My Ultimate Team: Glenn Morrison’s ICONIC best 13 from players he’s played with including Bradford Bulls, NRL legends

Glenn Morrison enjoyed a distinguished 16-year career at Parramatta Eels, Balmain Tigers, North Sydney Bears and North Queensland Cowboys before moving to England to play for Bradford Bulls and Wakefield Trinity.

The former back-rower starred alongside some of the greatest players of the modern era and gives Love Rugby League his Ultimate 13, brought to you in partnership with eToro, the trading and investing platform with over 35 million users.

Ex-Odsal favourite Morrison, 48, remains based in West Yorkshire and works as head of Athletics and Rugby coach at Bradford Grammar School.

He was head coach at Bradford Bulls Elite Academy, also working with the Reserves, but recently relinquished that position after it became a full-time role.

1. Tim Brasher (Balmain Tigers, North Queensland Cowboys)

I played with Brash at Balmain Tigers and then again at the Cowboys. He was a New South Wales and Australia full-back who just did all the little things right.

Under the high ball, he was outstanding and not too many players ever got past him.

2. Matt Bowen (North Queensland Cowboys)

Matty was at the Cowboys with me and is not a natural winger, he’s a full-back, but I had to get him in the side somewhere because he was just class.

I remember him coming through as a young kid at the Cowboys, when Brash was full-back and, to Tim’s credit, he moved to centre and eventually retired because he didn’t want to stand in Matty’s way.

Matty was the toughest player I played with and sometimes in training you couldn’t even get a hand on him.

3. Timana Tahu (New South Wales Country Origin, Parramatta Eels)

I played with Timana at Parramatta because he came there from Newcastle Knights at the same time as me.

In the gym, he was something else and the conditioner said he was the most gifted athlete he had ever seen.

He was tough on the field and I played Country Origin with him as well before we both went to Parra.

4. Shontayne Hape (Bradford Bulls)

Shonny and Big Les were pretty devastating for the Bulls on that left edge and that’s why both of them have to be in my team.

Shonny was class, he just glided across the pitch, and I played stand-off in a couple of games with him and Les outside me.

They had made up their own moves and calls because they were just for them! I just made sure I put it on to Shonny and him and Les did the rest.

5. Lesley Vainikolo (Bradford Bulls)

‘The Volcano’ was a wrecking ball on the pitch but off it he was a lovely guy and would do anything for anyone.

Les wasn’t the greatest trainer but, with what he did on the pitch, nobody seemed to mind. An incredible winger and an iconic figure in Super League history who scored tries for fun.

6. Ellery Hanley (Balmain Tigers)

I was a Balmain supporter as a kid and I watched Ellery when he came over in 1988. A few years later, I was lucky to play alongside him when he came back over to the Tigers.

On his day, Ellery was just on another level to anyone else so it was an absolute pleasure to play outside of him – he put me through for some of my first-ever NRL tries.

7. Andrew Johns (New South Wales Country Origin)

I played with Joey in Country Origin and of course I had to have in my Ultimate 13.

He was the captain and leader for us and just made your job easy as a back-rower, hitting lines, because he would just put you through.

Joey would come up with a play or a kick out of nothing and is one of the legends of the game.

8. Joe Vagana (Bradford Bulls)

Joe was a great person off the pitch and was one of the first guys I met when I joined Bradford.

But on the field, it took four players to get him down every time, and on the back of that it just opened the defence up for us.

We would then play on the back of it and he was like the father of the squad who looked after everybody.

9. Terry Newton (Bradford Bulls)

I played with Danny Buderus for the Exiles against England in 2011, and he’s obviously a legend of the game, but I had to put Terry in there.

He was aggressive, he wouldn’t take a backward step and at times probably didn’t know where the line was drawn – yet I liked that.

I enjoyed going into battle alongside him and he was a smart player as well who knew when to run and he would call plays before he got to the play-the-ball just to make it easier for us.

Terry was an all-round player and it was very sad what happened to him with his untimely passing in 2010, but I think he will be remembered for all the good things he did.

10. Paul Harragon (New South Wales Country)

I played with Paul in country rugby back in Australia and he was captain of that time – he captained New South Wales and Australia too.

He was just a leader and I was lucky enough to play at the back of the old school style of rugby league and then in the transition to the newer style.

The battles that ‘The Chief’ had against Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll in the Newcastle-Manly games and then in State of Origin were the stuff of legend. Paul was the leader who everybody feared.

11. Steve Menzies (Bradford Bulls)

I played against Beaver a lot – we were matched up through our NRL careers – and he wasn’t massive but if he hit you then he chopped you down.

I remember he tackled me around the thighs once and nearly snapped my leg! He was fit, he kept going and the fact he was the record try-scorer for a forward says it all.

Beaver came to Bradford and fitted in straight away to what was an outstanding pack – I think he’s still throwing the boots on and playing a bit of amateur footy even now.

12. Paul Sironen (Balmain Tigers)

Again, Paul was one of my idols and in my first-ever away game I roomed with him and picked his brains.

He was an old-school forward and you would see him on the Kangaroos tour over here against Great Britain and he had some memorable running battles with Barrie McDermott.

Barrie threw the elbow on Siro but he just got back up again and kept going – he was a giant, a monster, and a great guy off the field too as you’ve seen with how well his boys have done in the game.

13. Sam Burgess (Bradford Bulls)

I met Sam as soon as I arrived in England to join the Bulls and we had to do a promotion together.

From then, he would be at my house every morning and I’d drive him to training – he was like a sponge, always asking Joe Vagana and I questions.

Sam was looking after his dad at his time on his own as a teenager and, as his confidence grew and grew, he became a wrecking ball and you knew he was going to be a star.

He was a big lad but had the hands of a stand-off and, having recently been inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame, it’s great to see Sam making huge strides as a coach with Warrington Wolves.

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