MORGO BACK FOR GRAND FINAL REMATCH WITH STORM
MORGAN NAMED FOR GR AND FINAL REMATCH
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 an abdominal injury.
Morgan missed North Queensland’s first two games of the season, but Cowboys coach Paul Green says the five- eighth only needs to pass today’s captain’s run to play.
Coen Hess has been moved to the starting side in the other team change, replacing Ethan Lowe who shifts to the bench.
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 an abdominal injury.
Morgan was forced to sit out the first two games of the season, but he has been named at five- eighth for the big clash at AAMI Park, with Te Maire Martin shifting to the bench.
Ben Hampton has retained his spot at fullback, with Lachlan Coote still battling a hamstring complaint, while Coen Hess has been promoted to the starting side in place of Ethan Lowe.
Morgan 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.
The 26- year- old 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 tricky to manage and how Morgan recovers after training will be the deciding factor, but coach Paul Green said the Cowboys were upbeat about his 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.
“He’s been pretty keen since the kick- off. It’s pretty tough when you’re injured and you’re seeing what your teammates are going through and there’s not much you can do about it to actually help.
“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 overreliance 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 also star fullback Billy Slater’s 300th NRL appearance.
But Green rejected suggestions that the Cowboys should be ready to bear the brunt of Melbourne’s frustrations, saying that his team should also have a point to prove.
“You can’t go through the year hoping teams are off or worried about whether or not they’ve won or lost the week before,” Green said.
“They ( Melbourne) are a good side and a hallmark of how they play is consistency, so whether or not they’re fired up because they lost, I don’t really care.
“We also lost so if you use that logic then we’ve probably got just as big a point to prove. It’s not going to come down to that.
“It’s about us finding our rhythm and trying not to let them get into their rhythm at the start of the game.”