All it took was a stern word from his mum to turn Brett Morris from a “pedestrian” winger into one of the NRL’s best.
But as for brother Josh, well, “he’s almost there”.
After watching her twin sons clinch victory together for Australia in last Friday’s Test against New Zealand, Karen Chatfield admits she’ll be divided when the pair go head-to-head in Sunday’s Mother’s Day clash between Canterbury and St George Illawarra.
While proud of both Dragons favourite Brett and Bulldogs star Josh, she didn’t hold back on Monday when reflecting on the 27-year-olds’ achievements.
“With Brett, you think ‘oh, he’s just a winger’ … (but) he’s matured so much in his game,” she said at the launch of this year’s Women in League round.
“There was a period there when he’d just stand there, walking on the wing.
“And I said ‘You know what, you’re going to have to come up with something, because you’re looking a bit pedestrian. You’re going to have to find another string to your bow and do something a bit more exciting otherwise you’re going to disappear into the ether. Stop waiting for something to happen – go and make it happen’.
“So he started doing that and I think he’s going from strength to strength confidence-wise and he backs himself now.
“He’s willing to take those risks, he’s got huge commitment and I really think he has risen to the very top of his game. He’s really at his peak. He just has that comfortable confidence in himself.”
Her assessment of brother Josh, though, was a little less glowing.
“I think Josh is almost there,” she laughed.
“He still needs to back himself more and believe in himself more – like his mum does.”
The representative duo are just four tries away from breaking the record for most premiership tries by brothers.
Canterbury great Steve Mortimer and siblings Peter, Chris and Glenn lead the pack with 195 overall, just two ahead of Clarrie and Harold Horder’s combined haul.
The Morris’s have already collected 192 four-pointers – 103 to Brett and 89 to Josh – leaving little doubt history will be made this season, perhaps as early as Sunday at ANZ Stadium.
“We’d certainly prefer to play on the same side as each other, but obviously that’s not the case these days,” Brett Morris said.
“It’s always one of the games we mark on the calendar, to see when we’re coming up against each other because we always bring out the best in each other.
“When we’re on the same field together, we try and outplay each other.
“That’s what will be happening on Sunday – if he does something special, I’ll be trying to better it.”
