The Cowboys’ premiership hopes are all but dead, Michael Morgan’s lost his mojo — but there might be good news for the Maroons

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED: North Queensland’s premiership hopes are all but dead, Michael Morgan’s lost his mojo — but there might be some good news for the Maroons.

The players’ faces say it all. (Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

1. THE Cowboys need a miracle to win the NRL premiership. It is going to be nearly impossible for North Queensland to fight back into title contention after a 2-6 start to the year. They have a tough run of games against top-eight teams Penrith (away), Wests (away), South Sydney (home) and Melbourne (home) to come.

CRASH: Raiders push Cowboys to the brink of disaster

The players’ faces say it all. (Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

2. MICHAEL Morgan’s form was summed up in one play. Morgan found himself in space in the 69th minute with only Raiders fullback Jack Wighton to beat. The Morgan of old would have pinned his ears and gunned for the tryline. Instead, the out-of-form Cowboys five-eighth was in two minds and spilt the ball.

3. COWBOYS fullback Lachlan Coote is facing an uncertain future at North Queensland after being dragged. Coote was pulled from the field with the game on the line for Morgan to shift to fullback as coach Paul Green looked for a way to spark the Cowboys.

Papalii looks back to his best. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers)

4. RAIDERS beast Josh Papalii is not out of the Queensland Origin mix despite his poor start to the season. Papalii was dropped back in Round 5 but has rebounded with some promising form and showed his brute strength to score a try from close range. “He’s worked really hard on his fitness to drop the excess weight and you can see the results,” Maroons coach Kevin Walters said.

5. COWBOYS young gun Coen Hess is not ready to replace Matt Gillett in Queensland’s starting forward pack. Walters is on the hunt for a new right-edge backrower to replace Gillett (broken neck). Hess, 21, made his Origin debut last year, but he is too inconsistent in defence to step into a starting spot.

Originally published as The Cowboys’ premiership hopes are all but dead, Michael Morgan’s lost his mojo — but there might be good news for the Maroons