North Queensland have appointed halfback Michael Morgan as the Cowboys captain for 2019.
The announcement ends speculation regarding who would be at the helm in the post Johnathon Thurston era as the Cowboys strive for the finals following a disappointing season.
Taking over the co-captaincy from Thurston and club veteran Matt Scott, Morgan will lead the North Queenslanders with Jordan McLean as vice.
Although Scott was poised to resume as the club's sole captain, Cowboys coach Paul Green said that the club needs a clean state in order to rebuild in the post Thurston era.
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“The logical choice would have been to keep Matt Scott on as skipper given he was co-captain for so long, but after the retirement of Johnathan we viewed this decision as an opportunity to build for the future,” Green said in a club statement.
“Morgo showed us in 2017 he had the attributes to lead this club and the benefit of naming him captain now is the fact we still have players of Matt and Gavin Cooper’s experience at the club to support both Michael and Jordan. The timing ensures we’re not throwing Morgo in the deep end.
“Macca’s appointment is also a look to the future. He has shown strong leadership qualities since the day he arrived at the club and again we thought this was the right time to hand him extra responsibility before some of our more experienced players move on in the next few years.”
Coming through the Cowboys pathways system as a junior, Morgan has played his entire career with Townsville since his 2010 NRL debut.
The 27-year-old has played 140 matches in the navy outfit, registered nine appearances for Queensland and a further 12 for Australia.
Morgan said that he was honoured to take over the leadership role from club legend Johnathon Thurston, and to continue the footsteps of the prestigious group of former captains.
“The privilege of being named captain of this club is one of the most special moments of my career,” Morgan said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play my whole career here, I’m born and raised in Townsville and grew up just down the road from 1300SMILES Stadium. I have a lot of fond memories as a kid of spending the day playing footy at junior league and then coming across to Cowboys games.
“This club has a history of strong leaders and hopefully I can continue the tradition.”
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North Queensland great Thurston endorsed Morgan as the player to lead the Cowboys back into the top eight, describing him as the "future of the club".
“He’s certainly the future of the club. Morgo (Morgan) is one to lead by his actions," Thurston told the Courier Mail on Thursday.
“I expect big things from Morgo. We saw what he did in 2017. Any formation that the coaching staff give him, he processes that really well as a halfback and he’s able to execute that during the game.”
Vice-captain McLean, who has played just 10 games for the Cowboys, admitted he was surprised when he was named in the exclusive leadership group.
“It’s only my second year at the club and I only managed to play 10 games last year, so this appointment came as a surprise, but I’m honoured to be taking on the role,” he said.
“I’ve grown to love this club very quickly, which is a reflection of the quality of people we have here at the Cowboys along with our fan base. They come from all over and pack our stadium every game and I can’t wait to run out in front of them next weekend.”
The Cowboys will kick off their 2019 season against the Dragons on Saturday, March 16 at 1300 Smiles Stadium.
