Wingers were once the butt of jokes for Broncos centre Jack Reed.
“We called them centres’ friends, just hanging out with us all the time,” Reed said, smiling.
But after witnessing Brett Morris’s last-round wonder try, Reed suddenly does not feel like stirring St George Illawarra’s flyers ahead of Friday night’s NRL clash at Wollongong.
Morris made an early claim for try of the year with his acrobatic effort in the Dragons’ 14-12 win over Cronulla, ensuring surprise packets the Dragons maintained their unbeaten season start.
“They are doing backflips to score tries,” an impressed Reed said.
“There are some naturally talented footballers out there in Brett Morris and (fellow winger) Jason Nightingale.
“They are high flyers and love scoring tries. They are almost a guaranteed eight points for them.
“We just have to find a way to prevent it from happening.”
Easier said than done against a Dragons outfit inspired by Melbourne recruit Gareth Widdop.
The Dragons pivot is no stranger to Reed after they were England teammates at the 2011 Four Nations.
Reed became a fan at the tournament but his admiration has only grown since Widdop hit the ground running at St George Illawarra.
“I think it is one of the best moves he has made,” Reed said.
“Playing alongside Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk (at Melbourne), he has learned a lot from that.
“Now he’s got the opportunity to be the No.1 ball player.”
Besides the Dragons, Brisbane have surprised many with their season start – their unbeaten run was shattered by a last-gasp 30-26 last-round loss to defending premiers the Sydney Roosters.
While admitting it would be difficult to bounce back, Reed said the Dragons would provide their most accurate season gauge yet.
“Bouncing back against an undefeated Dragons will be a challenge,” he said.
“We will learn from that (loss to Roosters). Seventy-five minutes of football doesn’t win you a game.
“(But) we’ve got a lot more improvement in us.”