HE has led from the front to keep his side in the top flight but helping Pontypool avoid relegation may be the last act in the playing career of talisman skipper Geraint Morris.
The back row forward has been nicknamed Ledley King by his team-mates, and not because he enjoys a pay packet similar to the Tottenham and England centre-back.
Just like the Spurs defender, Morris is plagued by knee problems. The 27-year-old has had all the cartilage removed from the joint on his left leg and has not been able to take part in training.
Yet remarkably his ‘inactivity’ has not shown out in the middle.
Morris has been an inspiration for Pooler and has played a key role in the late run that has put them in with a shout of 12th place let alone 13th.
His four-week old son Tate was mascot for Pooler’s midweek win over Newport that secured their Premiership status, but it may have been his last hurrah at the Park.
Morris, who joined from relegated Bridgend last summer, said: “I can play a game and have two weeks off but I am not sure that is something that we can do next year, I am not sure I could deserve having a place in the squad.
“I’ve been missing Tuesdays and Thursdays and just getting through games. It’s got to a stage where it is not manageable really, I don’t really want to go but the body is telling me it is time to pack it in.
“I am re-evaluating whether I can go on in the summer but it’s not manageable really and it would have an impact on me later in life.
“It has been a tough couple of weeks and my boots are hanging up in the changing room! It was a nice send-off to beat Newport and secure our safety.
“I will have a chat with the coaches and they might try and convince me to stay on but there is no doubt if I do carry on it will be here.
“I’ve already spoken to the boys and said I will be here in some capacity – whether it’s involved in the conditioning or just on the sidelines. I love the club and I want to be involved.”
Pooler have been in tremendous form of late, winning six of their last seven games to condemn Ebbw Vale to Division One East.
Morris insists they never doubted their chances of an escape, even when they were rock bottom at the end of February with a solitary win all season.
“Everyone, critics and fans, had written us off,” he said. “Nobody could see us pulling our way out of it again.
“But we have made the Park a bit of a fortress and it is a great effort by the boys. Everyone knew that we had the quality to pull ourselves out of it and who better to finish it off against than Newport?
“We always believed that we could do it but things weren’t going our way at the start of the season. We have stripped it back down to basics and things have gone our way.
“We reflected at Christmas and had a good honest chat, players and coaches. Things had to be changed and that had to come from within the squad.
“Look at everyone involved in the club – Frank and Merril (Stanton) the owners, the coaches, support staff – we have so many people who are putting a lot of time and effort into the club.
“We felt we were letting them down, they deserved more than we were giving them. Hopefully we have made those people proud and given them something back for all the time and money they have put into the club.”
It would be easy for Pooler to produce a lethargic performance when they end their season at the Talbot Athletic Ground tomorrow.
But they can still overtake 12th-placed Glamorgan Wanderers and going into a game half-hearted is not in their nature says the skipper, who will not feature.
“We set the goal a few months back to go the rest of the season unbeaten,” said Morris.
“We let ourselves down in Ebbw Vale but there is no danger of us tailing off at Aberavon.
“We are not going to roll over for them just because we are safe. We are not taking our foot off the gas.
“Seven wins from eight at the end of the season is our aim and we want to sign off in style.”
Pooler will have a look at young scrum-half Nathan Powell and Sam Pailor in the back row rather than his usual position of lock.
Pontypool: S Taylor, L Bellamore, C Macey, P Price, D Connolly, T Hancock, N Powell, L Davies, R Buckley, N Blake, M Williams, D Critchley, S Pailor, M Barber, M Allen. Replacements: C Morgan, G Williams, S Mills, C Attwell, J Jeune, R Bowen, J Sollis.
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