Geordan Murphy will again captain Leicester Tigers in the forthcoming season © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Players/Officials: Geordan Murphy | Niall Woods

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: England | Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill has not ruled out the possibility of Geordan Murphy extending his contract with the club at the end of the upcoming season.

The Irishman is now 34 and has already begun to turn his thoughts towards coaching as his current deal is due to run out at the end of the 2012-13 season. Since he joined Leicester on trial in 1997 he has made 307 appearances for the club and Cockerill is expecting the usual high performance from the Dubliner.

"We hope Geordy has a big season for us and his future here will be down to what he does over the next 12 months," Cockerill told The Leicester Mercury. "He still loves playing and he is in good nick. And now he is not away with Ireland on Test duty, we can manage his workload in-house. We will see where he is at when a decision needs to be made. If he has a good season and wants to carry on, then he might get the opportunity. It will all depend on what he wants to do and how well he is playing."

Murphy himself admits that while he is looking to the future by using the chance to coach some of the junior teams at Leicester, he is still happy to lead the two-time European champions.

"I have done some (coaching) levels and there may the opportunity to do some work with the Tigers Academy next season," Murphy said. "But I have one more year left on my contract and I am really enjoying my rugby and feeling good."

One of Murphy's rivals for the fullback position though is less happy with his place at the club. Niall Morris scored four tries in nine appearances before he lost his place to Murphy following his return from the World Cup. It meant that the rest of the season was frustrating for Murphy's fellow Irishman and he made only four more appearances between November and the end of the season.

"I got in a lot of games before Christmas but, after that, it didn't go so well," Morris said. "I kind of expected it, but it was frustrating having been involved so much before Christmas. It was two completely different halves of a season. "I was involved every week and then not playing and injured. Hopefully, this season, I can be more consistent and involved a lot more. Geordy will be first choice this season but when I get an opportunity, I need to put down a marker and show them how well I can play. I need to show them that they can trust me now and in the future."