Brett Morris feels a State of Origin recall would be unfair on his NSW teammates, despite his stunning return to the NRL.
But the long-time NSW representative has called for NSW coach Laurie Daley to blood James Tedesco in next month’s Origin III dead rubber.
Morris scored three tries in his first NRL game of the season in his return from a knee injury in Canterbury’s 40-14 win over Brisbane on Saturday to thrust himself into contention for the Origin match.
Two underwhelming efforts from Blake Ferguson has the Sydney Roosters star under pressure to hold his Blues wing spot for Origin III and Morris looms as a possible replacement.
Morris will have played just two NRL matches this season if he is chosen by coach Laurie Daley for the third game. He said he felt that wasn’t enough to warrant a spot in the NSW side.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m not even thinking about that, it was my first game in nine months,” Morris said.
“I don’t think you can sit nine months out then come into an arena like that. I’m certainly not looking at playing Origin at this stage. The guys that he’s got there, I think it would be unfair on them, I think they’ve done their jobs quite well.
“My main focus is on playing well for the Bulldogs and repaying them.”
Morris has been a mainstay of the Blues side for several seasons now and some pundits, including Brad Fittler, feel he has earned the right to be slotted straight back into the NSW line-up.
“I don’t see it that way,” Morris said.
“Every time I’ve gone out for my state, I’ve done the best I could and those guys that are in those jerseys at the moment are doing that.
“But they’ve played a whole season and I’ve played one game.”
With talk Daley might look to blood more rookies, Morris said he would like to see Wests Tigers star Tedesco given a crack.
“A guy like James Tedesco who’s been playing wonderful footy for the last couple of years, he’s one to mention, I think he’d really thrive in the Origin arena,” Morris said.
“I suppose game three, while it’s a dead rubber, you can give these guys an opportunity to come into a team, learn about the build up of Origin and go out there and try their hardest.”
