Steve 'Slippery' Morris (born 19 June 1957) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. A state and national representative, his club career was played with the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

and the

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New S ...

Career

Initially a halfback, Morris came to selectors' attention when playing for the

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

club. In the 1978 season he gained selection in the

New South Wales Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugb ...

side and was then chosen to represent

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. St. George Dragons In season 1979 Morris joined the

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

club and won a premiership in his début year in the Sydney top grade. In the 1979 Grand Final he took out the Best Player award, the Dave Brown Medal (now known as the

Clive Churchill Medal The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australian ...

). In 1984, under Dragons coach Roy Masters, the speedy halfback made a very successful transition to the

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

position, that season he was awarded the 'Dally M' medal for winger of the year. He was the NSW Rugby Football League's top try scorer in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. He also played wing for

in the 1985 Grand Final. In all, Morris played 180 games for the Dragons over eight years at the club and whilst he did not represent for Australia again he made further appearances for the New South Wales Blues under the

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

selection criteria on the wing in game III of

, and game I of

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. Sydney Roosters In 1987 he moved to the

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

club playing 58 matches over two seasons and winning a third "Dally M Winger of the Year" award. During the Australian off-season Morris enjoyed a successful stint at

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

club,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Morris played , i.e. number 2, in

' 14-15 defeat by St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens in the 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1987–88 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Saturday 9 January 1988. Steve Morris retired from the game in 1990. His twin sons

Brett Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name. People with the surname * Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...

and Josh Morris are current

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) players. He currently teaches physical education at

Bomaderry Bomaderry (locally known as "Bommo") is a town in the Shoalhaven council district area of New South Wales, Australia. At the , it had a population of 8,718 people. It is on the north shore of the Shoalhaven River, across the river from Nowra, the ...

High School on the South Coast.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney 1957 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Clive Churchill Medal winners Dapto Canaries players Leeds Rhinos players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from Wollongong Rugby league wingers Salford Red Devils players St. George Dragons players Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub