Morton brings that sort of athleticism on the left wing for the Bill Robertson-coached Blues.
"Definitely, that's where I want to be - in that pocket, crossing the balls."
The Rovers have had the measure of their rivals on the other side of the Manawatu Gorge this season and the table-topping league campaigners are overwhelming favourites to win today but they will be mindful of their propensity to lift themselves to become cup spoilers.
Having just returned from the northern spring pre-season training stint at the university, Morton is looking forward to returning to a competitive environment with the Hartwick Hawks.
Of the six pre-season games his team played, they have won three, lost one and drawn two.
"I scored a few goals in there so I was quite happy with how I performed."
When Morton returns in August they will play three more games in building up to the Sunbelt Conference which includes the Appalachian State, Howard Bison, New Jersey, Georgia State and Washington DC teams.
He has been relishing his time with the Rovers.
"This is the club I grew up playing with so most of the guys here I know and it's easier."
He lives in Tikokino but bases himself with a cousin in Napier to train with the Danny Wilson-captained Blues twice a week.
Morton played at leftback for the Brett Angell-coached Hawke's Bay United last November and December before boarding a jet for the United States.
The away 4-2 victory over Waikato/Bay of Plenty was a memorable one for him as the franchise team sat in a top-three position on the table.
"After that I just kept an eye on them," he says, keeping a tab on their progress at university.
The chemistry and business major student says he has had to adapt quickly at the university from the one-two touch play here.
"There you learn to get the ball more to feet and drive into space and that sort of stuff so I think my game has developed that way."
Morton played rugby until he was 8 but when the family moved from Napier to Central Hawke's Bay he found Tikokino School didn't have a team.
"So I just played soccer and it just went from there."
He went to St John's College in Hastings up to year 11.
From there the Ole Academy in Wellington beckoned and he stayed there until last year.
Under academy coach Declan Edge, who is at the helm of the Western Suburbs side in the Lotto Central League this winter, he gleaned a different set of skills.
"It [the academy] made me technically a better player.
"Declan's definitely one of those guys who develops you as a better individual player.
"He gets you on the ball. He gives you confidence to play one-two passes and that has certainly helped me to develop."
In his four years at the college, Morton hopes to transfer to a better school.
"If I enjoy my four years there and we do well then it'll be great."
Returning home after that to work in Australia "to earn a little bit of money" to supplement his playing career is the bigger picture.
"I love the game so I just want to keep on playing, really."
Like Rovers' teammates, striker Angus Kilkolly and goalkeeper Ruben Parker Hanks, Morton missed the cut to the New Zealand Under-20 squad for the Fifa World Cup this month.
But he is keen to make the under-23 national side to go to the Olympics.
"If they need me I'll be ready to run my arse off."
His talented sisters, Sarah and Rosie, are trying to make the under-20 and under-17 national teams as well.
"I'll have to keep pushing myself otherwise they'll overtake me," he says with a grin, as Sarah went to the Fifa women's under-17 tourney in Costa Rica last year.
"I'd like to think I've been an idol for them through the age groups but they are doing very well for themselves so it's good to see."
His father, Stephen, played rugby while mum Hana delved in hockey, horse riding and touch rugby so that fitness was never an issue in the family.
"When I switched to soccer, it was a bit of a shock for dad but he's sort of got used to it now and he comes to all the games.
"Mum is the wild one. She comes to the games and is louder than the coaches.
"It can be quite off-putting at times but it's good to see she's very enthusiastic," he says with a laugh.
In other matches in the Central region, Western Suburbs are away to New Plymouth Rangers AFC, Wairarapa United host Island Bay United AFC while Wellington Olympic welcome Petone FC.
CUP DETAILS
WHO: Palmerston North Marist v Napier City Rovers.
WHEN: Today, 2pm kickoff.
WHERE: Memorial Park, Palmerston North.
REFEREE: Antony Riley.
AR1/AR2: Aydin Partridge-Long/Daniel Hembrow.
ROVERS: Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 2 Daniel Ball, 5 Finlay Milne, 6 Miles John, 7 Stephen Hoyle, 8 Ryan Tinsley, 9 Angus Kilkolly, 10 Saul Halpin, 14 Josh Stevenson, 15 James Hoyle, 16 Danny Wilson (c), 17 Fergus Neil, 19 Bill Robertson, 20 Fane Morgan, 23 Kyle Baxter (RGK).
Coach: Bill Robertson. Asst coach: Chris Greatholder.
PN MARIST: Gurkarnvir Singh (GK), 2 James Oxtoby, 3 Ashish Sahayam, 4 Wade Randle, 5 Khair Jones, 6 Troy Smith, 7 Michael Sheridan, 8 Tyson Brandt, 9 Josh Smith, 10 Jonathan Steele, 11 Michael Crisford, 12 Dom Milne, 13 Rhys Janes, 14 Rhys Gayler, 15 Josh Sansom, 16 Caleb Gaylard, 17 Woody Maxey-Graham, 18 Josh Chettleburgh, 19 Ben Ravenwood.
Coach: Simon Lees (RGK).
Other games
5.30pm, today: Wairarapa Utd v Island Bay Utd, Masterton Memorial Park.
5.45pm: Wellington Olympic v Petone FC, Wakefield Park No 2.
2pm, tomorrow: New Plymouth Rangers v Western Suburbs, Merrilands Domain.
