Adrian Morley autobiography: Leeds return was my favoured option ahead of Bradford Bulls (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Adrian Morley autobiography: Leeds return was my favoured option ahead of Bradford Bulls

6:00am Thursday 15th November 2012 in Bulls By Sports Desk

Adrian Morley autobiography

Mid-season, when it appeared unlikely that we’d make the play-offs, news broke that Andrew Johns would be joining Warrington at the end of the year.

The idea that I could do a similar thing was already in my head when Brian Noble, the Great Britain and Bradford coach, called and asked whether I’d be interested in joining them for a similar stint.

But before I phoned Nobby back, I called Leeds and asked to speak to Gary Hetherington. Bradford and Leeds are fierce rivals, especially back then when the Bulls were at the peak of their powers and Leeds were coming good.

Leeds were my club for years and I still had a strong affection for them. To this day, ‘Rhinos’ is part of my e-mail address. I told Gary straight what was going on.

‘Bradford want me to do what Joey’s done and come over for a few games,’ I said. ‘The Roosters are willing to let me but I wanted to call you first in case you’re interested’.

Gary said no. He didn’t think their coach, Tony Smith, would be interested in someone else coming in towards the end of the season, and that was fair enough ‘No problem, I just wanted to give you the option,’ I said.

He phoned back a short while later. ‘I’ve had a word with Tony and we’ll have you in the squad,’ he said. ‘We can’t guarantee you’ll play and we can’t give you any money... but come on board if you want.’ That was typical Gary. He always drove a hard bargain but he didn’t exactly give me a tough decision to make.

‘Well, Bradford have offered me money and told me I will play...’ I said. It was a no-brainer.

From the minute I arrived, Bradford were terrific. They were up there with any of the clubs I’ve been at in terms of looking after me.

They arranged a car, a place to stay – everything was catered for. I already knew a few of the boys from the Great Britain squad – JP, Stu Fielden, Paul Johnson, Leon Pryce – and my old mate Iestyn Harris was there.