MIND ON THE JOB Morgan says long goodbye to JT won’t sidetrack team

COWBOYS star Michael Morgan is adamant the playing group won’t be weighed down by the hype surrounding Johnathan Thurston’s farewell season.

But the five- eighth hopes to take some of the spotlight off the champion No. 7 by maintaining the assertiveness which guided the injury- plagued Cowboys to this year’s grand final.

Many y experts p put a line through gh North Queensland’s hopes when Thurston suffered a seasonending shoulder injury in State of Origin II.

Morgan was forced to take control of the team and enjoyed arguably the best season of his career, which was rewarded by being named Dally M halfback of the year.

As he prepares to return to his usual No. 6 role, Morgan, who set up the only try in Australia’s World Cup final win over England, said he was keen to take the pressure off Thurston.

“I’m sure it ( the halves partnership) will be more shared, if anything, it’s not going to be one person overly dominant,” he said.

“JT’s a dominant player and I’m fine with that as well, ( but) I’m sure they’ll still want me to have that control about my game I had more of this year.

“I learnt that as I went along as well, it wasn’t something I’ve always had. Hopefully it helps me and the team next year.”

Next season will be a celebration of Thurston’s stellar career, starting immediately with his 300th NRL game against Cronulla at Townsville in Round 1.

Morgan admitted it could be a distraction, but was confident the players would not be suffocated by the pressure of trying to send their co- captain out a winner. The 25- year- old is off contract at the end of next season but will become the Cowboys’ main man in 2019 if he recommits.

Because it ( Thurston’s farewell) has been a long time coming it takes a little bit of the emotion out,” Morgan said.

“But there’ll be times through the year where he has a number of ‘ lasts’, you want to make them all good ones for him.

“It does ( add pressure) and he wouldn’t want anyone thinking like that ( but) in the back of people’s minds if that gets them motivated, each person’s different.

“Greeny ( Cowboys coach Paul Green) is pretty good at making sure everyone’s clear about what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it. A little bit of external motivation can be a good thing too, as long as it’s not our entire focus I think we’ll be all right.”

After the grand final loss to Melbourne, Morgan vowed to continue getting more involved when Thurston returned.

“I’ll try to ( stay aggressive), I certainly will,” he said. “I’m sure what the team wants me to do is still be in games for a long period of time.”