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Adrian Morley, how tough?


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By all accounts, Morley is one of the most respected props in the game and one of the few that the Aussies give recognition to. But comments by several contemporaries give the impression he couldn't hold his own in a fight. Wondering why this is? A tough as nails player who played in the most physical, fronting-up position, an enforcer, feared by so many. 

Barry McDermott - puts him in his top 13 of all time, then states he 'couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag'

Peacock in his autobiography says similar

A young Terry Newton in his autobiography mentions chinning Morley on a team bonding session in blackpool. 

I'm sure I've read other examples.

I know it's a very puerile thread and Morley would swat me away with his little finger etc etc. I just find it odd for someone to have a fundamental requirement to smash someone physically for their job to then have such a seemingly weak reputation for transferring that aggression otherwise 

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12 minutes ago, philipw said:

Maybe because physically dominating your opponent isn't always about fighting?

Indeed. Totally different disciplines. 

A lot of boxers (even the big guys) would be thrown around like rag dolls on a rugby pitch. But put them in a ring with a rugby player and it would be over in no time. They are all tough guys, but being tough and being a good fighter aren't the same thing. 

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9 hours ago, MZH said:

Indeed. Totally different disciplines. 

A lot of boxers (even the big guys) would be thrown around like rag dolls on a rugby pitch. But put them in a ring with a rugby player and it would be over in no time. They are all tough guys, but being tough and being a good fighter aren't the same thing. 

Agree, being physically tough and able to take a knock and crack on is different to wanting up punch someone to look like a big man or because you have a screw lose.

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Remember seeing an interview with Gordon Tallis when he was asked if he was ever scared of an opponent on the pitch. He said no but then just as the interviewer was about to move on to the next question he said well apart from Moz. Something along the lines of you always have to keep an eye out for him. 

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'Toughness' and the ability to play through pain are key qualities of pro RL players. There are plenty of highly skilled players in the grassroots game, many with abilities greater than many pros. But because they're not as impervious to hurt and maybe lack a degree of resilience, they don't progress all the way. 

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please who are these losers.   morley was imo the best english forward in the australian game.  i never saw ward so cant comment.  as much as a like burgess he didnt do much during much of the season for many games.

morley was genuinely feared.  he was probably the best forward at the time.

i think the roosters letting him go was a major reason for their downfall.  

other players like ellis came and starred then after two years got tired of it.  morely was always there bashing people.

what a player.

That's not a replay.  They were consecutive tackles 

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I remember a game at Headingley  Leeds v Warrington and Bailey ( yes I know ) crashed Into Mozza could hear the bang all round the ground.  The timing of the collision meant that Morley went down and Bailey was stood over him Mohammed Ali style how he did . Then for rest of the game it was Bailey who was shaken ,stunned and went missing,  Morley carried on his go forward and carrying as ever . That to me is toughness 

 Soon we will be dancing the fandango
FROM 2004,TO DO WHAT THIS CLUB HAS DONE,IF THATS NOT GREATNESSTHEN i DONT KNOW WHAT IS.

JAMIE PEACOCK

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21 minutes ago, fieldofclothofgold said:

I remember a game at Headingley  Leeds v Warrington and Bailey ( yes I know ) crashed Into Mozza could hear the bang all round the ground.  The timing of the collision meant that Morley went down and Bailey was stood over him Mohammed Ali style how he did . Then for rest of the game it was Bailey who was shaken ,stunned and went missing,  Morley carried on his go forward and carrying as ever . That to me is toughness 

It's a good example. I will not hear a bad word about Morley, and it was interesting that when he first signed for Wire people were trying to write him off as a flop as we do over here. He adapted his game when returning to the UK and managed to prolong his career. His toughness, quality of work and leadership through respect he commanded was outstanding. An absolute legend once he calmed down with some of the silly stuff.

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Seems people have got their knickers in a twist. Morley was an absolute beast on the pitch, of that there is no doubt.

I just find it humorous and somewhat paradoxical that a guy who had everything, built for probably the most physical sport of all, in the most physical position and at the top of his game "can't fight his way out of a paper bag".

And yes i would say physically dominating your opponent on the pitch is very transferable to dominating someone in a scrap. Just my opinion

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48 minutes ago, Hughsehhh said:

Seems people have got their knickers in a twist. Morley was an absolute beast on the pitch, of that there is no doubt.

I just find it humorous and somewhat paradoxical that a guy who had everything, built for probably the most physical sport of all, in the most physical position and at the top of his game "can't fight his way out of a paper bag".

And yes i would say physically dominating your opponent on the pitch is very transferable to dominating someone in a scrap. Just my opinion

maybe if he trained as a boxer he would throw better punches

maybe if fielden and newtown trained harder as rugby league players, they wouldve been as good as him

fielden made so much noises about going to the nrl and never did.  

anyway didnt a plonker like willie mason smash him and he didnt do a thing about it?

 

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My thoughts

- it’s all relative, he’ll be a better fighter than the average bloke and those named are pretty tough cookies

- they’re his ex team mates so I suspect winding him up a bit - in fact it might even be a jokey myth

- fighting’s a different skill to rugby.  I’ve got a very “tough” mate who finished a 100 mile race with a fractured vertebra but he’s a rubbish fighter

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2 hours ago, Wolford6 said:

When you play rugby, it's not the hard players you have to worry about. They've nothing to prove.

It's the psychos, who think they've got everything to prove.

And then there are players like Les Boyd that are a bit different...

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Talent is secondary to whether players are confident.

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48 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

maybe if he trained as a boxer he would throw better punches

maybe if fielden and newtown trained harder as rugby league players, they wouldve been as good as him

fielden made so much noises about going to the nrl and never did.  

anyway didnt a plonker like willie mason smash him and he didnt do a thing about it?

 

To be fair to Fielden he wasn’t in Morley’s class defensively but he was a much better ball carrier than him. 

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52 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

maybe if he trained as a boxer he would throw better punches

maybe if fielden and newtown trained harder as rugby league players, they wouldve been as good as him

fielden made so much noises about going to the nrl and never did.  

anyway didnt a plonker like willie mason smash him and he didnt do a thing about it?

 

Newtown ? If you mean Terry Newton I don't think anyone will doubt his ability or his hardness and Fielden was one of the hardest trainers in the sport and yes he didn't give the NRL a go but not everyone feels the need to move to Australia,his performances at Test level against the best players from Aust/NZ proved his quality and toughness.

Pretty hard to do anything when your knocked out with a dog shot from an 18 stone forward

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5 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Newtown ? If you mean Terry Newton I don't think anyone will doubt his ability or his hardness and Fielden was one of the hardest trainers in the sport and yes he didn't give the NRL a go but not everyone feels the need to move to Australia,his performances at Test level against the best players from Aust/NZ proved his quality and toughness.

Pretty hard to do anything when your knocked out with a dog shot from an 18 stone forward

So it was mason ? Oh Morley would be destroyed him.

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2 hours ago, Hughsehhh said:

Seems people have got their knickers in a twist. Morley was an absolute beast on the pitch, of that there is no doubt.

I just find it humorous and somewhat paradoxical that a guy who had everything, built for probably the most physical sport of all, in the most physical position and at the top of his game "can't fight his way out of a paper bag".

And yes i would say physically dominating your opponent on the pitch is very transferable to dominating someone in a scrap. Just my opinion

I was really surprised to find out recently that Tyson Fury was terrible at rugby........great singer though, so swings and roundabouts I guess. 

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Morley’s early years with the Roosters saw him wreak havoc on the opposition.  A few moments of daftness, especially in his last season, did not taint his efforts though.  

Imo it was his speed and fitness just as much as his aggression that made him a stand out.

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1 hour ago, aj1908 said:

So it was mason ? Oh Morley would be destroyed him.

The Fielden incident with Mason is mentioned in this decent article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50057123.

I always thought he was a bit of a bully who got 'found out' until I read this - he comes across well. He looked like he could still go a job in the Rob Burrow fundraiser on Sunday!

Morley gets a few mentions as well.

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plenty a big tough looking players of old,but most are such nice fellas and dont need to punch yer in mush for nowt, always liked mozza and he played tough but fair and a great bloke off pitch too,i remember when we got wardy from oldham and he were looking forward to the first game last season against toronto as he owed simms on for coming in 3rd man with knees when simms were at warrington and wardy at oldham, apparently he had said at the time to simms remember my face and nothing else. anyways 3 minutes in simms comes running with ball and whooshka wardy hit him body on body nowt dirty and simms dropped like a sack a spuds, we all though wow thats one hell of an hit and could see why after the story came out about before. both got on with game but doubt that would have happened with say sam barlow and keith mason.

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