MAKE IT COUNT
Taumalolo keen to atone after grand final heartbreak
COWBOYS star Jason Taumalolo is still stinging from his quieter-thanusual display in last year’s grand final, revealing he’s using the hurt to help spur the team to a premiership.
Taumalolo became the first forward in NRL history to run for more than 5000 metres in a season last year.
But the Storm nullified his impact in the decider, restricting him to 104 metres off 12 runs after he ran for a combined 694 metres in the first three weeks of the finals.
It’s motivation for the Dally M medallist as the Cowboys look to bounce back from their Brisbane loss in Thursday’s grand final rematch.
“I didn’t really do much that game to be honest, I really let the team down in that game,” Taumalolo said of the grand final.
“I’m looking forward to Thursday night and hopefully making up for it.
“It’s definitely something I wanted to remember and take into this season.
“Hopefully this Thursday I’ll be motivated even more to get the win.”
Cowboys centre Justin O’Neill said the pain of losing the grand final will never diminish completely.
“It’s something that will stick with you for the rest of your career, losing a grand final,” O’Neill said.
“It’s hard enough making it to a grand final, but to go down in one (hurts).
“Especially last year we really had to grind it out in the finals series to make it there and to lose in that grand final was tough.
“It’s a very hard thing to take and something I think will stick in the boys’ minds, and it may be fire for them to motivate them throughout the year.”
As a former Storm player, O’Neill knows full well his old team will be hellbent on producing their best after they were upset 10-8 by Wests Tigers on Saturday. It was an anticlimactic end to star fullback Billy Slater’s 300th game.
“A team like Melbourne Storm are very professional and especially (losing) a game like Billy’s 300th, they’ll be preparing for their best game this week. It’s going to be a tough one,” O’Neill said.
Taumalolo said former Storm prop Jordan McLean has been providing some inside knowledge as he prepares for his first official NRL game against his old team.
JASON Taumalolo says Cowboys five-eighth Michael Morgan is back near his best and pushing to play in Thursday’s grand final rematch against Melbourne.
The Cowboys will face the Storm at AAMI Park in an NRL fixture for the first time since last year’s 34-6 grand final thrashing.
Morgan, the star of North Queensland’s fairytale finals run last year, is yet to feature in the premiership this season because of an abdominal strain.
The Cowboys are treading carefully with Morgan, knowing how crucial he is to their 2018 campaign, and are reluctant to play him below 100 per cent fitness.
Morgan (above) sat out last Friday’s thrilling derby loss to the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in the hope of being cleared to travel to Melbourne today.
And Taumalolo said the 2017 Dally M Medal runner-up showed promising signs on the training paddock yesterday.
“Morgo got through training,” the Cowboys lock said.
“He is still under a bit of an injury cloud but the way he was running around today, he looked pretty good.
“Hopefully he can recover well and if the physio gives him the green light he will be playing.
“He’s definitely looking a lot better than what he did the last couple of weeks. He is close to hitting top speed and looking good and silky as always. Hopefully he is running out with us on Thursday.”
Morgan, 26, became a genuine NRL superstar last season following his purple patch of form in the back end of the season. He starred in the absence of injured halfback Johnathan Thurston, earning a five-year contract extension worth $5 million.