https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/nrl/cowboys/the-two-key-moments-that-caught-michael-morgans-ire/news-story/8948c0a6d5f0372a6a1fffcf002cb9eb THINGS may not have gone their way, but Cowboys captain Michael Morgan found a positive to take away — they refused to roll over. The halfback cut a disappointed figure after his side’s round one loss to the Brisbane Broncos, his persona that of a man hurt by the ultimately disheartening end to what was an intoxicating build up. But there were two key moments he alluded to that, while he acknowledged were not the sole cause of the loss, put them on the backfoot at various stages. When Broncos forward Tevita Pangai Junior dived on a grounded Justin O’Neill, the veteran centre was sent for a HIA and never returned.
Bench backrow young gun Mitch Dunn was moved to accommodate the loss, but Brisbane exploited his inexperience in the position to score tries through Kotoni Staggs, Jamayne Isaako and Pangai himself. “He certainly turns up to play us that’s for sure,” Morgan said of the Tongan tyro. “We lost him (O’Neill) for the game after that so that’s not ideal, he (Pangai) might miss next week now but that doesn’t help us at all. “There’s not a lot we can do, whether the game changes – there was talk of the 18th man coming in for things like that. “He was put on report, we lost a player from it but we weren’t really compensated in any way.” The skipper also got his first taste of the Captain’s Challenge, leaving behind a bitter flavour. Morgan was deemed to have knocked on in front of the Broncos posts, however replays seemed to suggest he never lost contact with the Steeden. But the decision was upheld, much to his disbelief. “I didn’t drop it, my hand was still on the ball the whole time. I was certain when I got up, I wouldn’t have challenged it (otherwise),” Morgan said. “I thought going into the game about it a little bit and I would only use it if I was certain.” As devastated as he was, Morgan showed pride for his side in the way they continued fight for the competition points. Two late tries got them back into the contest and Dunn came ever so close in the closing minutes in what would have made for yet another thrilling finish. Despite the result, Morgan said it was progress from their 2019 campaign. “I think that’s a step in the right direction from where we were last year,” he said. “Some games last year we had some patches where we did that, we’d leak a few tries in a row and let the game slip. “We hung on a bit better, we fought right to the end and had our chances until the end from doing that.”
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June 2020
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