Re: Adrian Morley : Thu May 07, 2015 4:01 am  

Morley was a very good second row in England, then moved up to prop in Australia. He led the Roosters forward pack in defence in a way I haven't seen any other forward bar Sam Burgess do. He was also always on the verge of being sent off however, because (in the NRL at least) he never got rid of his tendency to swing the arm every now and then.

I'd put him behind Burgess because Burgess was a far better player with the ball (although this was an area Morley did develop a lot). He'd be ahead of Ellis, who was absolutely outstanding for the Tigers. Still undecided as to where I'd put Graham on the list - he can be great but I'd love to see him in a team with better halfbacks so he could use his skill more selectively.

One thing's for sure, if we had Burgess, Morley, Graham and Gareth Ellis all at their peak, I'd genuinely say England had a better pack than Australia. Sadly we don't seem to produce enough of them to get them all on the field at their peak at the same time.

Re: Adrian Morley : Thu May 07, 2015 8:24 am  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

Morley was a very good second row in England, then moved up to prop in Australia.

This is broadly what I'm saying. No one would ever suggest Morley was a great forward until he moved to Australia. Whereas Graham was outstanding from the age of 21/22 in SL - and then got even better in the NRL.

Considered over the duration of his career Morley spent far too long as a "talented but raw" forward with not enough time spent as the real deal. Like Jamie Peacock you could never accuse Graham of being anything less than at the top of his game (in the context of the competition he played in) since he matured physically.

He led the Roosters forward pack in defence in a way I haven't seen any other forward bar Sam Burgess do.

Given that neither the Roosters nor the Bunnies are or were in any way short of talent I'd argue that Graham has achieved beyond both. Even the most one-eyed of the Dogs fans admit their side isn't particularly great and yet through Graham's almost single-handed intervention have still managed to achieve two finals.

Like I said - they love him more than Terry Lamb. And any time a Dogs fan says that - you know it's serious.

Re: Adrian Morley : Fri May 08, 2015 10:17 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

WHY? It was an utterly STUPID act of thuggery which put his teammates under enormous pressure from the first minute.

We shouldn't forget that Morley was prone to repeated brain-farts of this calibre right up to 30. It's one of the reasons I don't consider him in the same league as Peacock or Graham.

Good lord they are the same age, but By the Time Peacock had got round to being a Bradford Regular Morley had won a challenge cup, played in a Superleague Grand Final and had decided to Sign for an NRL club. As Good a Ball player James Graham is and As good a Leader Peacock is they dont have a highlights reel Like Morley's.

If he is the last of a dying Breed then shame on the game. I'd rather see Adrian Morley smashing Awen Guttenbeel as revenge for him 12 months earlier smashing a halfback and Standing over him giving it billy big balls...than James Grahams histrionics.

James Graham is all mouth in those situations.....like the "Run again son" to Jason King...I hate Graham's Mouthy stuff it simply means your bark's worse than your bite (I once gave Chris Arkwright a spray... then I ran a ball back from under the sticks he smashed me and gently held my face in a puddle for a while...you learn these things...)

you probably haven't seen enough of Morley in the NRL to make that odd comment. So Its fair enough.
James Graham is a superb ball playing forward and an Absolute Tackling machine, Id have him at wires anyday...but out of Morley's league not a chance......

Re: Adrian Morley : Fri May 08, 2015 11:01 pm  

the flying biscuit wrote:

Good lord they are the same age, but By the Time Peacock had got round to being a Bradford Regular Morley had won a challenge cup, played in a Superleague Grand Final and had decided to Sign for an NRL club. As Good a Ball player James Graham is and As good a Leader Peacock is they dont have a highlights reel Like Morley's.

If he is the last of a dying Breed then shame on the game. I'd rather see Adrian Morley smashing Awen Guttenbeel as revenge for him 12 months earlier smashing a halfback and Standing over him giving it billy big balls...than James Grahams histrionics.

James Graham is all mouth in those situations.....like the "Run again son" to Jason King...I hate Graham's Mouthy stuff it simply means your bark's worse than your bite (I once gave Chris Arkwright a spray... then I ran a ball back from under the sticks he smashed me and gently held my face in a puddle for a while...you learn these things...)

you probably haven't seen enough of Morley in the NRL to make that odd comment. So Its fair enough.
James Graham is a superb ball playing forward and an Absolute Tackling machine, Id have him at wires anyday...but out of Morley's league not a chance......

Absolutely spot on.

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 7:51 am  

Anyone see Morley try to head but the Huddesfield player twice last night and gets off with a talking too?

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 1:13 pm  

the flying biscuit wrote:

Good lord they are the same age, but By the Time Peacock had got round to being a Bradford Regular Morley had won a challenge cup, played in a Superleague Grand Final and had decided to Sign for an NRL club. As Good a Ball player James Graham is and As good a Leader Peacock is they dont have a highlights reel Like Morley's.

Aaaargh ... that's PRECISELY the reason Morley just doesn't do it for me. I'm not interested in "highlight reels". And Morley has always been a "highlights player". You talk of histrionics - Morley is the ultimate example of such. Instead of exerting constant influence on a game he's forever jumping in and out of it with a showy barnstorming run here, a near-horizontal shoulder charge there - throw in one or two borderline decapitations and one definite.

Both Graham and Peacock give nothing less than everything for every second they are on the pitch. Both churn up huge amounts of yards and have other facets to the game. Morley was never a great yardage maker. All too often he'd dumbly plough headlong into six guys like some kind of deranged masochist. The crowd love it. What a "tough guy!". More like ... what a moron. Only an utter moron would get himself sent off against the Aussies in the first ten seconds. Morley knew exactly what he was doing. He could easily have gone into Kearns a bit lower. But no. His over-stuffed ego couldn't countenance not being the centre of attention.

He was a moron on the pitch and he was an even bigger moron off it. Only a moron when playing (captaining?) the GB team which was then sponsored by "Think! Don't Drink & Drive" would soak himself in booze, jump in the car, wrap it up and then do a runner.

Basically he was a big guy with limited skills who won fans over by being "spectacular". He's the type of guy who films himself for Jackass running head first into a concrete wall, rolls about laughing at the end like a dribbling idiot - and then pulls down his pants to light a fart with a match. In fact - "Jackass" is a word which perfectly describes Morley. I couldn't pick a better one if I scoured every last page of the Oxford dictionary.

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 2:42 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

I think it would be really good to see St pete and Mugwump in a ring for a charity fund raiser. Cage match. Bare knuckle.

I've seen many a grudge on here, but this is getting ridiculous. Someone else mentioned sexual tension, but I wouldn't go that far...

It's getting pretty tedious reading it now. Get a life lads

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 5:08 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

Aaaargh ... that's PRECISELY the reason Morley just doesn't do it for me. I'm not interested in "highlight reels". And Morley has always been a "highlights player". You talk of histrionics - Morley is the ultimate example of such. Instead of exerting constant influence on a game he's forever jumping in and out of it with a showy barnstorming run here, a near-horizontal shoulder charge there - throw in one or two borderline decapitations and one definite.

Both Graham and Peacock give nothing less than everything for every second they are on the pitch. Both churn up huge amounts of yards and have other facets to the game. Morley was never a great yardage maker. All too often he'd dumbly plough headlong into six guys like some kind of deranged masochist. The crowd love it. What a "tough guy!". More like ... what a moron. Only an utter moron would get himself sent off against the Aussies in the first ten seconds. Morley knew exactly what he was doing. He could easily have gone into Kearns a bit lower. But no. His over-stuffed ego couldn't countenance not being the centre of attention.

He was a moron on the pitch and he was an even bigger moron off it. Only a moron when playing (captaining?) the GB team which was then sponsored by "Think! Don't Drink & Drive" would soak himself in booze, jump in the car, wrap it up and then do a runner.

Basically he was a big guy with limited skills who won fans over by being "spectacular". He's the type of guy who films himself for Jackass running head first into a concrete wall, rolls about laughing at the end like a dribbling idiot - and then pulls down his pants to light a fart with a match. In fact - "Jackass" is a word which perfectly describes Morley. I couldn't pick a better one if I scoured every last page of the Oxford dictionary.

kin hell are you 12 ??...... whats the jackass fart lighting poop about. If I was immature I'd talk about James Graham biting ears and nothing else...fortunately I'm not, so I can appreciate his skills.

Listen to Freddie Fittler and Andrew Johns Talk about him ....I bet they don't call Adrian Morley a Dribbling idiot once.....

That's close to being the worst post on RL Fans ever.... and I frequent the Wire forum so I know poop when I see it.

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 6:01 pm  

Oh. Warrington fan. Explains everything.

Re: Adrian Morley : Sat May 09, 2015 6:50 pm  

the flying biscuit wrote:

kin hell are you 12 ??...... whats the jackass fart lighting poop about. If I was immature I'd talk about James Graham biting ears and nothing else...fortunately I'm not, so I can appreciate his skills.

Listen to Freddie Fittler and Andrew Johns Talk about him ....I bet they don't call Adrian Morley a Dribbling idiot once.....

That's close to being the worst post on RL Fans ever.... and I frequent the Wire forum so I know poop when I see it.

Oh the have been Many posts worse than that!!!