Pushy parents and a wife who wouldn’t let him quit: The making of Morgan Harper

Responsibility came early for young Bulldogs star Morgan Harper, so it was no surprise to see the towering centre do what had to be done for his team. Now he’s looking to do it every round this year.

Morgan Harper of the Bulldogs during the NRL Nines 2020 tournament at HBF Park in Perth, Friday, February 14, 2020. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Long before he was the man who upset an NRL Nines juggernaut, Morgan Harper was a teenage dad.

At 17, the father of twin boys Ryder and Leo.

Which was no easy thing for this towering New Zealand kid, sure.

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Morgan Harper scored the winning try for the. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

But nor was it so bad as two years later, when having crossed the ditch to play with Canterbury U/20s, Harper suffered bouts of homesickness so bad, the young centre eventually went home one weekend with no plans to return.

“But my parents, my missus, they really pushed me to get back over to the Dogs,” he says. “Pushed me to keep working.

“So that’s what I’m doing.

“This how I encourage my boys, when they get older, to go chase their own dreams too.”

💙 Bulldog's debutant Morgan Harper received his jersey in an emotional presentation before kick off.#NRLBulldogsBroncos#proudtobeabulldog pic.twitter.com/fabQ3wd5ZA

— Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (@NRL_Bulldogs) September 7, 2019

Unknown to all but the most hardcore Canterbury fans, 21-year-old Harper is the towering Bulldogs rookie who – with just one NRL game – went and proved the difference against $5.50 TAB favourite Parramatta.

Put simply, nobody thought the Eels could lose in Perth this weekend.

Just as nobody believed the Bulldogs could win.

Yet with only five minutes gone in their pool game against one another, Harper dived under teammate Tao Mata’afa, took a sweet pass, then “fell over the tryline”.

All of which, on day one, made this father of now four-year-old twins the unlikeliest hero as his Bulldogs scrambled home 13-10.

“And we know nobody’s giving us a chance here,” Harper said afterwards, grinning. “Just as no one is giving us a chance this year.

“But that’s going to bring out the Bulldogs DNA, I reckon.

“We’ve got our backs to the wall and that’s when the Bulldogs perform best, when no one is giving us a chance.

“And now to come out and win the first game here, especially against the competition favourites, it’s going only to give us more confidence.”

Morgan Harper in action for the Bulldogs during the 2018 NRL Intrust Super State Championship Grand Final. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Earlier in the week at a Nines media day, The Daily Telegraph polled all 16 captains about who would win the Nines – with 10 of them tipping a Parramatta outfit that are also $4 for the NRL premiership.

And while the Eels are still capable of making it through to the playoffs, the scenario is certainly much harder now after the Bulldogs centre few people know touched down against them.

Quizzed on the try that sunk an Eels side boasting the likes of Mitchell Moses, Blake Ferguson and Maika Sivo, the Dogs rookie said: “I’d actually pushed out onto the wing, on the short side, because we had some fresh legs on.

“Then Tao, he came my way.

“He was running me out of room so I just went underneath and he gave me a great ball.

“He found me with the pass and from there I basically fell over the line.”

Asked about his goals for 2020, Harper revealed he wasn’t the type of NRL hopeful who names the number games he wants to play.

“I just want to play every week,” he said. “Play for as long as I can, too.

“And if that comes about in Round One, great.”

But if not?

“Then,” he said, “I work harder”.

Originally published as Pushy parents and a wife who wouldn’t let him quit: The making of Morgan Harper