MORGO, MAN ON A MISSION SKIPPER INTENT ON LEADING FROM FRONT
MICHAEL Morgan is not immune to the pressures of his job.
The dial has only been turned up on the Cowboys captain after he struggled to hit top gear over the past two seasons.
His most recent critic is the man who taught him the ropes, Johnathan Thurston.
But the Cowboys legend is far from Morgan’s biggest critic. That job he reserves for himself.
It is his own self-evaluation that has driven the halfback in the off-season. He has put in the hard yards alongside his teammates. It is his desire to be better, his desire to answer the critics, and a desire to take the Cowboys back to the top of the NRL.
Thurston challenged Morgan to return to his best earlier this week. The Cowboys million dollar man plans to answer that challenge.
“I cert a i n l y want to get back to my best. It is n o t something I don’t want to do. I am really happy with where I am at, at the moment and where we are at as a team,” Morgan said.
“I know that there are external expectations on me, I am not silly. I have been around long enough to know that the position I play in and my position at the club (has its expectations). (But) I want that more than anyone else, so that is what I am trying to do. “I am excited for the season, I am looking forward to it. We had a few bumps in the road last year, surely it is going to be more smooth sailing than that.”
Morgan will begin his journey back to his best on field in this weekend’s trial against the Storm at Melbourne’s Casey Fields. The Cowboys captain will get his first taste of action for the pre-season in Saturday’s clash.
It will also be the club’s first chance to see Morgan and superstar recruit Valentine Holmes playing together in a game situation. Morgan said it was an exciting time for the club and a chance to show off the myriad combinations that have b e e n f o r m e d over a long, hot off- season in the tropics. “What has been good is we have done plenty of o p p o s e d against each o t h e r throughout the pre-season. We have been able to build a few combinations and work on different things,” he said.
“It is exciting. It is an exciting time for the whole club. We have got a few guys now, we have got Esan (Marsters).
“He is someone I haven’t played with before but I have played against him plenty of times – he has been quite a handful for us so it is nice to have him on our side now.
“With Val, he is a special player and he brings a few things we may not have had the last few years. I am really looking forward to it.”
Jake Clifford will also get first crack at partnering Morgan in the halves during Saturday’s trial after Scott Drinkwater was ruled out with a minor pectoral injury.
Clifford and Drinkwater have been locked in a battle to earn the five-eighth role which saw the pair excel during the NRL Nines.
While Clifford will have first crack, the Cowboys skipper was quick to admit the race was still wide open.
“The three of us have been chopping and changing, playing on the same team with each other. At the moment I am not too sure, but whoever gets the nod in the first week, that doesn’t mean the other person has missed out for the season,” he said.
“I have no doubt both of those guys will play a big role for us this year.
“You don’t (want to chop and change). Last year … when we lose one we sort of had no one else or no depth in that position. We are certainly in a better position than where we were this time last year.”