Despite playing less than 40 matches for the Club, Brett Morris carved out an incredible career at the Roosters which included Premiership success and breaking records - cementing himself as one of the game's premier wingers.
Prior to his start in the Red, White and Blue, Morris conquered the NRL, winning a Premiership for St George Illawarra, a State of Origin shield for NSW and a World Cup for the Kangaroos, arriving in Bondi as a veteran still with the speed, competitiveness and courage that propelled him to the summit of the code.
Despite his prior achievements, Morris arrived at the Club via Canterbury-Bankstown in search of further success and hit the ground running in the Roosters' World Club Challenge match against English Champions Wigan Warriors in early 2019.
| Name: | Brett Morris |
| Nickname: | BMoz |
| DOB: | 23/08/1986 |
| Club Debut: | World Club Challenge 2019 vs Wigan Warriors |
| Roosters Player No. | 1182 |
| First-Grade Games for Club | 39 |
| First-Grade Points for Club | 120 from 30 tries |
| Premierships: | 2 (2010, 2019) |
| Representative Career: | 1 game for NSW Country 1 game for Prime Minister's XIII 2 games for NRL All Stars 15 State of Origin Matches for NSW 18 Test Matches for Australia |
| Individual Accolades: | Dally M Top Tryscorer (2009) Fourth All-Time Tryscorer in NRL History Two-Time World Club Challenge Man of the Match (2011, 2019) NRL Team of the Decade (2010s) First Recorded Player to Score Back-to-Back Hat-Tricks to Start a Season (Rounds 1 and 2, 2021) |
The charging winger - filling in at centre - scored the first try just three minutes in, dashing past the defence to touch down in the corner. Five minutes later he was over again, breaking free from four defenders to score in a herculean effort that is still spoken about to this day.
With only half an hour gone, the Morris once again got over, pirouetting out of a tackle to score his hat-trick, and went on to claim man of the match honours as the boys from Bondi claimed the World Club Challenge in a 20-8 win.
Brett Morris Career Highlights
Morris scored his first NRL try in his new Club colours in the side's 26-18 win against Manly at Brookvale Oval, and despite being injured, would bounce back to form, scoring his first hat-trick as a Rooster in the 58-6 victory against the Gold Coast Titans in Round 20
In August that year, he was named in the NRL's Team of the Decade (2010s) on the wing, and proved his credentials further by helping the Red, White and Blue to the Premiership, scoring seven tries in his fifteen appearances for the season.
Season 2020 was one to celebrate for the Morris family, as twin brother Josh arrived in Round 3 to re-join Brett at Club level. The pair dominated their opponents with 23 tries between them as the Roosters put in an admirable performance in their hunt for a hat-trick of Premierships, which included yet another World Club Challenge victory.
Ageing like a fine wine, few could predict the feats he would reach in just eight matches in the 2021 season.
Morris contributed heavily to the Roosters' 46-4 victory over Manly, scoring three tries en route to the Club's biggest-ever first-round win.
He then became the first recorded player in history to score hat-tricks in consecutive weeks to open the season, tearing the Wests Tigers apart at Campbelltown as the Tricolours recorded another emphatic win.
After the first month of the season, Morris amassed an incredible eleven tries in just five games - etching his name in the record books once more as he climbed to fourth in the NRL's all-time try-scoring ranks with 176 four-pointers.
In a cruel end to his career, Morris sustained an ACL rupture in the final few minutes of the Roosters' emphatic 38-4 victory against the Newcastle Knights, however, to his credit, there is one silver lining in his final top-grade match:
I will always be proud to have captained the side in what was my final match.
Brett Morris On his final NRL match
Announcing his retirement in June 2021 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Morris was grateful for his Red, White, and Blue career, which he hopes to extend in the form of a coaching career.
"Not everybody gets to go out on their own terms, but looking back over my career, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities I’ve had, and I hang up the boots a very proud and content man, knowing that the time is right," he said.
"Since I first walked through the door in late 2018, I have been challenged every day, but because of that, I’ve also had some of my most enjoyable memories on and off the footy field."
Brett Morris Retirement Announcement
Sydney Roosters Head Coach Trent Robinson was full of praise for the veteran winger, saying: "It was a blessing to have him play at this Club for three years and to see the way he played and he can continue to pass that on."
With 30 tries and 36 linebreaks from 39 appearances in the famous Tricolours, as well as a Premiership and two World Club Challenge victories, Brett Morris will be remembered by generations of Roosters Members and fans as the premier winger.
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