Signed to the Bulldogs as a representative player on a long-term deal to wear the No.1 jersey, things haven't gone to script for one of the most prolific try-scorers of the modern era.

He has missed 24 of the 51 games Canterbury have played since he arrived in Belmore following his break-up with the Dragons,  enduring a horror run with injuries.

He has lost his No.1 jersey and these day finds himself in discussions about representing England more than Australia, where he was once one of the first players picked.

As he racked up the frequent flyers with what felt like never-ending trips to the club's rehabilitation ward, Morris watched on helplessly as the things he'd fought so hard to gain throughout his career began to slip away.

"I came over here to win a competition and try and help out on the field, but I've spent half the time off it," Morris told Fairfax Media.

"Last year was probably the most frustrating year of rugby league I've ever had. It was frustrating for everyone. It was frustrating for myself, for the boys, the coaches, the fans. Now I have to get back and try and win games of footy to make sure this club is successful.

"That's what everyone wants to see. This club has won a lot of grand finals and has so much history and tradition. A lot of people are very passionate about this club and as a player you want to give back to them."

Once the first winger picked in representative teams, Morris is almost no longer in the conversation.

"That's OK," he said. "I feel I've had a pretty good rep career. So if it was to be that I never play rep footy again, I can hack that."

The debilitating knee injuries have also seen his fullback spot at the Bulldogs go to Will Hopoate, who was signed to the club during Morris' darkest hour.

But even if Morris was to reclaim the No.1 jersey, he's aware his body may no longer be able to handle it such was the impact of what he went through to get ready for the rigours of an NRL season.

"Hoppa started the year absolutely on fire and was one of our best players last year so as a footballer you want someone to come in when you're injured and play good footy," Morris said.

"But for me personally it just meant it would be a bit different coming back on the wing instead of fullback. If they asked me to play fullback, it's one of those things I wouldn't say no. But you would have to monitor how many kilometres you run during the week and in the game.

"There's a lot of high speed running which I don't think the other positions do on the field. A lot of stop-start quick accelerations. It really is a specialist position, and if I did have to play there we would have to do a fair bit of monitoring with the high-performance guys."

Off-season surgery on a troublesome knee at the end of 2015 was meant to see Morris back on the paddock in the opening weeks of 2016.

However, on the eve of the new season he was ordered to go under the knife once again after struggling to heal from the original operation, ruling him out of the first four months of the year.

"I have always let my action do the talking on the field, so to be sitting on the sidelines most of the time, it was hard to take," Morris said.

"I imagine it would have been very frustrating for the fans who want to see me out on the field. It wasn't where I wanted to be. I signed a long-term deal here and I expected to play a lot of that on the field. But I've probably spent half of it on the sidelines.

"I'm not getting any younger and there are so many good young players who only need four or five games to cement their position and you're having to wait for an injury to get back in the side. I train like I play, giving it my all with plenty of intensity because I know at any time one of these young guys could come and take my spot. That's my mentality."

Not much has gone right for Morris since parting ways with his beloved Dragons. But he insists he has no regrets about his decision to leave his junior club he helped to premiership glory in 2010.

"I'm comfortable with it all," Morris said.

"The decision I made to leave the Dragons was a tough one but it was a pretty easy one for me personally. I needed the fresh start. I didn't take things for granted here, where probably at the Dragons I could maybe get away with not putting 100 per cent in for a session. Especially because I did it late in my career, it's given me a new lease of life with my rugby league."