Brad Morrin has joked that Timana Tahu tasted “chewy” and “overcooked” in an interview where the former Bulldog finally revealed the real reason he bit the Parramatta player in one of the NRL’s most infamous incidents.

Morrin was suspended for a record eight weeks in 2007 when he tried to take a chunk out of Tahu’s shoulder live on national TV during a clash between the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels.

He has never revealed the real reason he bit the Parramatta star.

Until now.

Watch every game of the NRL Telstra Premiership Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

“I had only just gotten onto the field and there had been a huge build-up, so a lot of things were going through my head,” Morrin said.

“It was around the time when Nathan Hindmarsh was doing a lot of those flops and leg lifts. They’d do whatever they could to keep you on the ground, and Tahu’s right shoulder actually came up on the cheat sheet during the week.

“Anyway, all those things were in the back of my head when I got the ball for a hit-up. I went right where Timana was and made contact with him. That’s when I got flipped on my head and I could feel pins and needles and all that stuff.

“If I had stood up, I probably would have done something different, but it was like that instinct when your brother brands you with a tennis ball — you just want to pick up a brick and throw it at him.’

But Morrin didn’t throw a brick. He didn’t even swing a punch. Instead, in a moment that would be replayed for years, he sunk his teeth into Tahu’s right shoulder.

“It was the only thing I had (to fight back with),” Morrin said.

“But as soon as I did it, I went ‘Oh s***. I knew what I had done. That it was wrong. But then we got the penalty because he had flipped me on my head, so I thought I might get away with it. I was just hoping no one saw it.”

And he might have gotten away with it — if not for the damning replays.

In scenes reminiscent of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, the footage left no doubt. The ref was tipped off, and Morrin was called out.

“I was thinking of pretending nothing happened and saying, ‘what’s the problem’,” Morrin said.

“But then I heard all the boos. The crowd was looking at the replay, and that’s when I knew how bad it was. How bad it was going to be.”

Overnight, Morrin became the NRL’s public enemy No.1. The headlines dubbed him the Canterbury Cannibal, Morrin the Mauler, the Nibbler.

His eight-week ban was the longest for biting — until fellow Bulldog James Graham’s notorious chomp on Billy Slater in 2012.

“It’s not a good look for your family,” Morrin said.

“I really felt for Mum and Dad. They were copping phone calls with people asking, ‘What’s going on?’ And your aunties and uncles mightn’t understand, so you know, they’ve gotta explain it.”

Morrin also got stopped on the street.

“Yeah, I got called plenty of names,” Morrin said.

“But the hardest thing was that I had let down my club. Folksey (former Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes) had to front up to a press conference and the media was hounding the boys. I created all this negative attention for the club.”

Morrin still gets stopped on the street.

“Yeah but I can joke about it now,’ Morrin said. “I probably get more laughs out of it now.”

So how did Timana taste?

“Chewy,’ Morrin laughed. “Overcooked.”

Morrin’s NRL career ended in 2011 after he played 53 first-grade games for the Bulldogs.

— You can hear Morrin’s full interview from his appearance on The Bankstown Boys podcast here.

Originally published as ‘Oh s***’: One of biggest scandals in NRL history twists as Bulldog breaks silence