"I'll be supporting the Sydney Roosters! If it had been any other Australian side, I'm a proud Englishman and I would have gone for the English side, but with the personal touch, I'll be going for the Roosters."
Friday 15 February 2019 12:44, UK
The World Club Challenge is back on our Sky Sports screens for another year this weekend, as Wigan Warriors host Sydney Roosters. Who better to chat to about the game than Adrian Morley?
Having spent six years of his career with the Roosters in NRL between 2001 and 2006, and a further 15 years playing in Super League with the likes of Leeds, Warrington and Salford, Morley is well placed to comment on the showpiece.
He was the first British player to win both NRL and Super League championships. Few players in the history of the domestic competitions has thrived to the same extent as Morley. A phenomenal player with exceptional quality, he enjoyed superb success.
On Sunday, he'll be working with Sky Sports as part of our punditry team at the DW Stadium. What way does he see the game going?
"I just think the Roosters will be too strong for Wigan," Morley told Sky Sports Rugby League this week.
"It will be a close contest, but with Wigan having lost a few senior players that will have an effect, and to be crowned the NRL champions, you've got to be a pretty strong outfit to do that. The Roosters will come over here, want to win it and will be taking a lot of pride and preparation into the game.
"The good thing from the Wigan side is the fact that the Australian team have had to travel, the fact that it's freezing cold now in England and it's red hot in Australia, and if they can get a big crowd - they're hoping to sell out the stadium there at Wigan - and get 25,000 screaming Wigan fans, that could have an effect.
"But, and even though I do think it will be a close one, I've got to stick with the Roosters.
"For Wigan to have a chance, they need Sean O'Loughlin to stand up and have a big game. He's their best player and is arguably one of the best players in Super League. Every time he plays well for Wigan or England, the team seems to go well, so they need him to stand up.
"On the flip side, from 1-17, the Roosters have got a very talented side. Cooper Cronk has been one of the best players of all time, he'll go down in history. The Roosters are pretty formidable."
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Having spent so much of his career with the Roosters, the NRL outfit is a club which still holds a special place in Morley's heart.
Yet, when he made the move Down Under back in 2001, he was just 23-years-old. It must have been a huge decision?
"It was a massive, massive decision," the 41-year-old confirms. "Even when I played at Leeds, I used to travel every day from Salford - I didn't want to leave my hometown.
"It's one thing moving to Leeds, it's another going to the other side of the world! But I thought I might not get another opportunity to go, so I took the chance and it's something I've never regretted. It was fantastic.
"I was the only Englishman out there for five years, but as the years have gone on there are now seven or eight lads plying their trade over there. And I'd like to think I've shown the way for a few of the English lads.
"It's great now that you do actually get paid more in the NRL. When I went over, I did actually get offered a bit more money to stay in Super League. But it wasn't about money for me, it was about the challenge and testing myself.
"In the UK I had a couple of clubs but the fact that I only played for one team in Australia, I've got a lot of affiliation with the club.
"Unfortunately, I'll be supporting the Sydney Roosters on Sunday! If it had been any other Australian side, I'm obviously a proud Englishman and I would have gone for the English side, but with the personal touch that's there, I'll be going for the Roosters.
"I had six wonderful years there and I don't regret one minute of going over."
Having experienced both Super League and the NRL, what does Morley believe the main differences to be?
"In Sydney and Australia, rugby league is very much the main sport. So all the kids play rugby league, and if you're no good at that, then you go and play other sports. There's a better quality of athlete coming through.
"What I found in Super League before I left was that it was a bit tiered.
"There were four teams - Leeds, Bradford, Wigan and Saints - who, when you played each other, you didn't know who was going to win. Then there was another tier with Warrington, Castleford, and you could more or less beat them nine times out of 10, and then there was another tier with teams like Salford and Huddersfield, who were really poor, and you could beat them without getting out of second gear.
"Whereas over in the NRL, home or away, no matter which team you played, you knew you were in for a really tough contest. The intensity of the league and the competitiveness of the league was a bit different - but again that goes back to the amount of kids playing it and all these quality athletes coming through.
"I do think Super League has improved since then and the last couple of years have been the most evenly contested we've had on record."
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Morley had one experience of playing in the World Club Challenge in 2003 with the Roosters, when they travelled to England and walloped St Helens 38-0.
What are Morley's recollections of that day? And is it big days such as this weekend which he misses the most since retirement in 2015?
"For me, on a personal level it [2003 WCC] was fantastic that I got to come back to England with the Roosters, and we stayed in my hometown in Salford.
"My close friends and family got to meet my teammates, we got the win and did a job on St Helens that night. I actually scored a try, and I didn't get a chance to score many tries in career, so to do it in England, representing the Roosters was amazing. Everything about the trip was great.
"When I was a player, for the last four or five years of my career, club games I actually found hard to get up for.
"But when it came to internationals, Challenge Cup games and certainly games like the World Club Challenge, that's when you don't need any motivation and you're up and ready.
"So games like Sunday and the internationals, I really do miss being involved."
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Since Wigan's Grand final glory over Warrington at Old Trafford last October, the likes of Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons), John Bateman (Canberra Raiders), Ryan Sutton (Canberra Raiders) and head coach Shaun Wane (Scotland rugby Union) have departed.
How does Morley assess the Warriors ahead of Sunday's clash?
"There's been a lot of change. These games are fantastic for the club to be crowned world champions, but I think to have a true test of world champions, they should play the week after the Grand Final maybe, so both teams have their full sides which contested the Grand Finals.
"Roosters will be equally as strong this weekend, but I don't think you can say that about Wigan. They've lost a number of senior players, a head coach, and the players named will really have to stand up.
"But when players do move on, you get younger players coming through and there's nothing more exciting than playing in a World Club Challenge as a youngster - or even for a senior, older guy.
"Wigan did great to win the Grand Final, but with a new coach and new playing roster, it will be interesting to see how they handle not just this game but the full Super League season."
Sky's very own Phil Clarke commented this week that for the World Club Challenge to remain viable into the future, Sunday's game must prove a close contest. Does Morley agree?
"Yeah I'll go along with that. But I'm sure it will be. If the Wigan boys, regardless of their experience, can't get up for this game, then they can't get up for any game at all.
"I do see it being a close contest, I mentioned the factors that could play against the Roosters. We've had some fantastic contests over the years and I think that will be the case again on Sunday night."
