Josh Dugan remains sidelined despite being cleared of mystery injury
Two MRI scans have cleared Cronulla’s highest-paid player Josh Dugan of a mystery knee injury, leaving coach John Morris desperate for answers.
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Josh Morris has emerged as the frontrunner to start the NRL season at fullback for Cronulla — less than 24 hours after having his wish to quit the club formally rejected.
And the Sharks’ highest-paid player, Josh Dugan, is no chance to feature in round one, relying on the advice of doctors to determine if he’s played his last game both in the Shire and the NRL.
On a turbulent day for Cronulla, Sharks coach John Morris went on the front foot.
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He declared Morris will remain at the Sharks this year after his release request to join the premiers was formally denied on Tuesday morning — and that surprisingly, the 34-year-old was a genuine contender to wear the No.1 jumper on March 14 for the Sharks’ season-opener against South Sydney.
The coach said injury concerns for outside backs Matt Moylan (hamstring), Bronson Xerri (off-season shoulder surgery) and Dugan (knee) meant that the veteran Morris had spent more time in pre-season training at fullback, than any other player at the club.
Moylan is an outside chance to gain some game time against Manly in the club’s final pre-season trial next month while Xerri is only a 50-50 chance to start the season due to his limited contact work.
“One hundred per cent (he could play at fullback in round one) — Josh is killing it, absolutely killing it,” Morris said.
“Moyza (Moylan) still has to prove he can back-up his games.
“At the moment he’s still not doing a full session — and granted, he’s ready, but we’re holding him back.
“Because as we saw last year, he only played 11 games and had four hammys (hamstring injuries) in the year.
“So we need to be smart about that and have a back-up plan.
“And so part of that back-up plan is definitely J-Moz (Morris) — and he’s been unreal there.
“Defensively he’s unbelievable. If you sit and watch any of our sessions and hear him talking out the back ... well, he showed today that he's ripping in.”
The Cronulla mentor said he felt it was imperative that being so close to the start of the season, the club stood their ground on not allowing Josh to join his brother Brett Morris, at the Roosters.
“I pulled him aside out of respect (before training) this morning and I let him know what the club position is,” the Sharks coach said.
“He’s obviously got some feelings to go and join his brother.
“But my role here as head coach is to keep this side together and to be not letting people just walk out the door.
“I’ve got to put the club and team first and I think he respects that.
“People are saying how are you going to cover the loss of (Paul) Gallen? Well, you don’t go and let one of your best leaders in Josh Morris walk out as well.
“Especially when we’ve lost Gallen, (Matt) Prior, (Sosaia) Feki, (Jayden) Brailey, (Kurt) Capewell ... it’s 1030 games of NRL experience that has left.
“And Josh makes it 1330 games. That’s more than some NRL teams put on the park.”
Asked how he felt the former Dragons and Bulldogs star would handle the club’s decision to reject his release request, the Cronulla coach said: “Knowing Josh Morris, he’s the ultimate professional who rips in, he helps all the young guys and leads from the front.
“I’m hoping this will be water off a ducks back for him.”
Of a greater concern for not just Morris, but the entire Cronulla club is the virtual non-existent impact of Dugan.
On a salary worth close to $900,000 this year, Dugan’s role at training on Tuesday was reminiscent of the past month, which included light jogging at the start of the session before he then retreated to watch his teammates from the grandstand.
Dugan has so far had two MRI scans on his knee, both of which have come back clear, but he says is stopping him from training.
Morris said he can give no clue as to when his top earner will be back playing.
“I’d just like clarity on what are we looking at,” Morris said.
“What's the diagnosis? Is it three weeks, four weeks out? Is it an operation, is it not an operation?
“That’s all I want as coach.
“It’s a medical complaint that we’re trying to manage and get some clarity around.
Asked has Dugan played his last game for Cronulla, Morris said: “It depends what the doctors say.
“Where he’s at right now is, he’s not able to train.
“I had hopes for him before Christmas to probably play in the Nines and be on track (for round one).
“At the moment, things would have to change pretty quick for him to be pulling the jumper on in round one.”
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The stocks of JMoz would improve considerably if named fullback. Morris has played centre for most of his career and falls into the category of “good at NRL but bad at SuperCoach”. He therefore starts relatively cheap for a player of his calibre. Morris averaged just 9.3 runs per game at centre last year but would up that considerably in the No.1 jersey.