Morris ready for late Blues call-up

Late NSW State of Origin call-up Josh Morris is ready to lock horns with reborn Queensland star Greg Inglis in Wednesday’s series-opener at ANZ Stadium.

Blues coach Laurie Daley confirmed the Canterbury centre will re-join the squad in Sydney on Sunday after Josh Dugan was ruled out due to his elbow issue.

Morris, who was preparing to take on Canberra with his Bulldogs teammates on Sunday afternoon, recalled how he was also a late inclusion in his NSW debut in 2009.

“I was 18th man and Craig Wing got ruled out on the Sunday and I had to come into camp and played my first Origin off the bench,” Morris told the Bulldogs website.

“It’s lucky that that’s happened I’ve been able to deal with that before. I’ll get into camp today, meet up with the boys and obviously do a bit of video prep for Wednesday night’s game.”

Morris said he was looking forward to re-locking horns with Inglis.

“I always enjoy those challenges. I was really disappointed to miss out playing in front of a home crowd. Now I get my chance, it’s about making the most of it,” he said.

Dugan called the decision to withdraw one of the most difficult calls of his career.

“I aggravated it at training yesterday. It’s very disappointing but I had to do what was best for the team,” he said.

Blues legend Brad Fittler said Morris’ call-up made the team more complete.

“The importance of marking Greg Inglis, no doubt you’ve got to be a fantastic player, but you’ve got to be at 100 per cent health,” Fittler said on The Sunday Footy Show.

“And the fact Josh Morris has spent time in camp, he’s been part of the NSW team for a long time now, he’ll slide back in. If anything, it makes that right side look a little bit more complete.”

After a six-day camp in Coffs Harbour, the Blues shift base to Sydney on Sunday to begin final preparations for game one.

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