I thought about playing for Wales – Morley

The Warrington Wolves prop, who has captained England on numerous occasions, will once more be central to the national side’s hopes when they start the Gillette Four Nations at Leigh.

Morley, 34, has been one of the modern game’s finest internationals and his 46th cap for either Great Britain or England will equal the records of Garry Schofield and Mick Sullivan.

But it could have been all so different after the former Leeds Rhinos star revealed he considered following the example of his brother – ex-St Helens and Halifax second-row Chris – and using his grandmother’s Welsh heritage.

“It was 2000 and for me at the time, Great Britain was the national side,” he said.

“If I knew it was going to switch to England, I wouldn’t even have contemplated playing for them.

“But I’d have loved to have played with my brother, be it club or international, before we gave up the game.

“I gave it a bit of thought but that’s as far as it went. It was a bit of an idea.

“And I still would’ve loved to have played with my brother and contemplated it for a while,” he added.

“I didn’t go too far down the line. As soon as I knew it was going to be England for the World Cup that was it. I was born in England and I’m English.”

International success is the one honour yet to elude the highly successful Morley who is the only Englishman to win both the Super League and NRL Grand Finals with Bradford Bulls (2005) and Sydney City Roosters (2002) respectively.

He also claimed the 1999 Challenge Cup with Leeds and twice with Warrington but – although he led Great Britain to a series whitewash of New Zealand in 2007 – has yet to lift a world title, something he hopes to do at Elland Road on November 19.

“It would be a huge shot in the arm for the game,” he admitted.

“I’ve played a long time and only ever won one Test series, we’ve come up short a number of times.

“So to win would be fantastic for me and for the sport it would put us on the map and people would take notice, which is what we want.”

Morley, who won the hearts and respect of Australians during his six seasons in Sydney, admits this England side is better prepared than any before to try and end their 39-year wait for success.

Indeed, he believes it must arrive soon and said: “There can’t be any excuses with the preparation and facilities we get.

“It is light years ahead in terms of professionalism.

“When I started playing first-team, there was a drinking culture and it was old school, which I enjoyed to a degree.

“But that went out of the window and now facilities are getting better and better.”