But the former Channel 9 chief footy reporter, who quit in November, will have to wait until July to join the Seven newsroom after Nine enforced a non-compete clause.<\/a><\/p>\n His role will largely remain on programs outside of the news.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t upset, it was clearly frustrating at the time, but I like to work and wanted to get cracking ASAP,\u2019\u2019 Morris told Sport Confidential.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand these things can take time. I\u2019ve got no regrets, moving jobs always carries with it an element of anxiety and everyone has been welcoming. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve ever been more excited for work than what I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris won\u2019t be the chief footy reporter with Seven, that title remains with Mitch Cleary, but he will earn the title of chief cricket reporter.<\/p>\n He will make his debut on the boundary during Sunday\u2019s coverage of Melbourne v Brisbane and he will host the Wednesday night edition of The Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had April 16 circled in my calendar for a while,\u2019\u2019 Morris said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started. I love footy and cricket and if you told 12 year-old me or even 25 year-old me that I\u2019d be on boundary for the free to air broadcaster, it is a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris dismissed any talk of tension between himself, Cleary and Xander McGuire in the chase for news.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got this question a few times, we\u2019ve all got different skill sets, maybe I\u2019m more of a host than Mitch,\u2019\u2019 Morris said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I look at Mitch I think of someone who is across details incredibly well. Fundamentally in tune with footy on a daily basis and then cricket sets me apart. I\u2019ve worked with Xander before and I coached him in cricket. We all have a mutual respect for each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of the real attractions to host a magazine show and build it from scratch alongside a gun newsbreaker in Mitch and best analyst in the game in Nick Riewoldt.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris will continue with his SEN duties across footy and cricket.<\/p>\n His SEN podcast The New Ball, hosted with fellow cricket reporter Bharat Sundaresan, will be simulcast on Seven channels.<\/p>\n Eddie\u2019s rev-up to Pies players<\/p>\n Eddie McGuire <\/a>has given a rousing address to the Collingwood players about their rivalry with Carlton ahead of tonight\u2019s match.<\/p>\n The former Collingwood president <\/a>let it slip that he\u2019d spoken to the players about the club\u2019s arch enemy and footy\u2019s biggest battle.<\/p>\n \u201cDavid Parkin became a lifelong friend, I saw David on Monday at the Peter McCallum Breakfast. And yeah, it was pretty good, but not as good as me giving the address to the Collingwood boys yesterday in preparation of tonight\u2019s game,\u201d McGuire said to Jimmy Bartel on their podcast.<\/p>\n When Bartel pressed McGuire he wouldn\u2019t elaborate. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s it, that\u2019s all I\u2019m saying. They know that we\u2019re playing Carlton this week, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartel joked that he\u2019d channelled EJ Whitten and John Kennedy and had a spring in his step.<\/p>\n McGuire said he is still as fired up as ever for the big games.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell you, it\u2019s still the same. On match day against Carlton, I get up in the morning, I\u2019m in the shower and it\u2019s on,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I do, I just have a different mindset and I just get a little bit agitated. And yeah, it is. It\u2019s big against Carlton.\u201d<\/p>\n Umpire Nick Foot calls out trolls after Butters controversy<\/p>\n Grand Final umpire Nick Foot<\/a> has copped streams of abuse on social media in the aftermath of the tribunal showdown with Port Adelaide\u2019s acting captain Zak Butters.<\/p>\n As the footy world casts its varied opinions over the matter, Foot who said his integrity was being attacked, has stood firm under the weight of intense scrutiny.<\/p>\n The charge of umpire abuse against Butters, alleging he said \u201chow much are they paying you?\u201d was upheld and he was fined $1500<\/a> with the club yet to announce if it would appeal.<\/p>\n On Wednesday Foot posted to his social media the toll it had taken with a long line of offensive messages from trolls, with the comment \u201chumans\u201d.<\/p>\n He also shared the AFL Umpires Association statement with the line, \u201cHappy Community Umpiring Week\u201d.<\/p>\n The AFL released its findings that it rejected Butters\u2019 evidence that he made only one comment toward Foot, based on the umpire\u2019s and Power teammate Ollie Wines\u2019 version of events.<\/p>\n GWS captain Toby Greene <\/a>has fired up over the AFL\u2019s fixturing and potential changing up of opening round, saying the league was \u201cnowhere near nailing it\u201d in his part of the state.<\/p>\n Greene said scheduling two matches on a Friday night was a \u201cstrange operation\u201d when you\u2019re trying to grow the game in Sydney<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked what he thought of the proposed tweak to opening round so all teams played, he vented his frustrations.<\/p>\n \u201cYou trying to grow the game in Sydney or what?\u2019\u2019 Greene said, speaking with Jeremy Cameron and Tommy Sheridan on their Ausmerican Aces podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t get me started on that (opening round). Pisses me off. Because Victorians think they need footy every week. It\u2019ll still be in NSW and Queensland though. It has to be. It\u2019s not for everyone, it\u2019s for the northern states to grow the game and gain exposure. That\u2019s the point of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Greene continued that footy hadn\u2019t gained ground in the Giants\u2019 key market.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you ask people in Melbourne they get really antsy when they say NRL is the biggest sport in Australia. Which it\u2019s not, AFL is. <\/p>\n \u201cBut if you want Aussie rules to be the biggest sport hands down, you need Western Sydney.<\/p>\n There\u2019s 2-3 million people there and they\u2019re nowhere near nailing it yet. <\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019ve got to grow it, if that\u2019s what you want. Or if you just want the game to stay stagnant and not grow then you have f \u2026 ing opening round at the G.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Imagine if he does this to me\u2019: Gorringe sweating on Daicos wager<\/p>\n Silly bet season is alive and well. It was five years ago now that Dan Gorringe <\/a>got a tattoo of then Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew on his backside <\/a>after losing a wager on his old club the Suns beating his other old club the Blues.<\/p>\n Now he\u2019s hauled in Magpies gun Nick Daicos, betting that if the Pies beat Carlton on Thursday night he will get a tattoo on his back of Nick\u2019s choice. He mocked up a potential number 35 on his back for his Dan Does Footy followers.<\/p>\n And if the Pies lose, Nick has to shave his head.<\/p>\n One thing Gorringe forgot was that it\u2019s Nick\u2019s 100th game. It\u2019s got him very nervous!<\/p>\n \u2018Like clockwork\u2019: Channel 7\u2019s footy newshounds already in sync<\/p>\n They\u2019re not all officially working together yet but Channel 7\u2019s three pronged attack is already in sync.<\/p>\n Mitch Cleary<\/a>, Xander McGuire <\/a>and Tom Morris <\/a>had their finger on the pulse on Tuesday morning, all posting to X at the exact same time with news about Steele Sidebottom out of the clash with Carlton due to a hip injury.<\/p>\n It can be a game of seconds though, so it\u2019s unclear who got ultimate bragging rights.<\/p>\n All three posted at 11.15am.<\/p>\n \u201cLike clockwork,\u2019\u2019 one follower commented.<\/p>\n Cleary, Seven\u2019s chief footy reporter, has been operating with McGuire in tandem so far this season with Morris<\/a> unable to start yet due to a non compete clause enforced by Channel 9 where he was chief footy reporter.<\/p>\n The looming news jostle will be a must watch.<\/p>\n \u2018First mistake ever\u2019: Matt Hill\u2019s embarrassing commentary clanger<\/p>\n Matt Hill <\/a>made his first clanger in commentary but as you\u2019d expect, recovered it beautifully.<\/p>\n Hill was calling the match between the Giants and the Tigers for Fox Footy from Melbourne and accidentally thought the replay was live.<\/p>\n \u201cStringer kept it moving to half-forward,\u201d an excited Hill said.<\/p>\n And then with a more measured tone, he said: \u201cAnd that of course was the kick towards Cadman. And, well, what a start.\u201d<\/p>\n Kane Cornes said he felt like he was calling out Bambi when he spoke about the incident on radio. It reminded us of the time commentator Luke Darcy <\/a>called the replay live six years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately our man Matty Hill, who we love, there isn\u2019t a more beloved person in the industry than Matty Hill, has made his first mistake ever and called the replay,\u2019\u2019 Cornes said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was funny. It\u2019s challenging when you\u2019re not there. When you have to do it from a studio it\u2019s hard I understand so I give him an out for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Darcy Moore mix up during trip to Adelaide<\/p>\nToby Greene\u2019s big issue with AFL fixture<\/p>\n