at the time. It was a gamble that paid off. Most of those seasons he's been Man of Steel contender.

But Morley's impact for us has gone over and above his form. The last few years we have appeared a lot more professional as a club than we did in the late 90s or early 2000s, when there were all the stories of drinking culture etc. He was one of the game's legends before he joined us so he has always had everyones respect and his professionalism and commitment gets copied by the others. Having him as captain instead of Briers was a good move and Briers has played his best rugby since Morley's been here and been a leader in a different way.

Of course Tony Smith is the main man for making the club what it is today but it will have been a lot easier for him to come in to a club where Morley was in the dressing room and on the field spreading his influence on what it means to have a good attitude.

Also as a Wire fan, I am so glad Moz has stayed with us so long. We aren't just a 2 year footnote at the end of his career like we were for say Langer, he's been with us longer than he was the Roosters and the same time he was at Leeds, he's won more trophies with us than at his other clubs, and he's lifted those trophies as captain which he didn't at the other clubs. So when Morley's career goes down in history he will be regarded as a Warrington legend not just a legend that came to play for Warrington.

Don't you just bloody love Moz? I love it when he's on the pitch or when he comes off the bench. The lift it gives the crowd is amazing. Imagine how deflated the opposition must feel seeing Moz getting ready to come on.
Happy Valentines day Moz love Warrington

I love watching other players "tough guys" take pot shots at the majority of our forwards even Westwood...(Hock and Wilkin in particular) but they never take on Morley. Its the only thing that dissapoints me about Moz!

And I have to Say - different eras I know - but I saw more people attempt to "take on" Les Boyd than have attempted to take on Moz. A tremendous player and goes in my Wire all time greats team with ease.....

anyway back on Topic I thought it was a stupid stunt by Kashkow - waltzing up to the challenge cup holders grand finalists and favourites for both titles this year and asking to take the Club captain off their hands......two games into the start of the season.


I suppose you have to admire that he had the nuts to do it but I do think he's come out of looking quite stupid. "They wont be held to ransom" but then ask a club to name their price.



I think he will stay and if I can be totally disrespectful to Salford If he went there he would be unlikely to feature in the world cup this year......which is why he will see out one more year with us.......

Koukash often goes out and buys horses which he thinks will be able to win him particular races. Evidently, he needs to learn that a similar approach may not quite work in rugby league.

Why not? Simon Moran did it.

I remember people saying Warrington couldn't "buy trophies". Obviously our success was due to our great youth system and developing fantastic young home grown talent like Atkins, Myler and Ratchford.

If Koukash doesn't go out and sign at least 8 top class international standard players, Salford will not win anything, their current squad is rubbish. He is doing the right thing by targeting big name players, we went out and got Morley so why shouldn't they?

In his book Morley confirms that Wigan also offered him 4 years on comparable terms to Warrington's offer.

Looks like the Take That tickets was the deal clincher then.

This was 2006 when Wigan were in a relegation fight so they might not have been able to guarantee him SL rugby at that time.

I think losing the Grand Final last year means Moz still has unfinished business at Warrington. He has won every club honour in the game in both professional leagues, but his GF win was as a cameo end of season loan player. Yes, it would have been a fairytale at the time, and no one can take that ring away from him, but I'm sure lifting the trophy as captain of his own team would mean more to him.

We're bookies favourites, and although I accept that guarantees nothing, why would he throw the opportunity away by signing for Salford, unless ludicrous money is involved? He's hardly gonna be on a low wage here as it is.

A combination of wanting to lift that trophy, plus World Cup ambitions, should keep him here this year, but if Salford offer better terms next year and he decides then to see his career out in his home town that would be easier to understand. Right now though he has too much to play for.

I love Moz and Sal's point about his durability is spot on.

However, I take it those deifying him for drinking water and helping see off 'the drinking culture' haven't bothered with his autobiography? He's had more than a few skinfuls in his long career, and no less so while at Warrington.