Mixed preparation hampers Cowboys
COWBOYS five-eighth Michael Morgan has questioned whether Australia’s successful World Cup campaign has contributed to North Queensland’s sluggish start to the NRL season.
Morgan has battled for form during North Queensland’s five-game losing streak which has relegated the Cowboys to 15th spot on the ladder.
No team in the NRL era has fought back from a 1-5 record to qualify for the grand final and the Cowboys will have to defy history again to challenge for this year’s title.
Despite fielding one of the hottest teams in the NRL, the Cowboys have struggled for fluency on the field and looked disjointed since their sole win against Cronulla in Round 1.
Co-captains Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston missed last year’s World Cup because of injury, meaning North Queensland’s only Kangaroos representatives were Morgan and ex-Melbourne forward Jordan McLean.
The Kangaroos beat England in the World Cup final on December 2 before embarking on compulsory sixweek breaks.
Morgan and McLean did not report for pre-season training until late January and made their first playing appearances of the year in the testimonial trial match between the Cowboys and Storm.
“A few of us had shorter preseasons,” Morgan said when asked why the Cowboys had been slow out of the blocks.
“We only had the one trial game, the testimonial. I don’t know if that didn’t really give us an indication of where we were at. It was more of a friendly type of game.
“If we knew, we’d be sorting it out for next year, but we don’t really know.
“The biggest problem we’ve had on the field is guys not being on the same page.
“Our attack has been talked about as being clunky and that’s exactly where it comes from. People are not con- necting properly.”
Interestingly, the teams with the highest Kangaroos representation have been uncharacteristically slow starters this season.
The Storm had six players in the Kangaroos squad started the season with a 2-3 record before registering a comfortable win against Newcastle last week.
Cronulla (three players) have only two wins in six rounds while the Broncos (two players) have a 3-3 record.
The surprise packet Wests Tigers had no players in last year’s Kangaroos squad nor did the third-placed Warriors, although they had heavy representation in the Kiwi Test team which suffered a humiliating quarter-finals exit.
The top two – Dragons and Panthers – each had one player feature for Australia in the World Cup final.
Cowboys lock Jason Taumalolo played in Tonga’s semifinal loss to England and also reported for pre-season training later in the piece.
But the Cowboys lock refused to use his taxing 2017 season as an excuse for a mixed start to the year.
“I don’t want to use that as an excuse for my performances,” he said.
“It’s just down to myself not being ready to play.
“I need to get my preparation right every week.”
The Cowboys play the Gold Coast Titans at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday.
WE ONLY HAD THE ONE TRIAL GAME ... OUR ATTACK HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT AS BEING CLUNKY AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHERE IT COMES FROM. PEOPLE ARE NOT CONNECTING PROPERLY.
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