Scott to lead by actions
VETERAN prop Matt Scott insists he doesn’t need the captaincy to be a leader as the Cowboys enter a new era with Michael Morgan at the helm.
Morgan is the first Townsville-born player to captain the Cowboys after being officially given the honour at last Friday’s season launch, with prop Jordan Mclean to serve as vice-captain.
It marks a significant changing of the guard given Scott and Johnathan Thurston shared the captaincy for eight years, including the club’s maiden premiership in 2015.
Scott revealed to the Townsville Bulletin last year that he’d be willing to step aside following Thurston’s retirement and endorsed Morgan as the man to take over.
Coach Paul Green said choosing a new leader was a tough process, given Scott still has another year on his deal, but the no-nonsense forward felt it made sense to put Morgan in charge now.
“I’d spoken a lot to ‘Greeny’, even last year, about what was going to happen, knowing that ‘JT’ was retiring and I was playing on,” Scott said.
“We saw what ‘ Morgo’ did in 2017 (with Scott and Thurston out injured), he’s signed a long-term deal, so he’s probably the natural successor.
“I was all for making the change now and starting fresh with a new captain, new vicecaptain, and then guys like myself and Gavin Cooper are still around to give support.”
Scott, who has played 251 NRL games for the Cowboys, expects his routine to be largely unaffected by the leadership change, apart from avoiding a few official duties on game day.
The 33-year-old has had frequent discussions with Morgan in the lead-up to Saturday’s season opener against the Dragons in Townsville and he was confident it would be a smooth transition.
“We’ve worked together a lot, not so much about leadership styles and techniques and whatever, but just talking every day about ways we can be better as a group,” Scott said. “Trying to help him and give him any experiences that I’ve learnt along the way in how to deal with certain situations.
“There are probably a couple of things officially I don’t have to do on game day, but as far as me at training and around the place, nothing changes.”
Scott has retained his place at starting prop against the Dragons despite coming off major neck surgery and he felt comfortable his body was ready for the grind of another NRL season. “I feel a lot better this year than this time last year,” Scott said.
“I had a less disruptive preseason.
“I got a lot more work done, a lot more running, and I felt a lot better in the trials. I felt pretty comfortable with how I was physically.
“It might take a few weeks still, it’s always hard after major surgery, but I’m used to coming back after major surgery these days so hopefully it doesn’t take too long to hit some of my best form.”