Wait, hang on a minute.

So the Bulldogs are dangling a fairly sizeable carrot in front of Brett Morris to be the club's long-term fullback option?

The same Brett Morris who happily handed Jason Nightingale the No 1 jersey after a short stint at the back, so he could save his representative career a couple of years ago?

Come with me now on a journey through time and space (with apologies to British cult hit television show The Mighty Boosh).

In 2012, the year he won the Dragons Medal as the club's best player, Morris played a handful of games at fullback after Gerard Beale and Kyle Stanley were injured.

From a promising start, Morris switched back to the wing faster than he can score a try at top speed.

"When they're picking rep sides, if you're playing fullback, they're not looking at you to play on the wing, so it will help with that aspect," he said.

Of course, Morris will now and forever be remembered as the try-scoring State of Origin hero who dislocated his shoulder but played on, setting the standard for NSW to end Queensland's domination.

He's a World Cup-winning Australian player.

As a winger, Morris is arguably the best finisher in the NRL.

As a fullback, he made an impact with his ability to read the play and run into a hole.

But he lacks a kicking game and has a limited passing game, which Morris freely admitted was the reasoning behind Nightingale taking over in the No 1 jersey for the Dragons two years ago.

Now Morris is hot property as a fullback option, after the Bulldogs failed to land a big-name signing this year to finally fill the void left by Ben Barba's move to Brisbane.

Paul McGregor has done everything in his power to ensure Morris's future is at the Dragons, handing him the captaincy after Ben Creagh missed the end of the season with injury.

As a Kiama junior, there's a bit of sentiment around for Morris to spend his career on the South Coast with the Red V, where he won a premiership in 2010 and forged a remarkable international career ever since he was dropped to play for Helensburgh in 2008.

But on the open market, is he worth $600,000 - or even close to that mark - as a fullback?

Second, is any winger in the NRL worth that figure?

If the answer to both of those is 'no', it's very hard to argue why the Dragons would be determined to keep him, especially when Morris has asked for a release and wants to reunite with twin brother Josh.

- - - -

IT'S been three years this weekend since my great mate Joel Ritchie died from bowel cancer.

The Mercury's football writer, Ritchie was also a passionate Manly fan, so Saturday night's semi-final against my Bulldogs will take on a little extra significance.

Ritchie was a highly-respected journalist by those who knew him in the Illawarra football and wider sporting community.

The NRL is behind the Kick Bowel Cancer campaign, with ambassadors including Chris Heighington, Adam MacDougall, Josh Perry, David Shillington and James Tedesco, as well as Helensburgh's own World Cup-winning Jillaroos star Sam Hammond.

Almost 15,000 Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.

And more than 1000 of those are under the age of 50.

But it is also one of the most curable forms of cancer, if detected early.

For more information, visit nrlkickbowelcancer.com.au or visit your doctor.