Morgan firms for Storm clash
THE Cowboys are preparing to unleash Michael Morgan in tomorrow night’s grand final rematch with the Melbourne Storm as the star half recovers from a frustrating abdominal injury.
Morgan (pictured) was forced to sit out the first two games of the season but has been named at five-eighth for the blockbuster clash at AAMI Park, with Te Maire Martin shifting to the bench.
The 26-year-old trained strongly on Monday and travelled with his teammates to Melbourne, but still needs to get through today’s captain’s run to be a guaranteed starter against the Storm.
Morgan was the star of North Queensland’s fairytale finals run last season and he is desperate to get back for their first official NRL clash with Melbourne since last year’s 34-6 grand final thrashing.
Abdominal injuries can be difficult to manage and how he recovers after training will be the deciding factor but coach Paul Green said the Cowboys were upbeat about Morgan’s chances of playing.
“He pulled up pretty well after training yesterday (Monday) so we’re a lot more hopeful than we were last week,” Green said.
“As I’ve said all along with this type of injury, it’s one thing to train, but it’s also how it pulls up.
“He’s been good so far this week, but we’ve only trained once so fingers crossed he’s heading in the right direction.
“We’re preparing more so that he will be playing rather than he won’t be playing, but we’ve still got another session to get through yet.”
Morgan’s return would be a huge boost to the Cowboys after they fell short in a thrilling 24-20 derby clash with the Broncos in Brisbane last weekend, with some players admitting they fell back into old habits with an over reliance on halfback Johnathan Thurston.
The Storm were also below their best in a shock 10-8 loss to the Wests Tigers in front of a packed home crowd for what was star fullback Billy Slater’s 300th NRL appearance.