Morgan & Munster: Exploring Michael Morgan's Sublime Career Thus Far
Doing them big tings in his honour.
There isn't exactly a shortage of freakish NRL talent under the age of 26. We're either in or approaching the twilight years of a crop of players who have been a staple of my rugby league viewing experience and there's a gang of players patiently waiting to have the torch passed to them. Front and centre, perhaps the leaders of that young gang are Michael Morgan and Cameron Munster.
The quality and quantity of youngsters in the NRL is such that I was cautious about plucking Munster and Morgan out of that gang and settling on them being the best young players in the NRL. Before going any further; yes there are the likes of James Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Jake Trbojevic, Jason Taumalolo, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Valentine Holmes, David Klemmer, Anthony Milford and so on, but after watching Morgan and Munster over the past few months, I'm confident in my view that they are a slither or two above the rest.
Headlined by their respective and collective performances on Queensland's left edge in game three of State of Origin, Munster and Morgan have done nothing but oozed class recently. And it's a logical progression, going from talented players who are finding their feet at NRL level to being low key cornerstones of Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys, to then looking at home in the Maroons jersey on such a stage.
A good place to start when comparing the two are their creepy similarities. Munster has played at fullback, centre and in the halves for Melbourne and Morgan's done exactly the same, only Morgan's most notable stint at centre casually came in Origin. They both enjoy the luxury of having Queensland, Australian and general rugby league greats leading their NRL teams, which can only be an immense benefit. Call it luck or a touch of the divine, the arrival and development of these two has coincided with the retirement/moving on/only a year or two left stages of Jonathan Thurston, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith's careers.
Melbourne and North Queensland need someone to take over, as do Queensland and Morgan and Munster have come through at precisely the right time.
Morgan is a bit further along the career-arc than Munster, so you could easily hail Morgan as the best player under 30yrs in the NRL. We had heard a fair bit about Morgan as he entered the NRL - a journey that ran parallel to Taumalolo's - and I remember a shift to fullback from the halves as a pivotal moment in Morgan's career. Morgan enjoyed the running freedom at fullback and with Thurston at halfback, Morgan didn't have to do much more than add icing on a well baked cake.
A move back into the halves had Morgan forming the Cowboys excessively slick spine along with of Lachlan Coote and Thurston. This subsequently saw Morgan shine and play a key role in the Cowboys winning the 2015 Premiership. Thurston kicked the winning field-goal, yet it was Morgan who created the game-leveling try in the last play with a pass that he now flicks out regularly when it's needed most.
Footy success can be irrelevant when pondering life, it can also be instrumental in great success. Morgan was close homies with Samoan international Alex Elisala, who was born in Aotearoa and ventured across the ditch as a youngster. Elisala tragically died aged 20. Elisala had made his debut for Samoa and was formed a dynamic combo playing at hooker with Morgan in the Cowboys Under 20s team. With everything Morgan does, you sense that he's doing it with Elisala in mind.
2,612 Likes, 22 Comments - Michael Morgan (@mmorgan91) on Instagram: "Throwback to the time we won confraternity 🏆 #2008 #IPC"
416 Likes, 20 Comments - Michael Morgan (@mmorgan91) on Instagram: "Couple of young boys ready to go at #confro08 @aelisala__ ❤️❤️"
493 Likes, 32 Comments - Michael Morgan (@mmorgan91) on Instagram: "Saying goodbye to you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I'll miss you forever Lek it's..."
257 Likes, 6 Comments - Michael Morgan (@mmorgan91) on Instagram: "Miss the old days ♥ @parker_walshe91 @aelisala__ #NYC #2011"
170 Likes, 12 Comments - Michael Morgan (@mmorgan91) on Instagram: "At 162 smith RD home of the Elisalas! Loving it here! #leki ❤️❤️❤️"
Two things have happened this year that have seen Morgan rise above the pack; Thurston's injuries and playing centre for Queensland. Without Thurston, Morgan has slotted into halfback and although Thurston's one of a handful of irreplaceable players, the Cowboys still look every bit a contender with Morgan steering the ship. Of course, Coote deserves plenty of credit, as do the Cowboys for showcasing a beautiful pivot in snapping up Te Maire Martin at the same time as they handed control of this team to Morgan and his second in command, Coote.
Morgan never looks flustered. He runs the footy like very few halves can thanks to his size and speed, then he's got the hands and kicking game of a natural half ... or a talented youngin' who has spent years watching, talking to Thurston. Picked to start at centre in an Origin decider, it was Morgan's calm persona and his size that saw him go to the 'nek level'.
Darius Boyd had done a job at left centre for Queensland in game two after Billy Slater returned to reclaim his fullback spot. With Will Chambers on the right, Greg Inglis is Queensland's #1 left centre and as Boyd was selected there for game two we can assume that as long as Chambers is locked in on the right, Boyd's the #2 left centre. Queensland were effectively down to their #3 left centre (fourth best centre option including Chambers) and that's not even taking into account that Morgan was picked ahead of his Cowboys comrade Justin O'Neill - who had started at right centre for game one.
Such was the belief in Morgan that he was selected to play centre in Origin, ahead of O'Neill. Granted, O'Neill didn't do a great job in game one which made the decision a bit easier but still; Morgan was one of three Origin centres in game three who don't play centre in the NRL and Morgan more than held his own, only being out-played by Chambers and even that's up for discussion.
Josh Dugan? Morgan's defensive reads and physical ability shut Dugan down perfectly. Queensland love to rush up from their edges, pressuring from the outside and the risk there is that the ball beats that pressure, opening up space to attack into. That simply means that it's all gravy to rush up, just don't miss that tackle and while he didn't keep Dugan to his lowest output of the series, Morgan (along with his left edge homies) did restrict Dugan to 110 off 11 carries, an offload and forced 2 errors after Dugan had 135m from 16 carries, 2 offloads and no errors in game two.
Morgan may not have been a stand out in game three, he did his job though and when you consider that he rarely plays centre in the NRL these days, I'd be happy with Morgan just doing his job. Then consider that Morgan had filled the bench-utility spot up until then, playing in all three games off the bench in 2015, two games last year and the first two games this year.
After Queensland had wrapped up the 2015 series in the first two games, New South Wales won the third game and all Morgan did was defend, through the middle as he made 15 tackles and didn't do anything with the footy. This 2015 series had limited attacking involvement from Morgan, which is to be expected from an NRL half playing as a middle forward in the toughest arena. Come 2016 though, Morgan played 41 minutes off the bench and got through 10 carries for 76m with 17 tackles in game two and game one of 2017 saw Morgan play 50 middle-minutes with 11 carries for 88m.
There were 8 missed tackles from Morgan in that game one loss this year - Morgan has missed 8 tackles in the six games he's played off the bench otherwise. I'd suggest that this anomaly is just one of many from game one of this year's series that NSW conveniently won; Billy Slater's absence and an elderly forward pack also come to mind.
Now we are graced with clarity as Morgan will wear the famous No.7 Cowboys jersey into the future. Morgan has looked at ease in stepping up to greater roles within the Cowboys and any role that he's given for Queensland, now the Cowboys are his team. We're entering the climax of the NRL season, when the spotlight is intensified and performances mean that much more. This hasn't hindered Morgan at any stage of his career and his best moments routinely come in the biggest games.
How Morgan steers the Cowboys through the back-end of this season will be fascinating. Just as Morgan's done an exceptional job of supporting Thurston, Morgan has right pieces around him in supporting roles now and it'd be rude not to bank on Morgan reaching greater heights as he chases another Premiership ring.
Morgan's representative future doesn't quite have the same clarity, which is perhaps the true sign of Morgan's future greatness. While Morgan will be the Cowboys halfback long-term, he could build a halves combination with Munster, or Milford or perhaps Morgan could hold down that left centre spot for Queensland. The same goes for Australia as they prepare for the World Cup, with both the Maroons and Kangaroos moving into life after Thurston, Slater, Cronk, Smith, Inglis etc.
Regardless of what position Morgan plays, he'll be one of the first names jotted down for Queensland and Australia over the next five years, possibly beyond. Natural footballer comes to mind, it's just that Morgan plays that 'natural footballer' role to such a high level it doesn't really do him justice. That's the funk though, as Morgan offers us a journey to follow and while positions, comrades and his job may always be in a state of flux, the one constant will be Morgan's greatness. Enjoy the Michael Morgan era folks, it's only just beginning and will be a pleasure to observe.