Morris may join Eels exodus

[Pricey]

Morris may join Eels exodus
June 15, 2006

PARRAMATTA utility John Morris is the latest Eels star to say he will quit the club at the end of the season if he is not offered a contract extention.

Lock Glenn Morrison has already exercised a get-out clause to join Bradford in the English Super League, fullback Wade McKinnon has vowed to go on the open market, and super-sub Dean Widders is heavily linked with South Sydney.
Morris has been targeted as a replacement for halfback Scott Prince at Wests Tigers.
"There's an option there that I could stay for another 12 months but I'd be wanting more than that to stay at Parra," Morris said.
"I still don't know, I'm looking around.
"It's still a bit early. I suppose after June 30 ... it's hard for clubs to know (now) where they're at or whether they'll pick up a bit in the salary cap.
"Hopefully we'll sort something out sooner rather than later, where ever it may be."
Wests Tigers will lose half Scott Prince to Gold Coast next season, giving Morris the opportunity to be a full-time halfback with the joint-venture club.
"I'll look at any options at any club but they're definitely a strong club and reigning premiers and it would be an avenue we could look at," said Morris.
"At this stage I can't say much more than that because nothing much has happened." McKinnon - back from a facial injury this weekend - wanted a three-year contact but the club was willing to offer him only two years.
"We have had expressions of interest from the Bulldogs, the Warriors and Souths," manager Alan Gainey said this week.
Widders remains unsigned for next year and is certain to attract plenty of interest with South Sydney and Newcastle tipped to make offers.
Chief executive Denis Fitzgerald confirmed Gainey's account of the situation with McKinnon but added: "I can't comment on any of the others".
Asked if he was keen to keep Morris at the Eels, he said: "I can't comment."

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,19470572-23214,00.html

 

[eelsta]

Can't comment eh,well thats a pleasant change DICKHEAD

 

[Hellsy]

:LOL: :LOL:
I'd like to see Morris retained, he has played some good footy last year and this year so far

 

[Stagger eel]

Can't comment eh,well thats a pleasant change DICKHEAD

:lol:

oh! eelsta, you naughty girl. ;-)

 

[James_Hardie]

Denis Fitzgerald with no comment to make?! How unusual.

Does this mean he is finally starting to feel some pressure.....?

 

[jayjayselmes]

man not asgain we have the worst player recruitment in the NRL.

Parras policy is get rid of the good players (ie)Mckinnon,morriss etc and keep the consistenly average to poor performer (ie)vella, cayless, tsoulous, T smith, B Delaney ETC

 

[jayjayselmes]

im amazed at home this works year in and year out. no wonder we havent won a premiership since the late 80's

 

[Stagger eel]

man not asgain we have the worst player recruitment in the NRL.

Parras policy is get rid of the good players (ie)Mckinnon,morriss etc and keep the consistenly average to poor performer (ie)vella, cayless, tsoulous, T smith, B Delaney ETC

ffs..it's not even June 30 just relax..has it ever crossed your mind that there might be a reason why McKinnon, Widders and Morris aren't priorities at the moment?

 

[Twizzle]

why te hell cant he comment, its his job to coment

 

[jason taylor]

only three players i would resign that would be Wade , Morris and Widders

 

[Stagger eel]

why te hell cant he comment, its his job to coment

in a way it's always good to be coy when talking about player signings and retention, especially when you know how competative it is in the player market at the moment.

either that or he's got no idea what's happeing because he hasn't been updated by Zap and Mitchell.

 

[mickdo]

Widders is linked with Souths? Have we given him permission to speak to other clubs?

 

[Stagger eel]

Widders is linked with Souths? Have we given him permission to speak to other clubs?

not that I know off.

 

[sooperdooper]

man not asgain we have the worst player recruitment in the NRL.

Parras policy is get rid of the good players (ie)Mckinnon,morriss etc and keep the consistenly average to poor performer (ie)vella, cayless, tsoulous, T smith, B Delaney ETC

your a fool... i mean how can you put delaney and Tsoulos into a catergory with Vella? Vella is a long serving player who is not playing well
the others are young blokes on the rise

 

[parra-all-the-way]

ffs..it's not even June 30 just relax..has it ever crossed your mind that there might be a reason why McKinnon, Widders and Morris aren't priorities at the moment?

I dont want this to come out wrong, but seriously why wouldnt they be priorites, are we looking at replacements for them??

 

[Stagger eel]

I dont want this to come out wrong, but seriously why wouldnt they be priorites, are we looking at replacements for them??

well that would be the only conclusion I could see..without knowing what's going on.

we have actually offered those blokes contracts and I if we're not getting to a stage where we'll meet half way with them by June 30 you can rest assured that the money will be spent elsewhere.

 

[Utey]

Or we could miss out on the big names and sign a whole bunch of nuffies. 04?

 

[Stagger eel]

Or we could miss out on the big names and sign a whole bunch of nuffies. 04?

well so be it..

look there's three things going against us in terms of signing players.

1] the introduction of the Gold Coast Titans mean that there's another player in the market for players. they still have alot of money to spend and initially they will become an attractive proposition for most players off contract.

2] the extra 400K in the sallary cap means that teams whe weren't going to be in the market for players suddenly have this extra dough to play with, more competition.

3] England...this will always be a problem.

I was told yesterday that signing first graders isn't it a problem it's attracing those special players that more than 2 or 3 clubs want and that's what we're trying to do initially before we fill up the squad with mid-range signings, it will be interesting times but suffice to say that if we miss out on several big name players than we still have the catylist to field a competative side around the crop that we already have.

New coaching staff, new attitude and 6 months off season may be the real blessing in disguise, not the big name signings.

I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[StEely Matt]

http://www.sportal.co.nz/league.asp?i=news&id=83984

Extend contract or I'll go: MorrisSportal
Utility John Morris has told Parramatta he wants a contract extension otherwise he will quit the club at the club at the end of the season.

Morris, targeted by Wests Tigers as a replacement for departing halfback Scott Prince, has a clause in his contract allowing him to stay at Parramatta for another 12 months, but the utility said he wanted more than that to remain an Eel.

"There's an option there that I could stay for another 12 months but I'd be wanting more than that to stay at Parra," Morris told The Daily Telegraph.

"I still don't know, I'm looking around."

"It's still a bit early. I suppose after June 30... it's hard for clubs to know (now) where they're at or whether they'll pick up a bit in the salary cap."

"Hopefully we'll sort something out sooner rather than later, where ever it may be."

Of the possibility of heading to the Tigers, Morris said: "I'll look at any options at any club but they're definitely a strong club and reigning premiers and it would be an avenue we could look at."

"At this stage I can't say much more than that because nothing much has happened."

The Eels are under pressure to keep several of their stars, with lock Glenn Morrison having already exercised a get-out clause in his contract to join Bradford in the English Super League, fullback Wade McKinnon has vowed to try his luck in the open market and super-sub Dean Widders is a strong chance of joining South Sydney.

McKinnon wants a three-year deal but Parramatta is only offering two years and, according to his manager Alan Gainey, must now beat Canterbury, New Zealand and South Sydney for the fullback's services.

Eels chief Denis Fitzgerald confirmed Gainey's version of the situation but said he could not comment on the other players.

Fitzgerald was also tight-lipped regarding McKinnon's future with the club.

"I can't comment," he said.

 

[strider]

mmmmm .... my concern is we won't sign anyone decent

we need:
1) a big barging style forward;
2) a solid worker to replace morro;
3) a creative player who won't go missing when it matters

I wouldn't want to go into 07 with basically the same squad - i think we've learnt a few changes help the cause - not just coaching changes (altho that will certainly mix things up to a degree)