By Sarah Keoghan
Trent Robinson believes Brett Morris will make a quick transition into coaching with the Roosters after the former Origin star officially hung up his boots on Monday.
With his family and teammates watching on, Morris announced his retirement from rugby league after suffering a season-ending ACL injury last month.
Morris is keen to pursue a future in coaching and has already moved into a mentoring role with the Roosters. He will spend the rest of his 2021 season learning the ropes before becoming a development coach for the Roosters next year.
“He such a thoughtful guy that he’s moved into [a coaching role] quite quickly,” Robinson said.
“The thing that made Brett a legend of our game was he knew his strengths and applied them to the game, but he also knew what his opposition’s were and what he needed to do and he applied that on top of his strength.
“That understanding of the game has flowed into passing that onto these guys pretty quickly over the past three games.”
Brett Morris hobbles off the field during a game against the Knights last month.Credit: Getty
Robinson said Morris will be spending the rest of the season getting trained in some technical aspects of coaching - such as using video for analysis - before moving into an official role next year.
Morris said he told the Roosters players on Monday morning his career was over after meeting with Robinson ten days ago.
The 34-year-old said he knew knew his time was up after suffering the injury at McDonald Jones Stadium.
“[As you get older] the little niggles turn into big niggles and they take a lot longer to get over and I think the knee blowing up was my body’s way of saying ’all right champ, you’ve had a good run. Enough’s enough,” he said.
“If you saw me when I was getting carried off [during the Knights game], you could see I was getting quite emotional.
“I probably knew right there and then that was probably going to be the last time I stepped on the field as a player.”
The round eight game was Morris’ 276th in the NRL and his first as Roosters captain in absence of James Tedesco.
And despite the injury being a less-than-ideal way to finish his career, Morris said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“If you told me 15 years ago, you put a contract in front of me and said I was going to play 270 games, win a couple of premierships, play for my state and my country but it was going to end up on a night in Newcastle without my family there and I was going to blow out my knee, I’d still say: Where do I sign?” he said.
“I wouldn’t change a thing, I’ve loved every minute of my career.”
Morris will undergo his ACL surgery in two weeks time.
Meanwhile, Canberra centre Curtis Scott has been stood down by the Raiders after allegedly being involved in a fight at a nightclub.
The incident occurred after a patron approached him about the club’s recent poor performances. The centre failed to immediately report the incident to the club.
“The club has informed the NRL Integrity Unit and is working with them to investigate the incident,” a Raiders statement released on Monday morning said.
“Until the investigation is complete Curtis has been stood down from all club duties.
“The Raiders will be making no further comment on the issue until the investigation is complete.”
Scott’s manager said the NRL star believed the incident was so minor he didn’t think it was worth reporting to his club. He also denied reports Scott broke the man’s nose during the incident.
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