Morgan sees Jake at seven

COWBOYS co-captain Michael Morgan has declared Jake Clifford as the man to stand alongside him in the halves, with the young No.7 most suited to bring out the best in the premiership-winner’s game.

With a season disrupted by injury behind him, the 29year-old has risen through his first full pre-season in years, unencumbered by the shoulder complaints which limited him to just six games in 2020.

His absence ensured there was a constant recycling of the North Queensland halves in a lacklustre campaign, with Clifford, Scott Drinkwater, Daejarn Asi, Ben Hampton and Mitch Dunn all named at various times.

While Morgan is unsure exactly who coach Todd Payten will select in the halves with him for their Round 1 clash against Penrith, he has backed Clifford to own the jersey and allow the State of Origin veteran to slot in at five-eighth.

Running the football has always been the skipper’s strength, and he believes the 23-year-old (above) – who will head to the Newcastle Knights next year – is the man to help return him to his best.

“He’s had a really good preseason, he’s grown a lot in confidence and we’ve seen some really good things from him,” Morgan said.

“The way he left last year to the way he’s come back and finished the pre-season, it’s like he’s a completely different player.

“I’m not trying to put pressure on him or anything, but just him as a person he’s a lot more confident and doing some really good things at training so I hope he’s our No.7.”

Should Clifford be the man to form the scrumbase pairing, it would cause yet another backline reshuffle from last campaign as Payten attempts to squeeze as much star power as he can into the game day 17.

Drinkwater played much of 2020 in jersey six, however he now finds himself in a close tussle for the fullback spot alongside marquee man Valentine Holmes and electrifying young speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.