Morris determined to keep spot
25 June 2004
Parramatta's John Morris has vowed to fight for the permanent hooking role despite the NRL club signing St George Illawarra match-winner Mark Riddell for the next three years.
Morris is relishing the challenge of facing Panthers rake Luke Priddis in their NRL clash at Penrith Stadium tomorrow night.
The match has extra significance for Morris after the Eels showed their hand this week by signing up Riddell for next season.
"Mark is coming over, but I don't want to give up the number nine," Morris said.
"My goal is to play hooker and I'll be doing whatever I can to be the starting hooker."
Morris said he could shift to the halves to accommodate the arrival of Riddell, but his preference is the hooking role.
"Mark has played a fair bit of back row with St George and is doing quite well, so that could be an option," Morris said.
"If (Parramatta coach Brian Smith) wants to play Mark at hooker and me at five-eighth, or me at hooker and him at second row, that's a couple of options we've got.
"I see his signing as a positive and I think we'll get some good combinations going."
Priddis and Morris will be heavily relied upon to give direction to their teams due to injuries to key players.
The Eels are missing five-eighth Adam Dykes, who sustained a rib injury against Brisbane, while the Panthers are missing first-choice halves Craig Gower and Preston Campbell.
Gower was ruled out after re-injuring his knee at Panthers training on Thursday night.
Morris is aiming for a strong finish to the season to strengthen his claims for the hooking role, but he refuses to look further ahead than the match-up with Priddis.
"He's got to be up there with the leading hookers," Morris said of his clash with Priddis.
"He's got a tremendous work rate and averages 10-12 hit-ups a game.
"He's pretty sneaky around the rucks, particularly close to the line, so he'll expose our defenders if we're lazy.
Morris has been one of the Eels most consistent players this season, despite being relegated to Premiere League for a week after a form slump by the Eels.
Penrith coach John Lang had not yet decided on his halves combination following the injury to Gower.
"We'd trained well this week, so he (Gower) was a big blow for us," Lang said.
"The last few weeks have been pretty tough with so many players out because of Origin and injury.
"We'll look at our options in the halves tomorrow."
Gun Parramatta forward Nathan Hindmarsh is keen to reverse a bad run at Penrith, where the Eels have won only one of their last six matches.
"I can't remember the last time I won at Penrith," the NSW Origin forward said.
Hindmarsh says the Eels have the semi-finals in their sights after wins against Newcastle and Manly, as well as a spirited performance against Brisbane.
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