A fresh pair of eyes key for Morgan
BECOMING a father has given Michael Morgan newfound perspective, and the Cowboys skipper believes that could be what is needed to get the best out of the club’s exciting roster.
Since his partner, Brianna, gave birth three weeks ago, the North Queensland halfback has had an endearing distraction away from the day-to-day hassle of the NRL.
Part of that hassle has been the search for a new coach to replace Paul Green, with the club eager to have a decision made prior to the 2021 preseason commencing.
While the team have showed greater defensive resilience than earlier in the campaign under Josh Hannay, the reality is it has been eight weeks since they have walked from the field with a win.
That is despite fielding some of the competition’s most exciting young guns in Hamiso Tabuai-fidow and Reece Robson, along with experienced heads such as Morgan, Jason Taumalolo and Josh Mcguire to name a few.
Morgan said while he would offer his opinion if asked, he largely wanted to steer clear of the decision making process.
However an injection of new ideas and energy could hold the key to unlocking the talent at their disposal.
“You look at our roster on paper it is a very good one, for some reason of late we haven’t been able to put good performances together,” Morgan said.
“Exactly what that is I don’t think anyone here is too sure, so it’ll be nice if they go with a fresh face to come in and put their own perspective on things, and change a few things they may have been looking at from outside in.
“It’s always nice to have other views when they’re not directly involved.”
Morgan’s brother-in-law, Valentine Holmes, will make his return from a syndesmosis injury at the expense of Tabuai-fidow, who has been rested.
His comeback will coincide with a face-off against his old club, the Cronulla Sharks, with the hope he can spark the attack which abandoned them against Newcastle.
It was the first time since 2012 the Cowboys had been kept scoreless, a surprising turn of events given how energetic their attack was in the 31-30 loss to South Sydney.
However Robson and Taumalolo have both been ruled out for extended periods to continue the North Queensland theme of having a full casualty ward in 2020. It has been a concern across the NRL, with this season among the most plagued by serious injuries in the competition’s history.
Morgan said there were a number of factors to consider as to why this had occurred — namely the rule changes in the game mixing with the disruption the coronavirus pandemic had caused.
“I think the evidence shows across the game how many injuries there are, and long term injuries as well,” he said.
“I think the real change was the shortened pre-season after the COVID break, the mini pre-season to get back into the game has made a difference.
“There’s no byes either, it’s just back to back weekends of playing footy, so in terms of recovery there hasn’t been as much as there normally would be. On top of that, the couple of rule changes have made a real difference to the speed of the game.”