WHEN the teams run out for tonight’s State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium, Bomaderry High School teacher Steve Morris will be adding his support as one of the proudest fathers n the country.
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Mr Morris’s sons Josh and Brett have made history as the first identical twins selected to represent NSW in State of Origin, giving the boys a rare opportunity to play together.
The Dragons premiership player and PE teacher is even making the most of opportunities provided by the school holidays to travel to Queensland and attend the game with former Dragons teammate Graeme Wynn.
“It will be a big night if we win,” he said.
Mr Morris knows what it takes to beat the Queenslanders in their home state.
His two State of Origin games were at the old Lang Park in 1984 and 1986, and on both occasions NSW triumphed.
His appearance in 1986 was in the first game of what would be a clean sweep for the Blues, however a broken leg ruled him out for the rest of the series.
Despite his prior knowledge, Mr Morris admitted his boys and the entire Blues side were facing a huge task against Queensland.
“The Queenslanders don’t give you anything up there – the referee or the crowd,” he said.
“They have got everything going for them.”
Mr Morris was still predicting a NSW win, and said he would be backing both his boys to score the first try in combination with a Blues victory.
“They’re in form, so I can see them both playing good games,” he said of his sons.
“They’ll be pretty hard to beat.”
Mr Morris said Josh did “really well” against Queensland star Greg Inglis in game two of the series, and with Inglis switching to fullback, “hopefully Josh will have a bit more room to move”.
With Josh selected in the centre and Brett on the wing, there is a chance the brothers might be side by side on the field, giving them a chance to show off their uncanny knack of knowing where each other is and what they are doing throughout the game.
That ability was often on show when the boys played together at the Dragons, before Josh signed with the Bulldogs.
The other uncanny thing was the way their careers had worked in unison despite both being out at different times with injuries, yet they had played almost identical number of club and State of Origin games, Mr Morris noted.
While the whole NSW team was close-knit, Mr Morris said Brett and Josh were sharing a room in the lead-up to the game, hopefully calming nerves while reminding them of growing up in Kiama when they shared the same bedroom.