Michael Morgan knock adds to North Queensland’s woes
North Queensland coach Paul Green has raged at a late shot that forced Michael Morgan out of the club’s 22-14 loss to St George Illawarra.
No Michael Morgan, not much hope for the Cowboys.
North Queensland will need to address their lack of attack without Morgan after giving up a 10-0 lead on Friday night at WIN Stadium in a crucial 22-14 loss.
It was the Cowboys third-straight defeat and are now left staring at an ever growing battle to make the top eight.
Leading 10-6 at halftime, the Cowboys were left without their million-dollar man Morgan after he was taken from the field in the 45th minute with a concussion.
The Dragons capitalised in his absence as they posted three unanswered tries on the back of serious pressure and 54 per cent possession while Morgan was off the field.
Coach Paul Green was furious the shot from Dragons enforcer Tariq Sims went unpunished.
“I thought it was late and high. He’s not feeling very well. He didn’t come back on,” Green said.
“They brought it up in the NRL about protecting ball players after they play. They saw it a different way tonight.”
The Cowboys looked in all sorts without their captain on the field and the responsibility was left on the shoulders of young halfback Jake Clifford.
Friday night’s loss has left North Queensland’s finals’ aspirations in serious tatters as they now sit with nine losses from 15 games.
It also continues a worrying trend for the Cowboys who have been unable to find a win away from home.
Friday night saw them notch up their fourth consecutive loss in NSW for the first time since 2016 and comes at a timely period when the Cowboys head off to a bye next weekend.
Despite the loss, the Cowboys look to have finally found the answer to their No.1 problem.
It took all of half an hour for “the next Billy Slater” Scott Drinkwater to stamp his mark on the NRL as he tried desperately to steer the club to victory.
Drinkwater was thrown in the deep end on Friday night after only joining North Queensland last Sunday and training with his new teammates for the first time on Monday.
During the week, former Queensland fullback Slater said Drinkwater could do the Cowboys what Kalyn Ponga has done for the Knights.
And that was clearly evident on Friday night.
North Queensland went into the match with a 6-8 win-loss record which could well have been the other way around had they had an extra bit of spark on the park.
Without Morgan, that spark looks likely to come from young Drinkwater once he becomes comfortable in his new outfit.
The Cowboys posted first points last night with a penalty conversion before a lovely cut-out pass by Morgan which led to Tom Opacic’s try in the 17th minute.
Drinkwater showed his Billy-Slater-esque skills in the 29th minute when he split through the Dragons defensive line with ease to extend the scores out to 10-nil.
A late surge in the first half by the Dragons brought them within four points into the break.
The Dragons took the lead for the first time in the game through Dufty in the 49th minute during Morgan’s absence from the ground.
Dragons’ players Euan Aitken and Jacob Host continued their points pile on and despite a late surge by the Cowboys, the homeside managed to find their sixth win of the season.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 22 (E Aitken M Dufty J Host M Ravalawa tries C Norman 3 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 14 (T Opacic 2 S Drinkwater tries J Kahu goal) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, Liam Kennedy. Crowd: 7,008
Originally published as Michael Morgan knock adds to North Queensland’s woes
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