Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo a look into North Queensland’s future beyond Johnathan Thurston

WE don’t need to wonder what the Cowboys will be like once Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott retire — Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo are showing us every week.

Johnathan Thurston of the Cowboys talks with Michael Morgan during warm up before the NRL elimination final between the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks and the North Queensland Cowboys at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, September 10, 2017. (AAP Image/Craig Golding) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

WATCHING the Cowboys beat the Sharks was to get a glimpse at the future.

For so long, the dominant figures in Cowboys history have been Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott. Thurston has been the biggest show in town since he first arrived in 2005 and Scott is the last remaining player from the pre-Thurston era.

So many clubs fall apart once their legends leave. It’s the cost of doing business with such great players.

Parramatta took decades to recover from Peter Sterling’s retirement in 1992. Newcastle have yet to fill the vacuum left by Andrew Johns in 2007. Until Ben Hunt rocked up, Brisbane’s halfbacks post-Allan Langer was something of a wasteland.

But it’s hard to see that happening for North Queensland. We’re seeing the post-Thurston and Scott is right in front of us, it’s happening before our eyes.

Morgan has improved as a footballer this season.

The Cowboys 15-14 win over the Sharks on Sunday was another victory for the team without Thurston, their ninth victory without their key duo this season and like so many of their victories it was built around Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo.

Taumalolo ran for 234 metres from 22 carries and scored one of the Cowboys tries while Morgan set up the other and kicked the winning field goal in extra time.

This was no two-man show, but these two are the most important players at the club when Thurston isn’t there — and they’ll be the two the club and build around once Thurston and Matt Scott call time on their brilliant careers.

“Once he (Thurston) was ruled out for the year, and we knew that he wasn’t coming back, that was just how it was,” Morgan said.

”There was no point in being dirty about it, I had to look at it as a bit of an opportunity for myself.”

With Thurston sidelined, Morgan has taken his play to a new level.

Morgan has taken that opportunity with both hands, becoming the Cowboys main playmaker and filling more of an organising role than he ever has before.

“And at this point in my career, I had to — I’m 25 years old. It’s been a good opportunity to develop as a player.

“I’ve still been learning as I’ve been doing it. I certainly haven’t found it easy where it’s just been a breeze — it’s been a challenge.

“But it’s one I’ve enjoyed and I’ve enjoyed trying to improve and develop my game.”

Morgan’s strength has always been his running game, but since Thurston went down the 25-year old has found the balance between backing his own speed and strength and creating opportunities for his outside men.

His kicking game has also come on in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of earning field position — Morgan made a number of vital and effective clearing kicks in the extra time period of the win over Cronulla.

Morgan kicked the game-winning field goal against the Sharks, the first one-pointer of his career.

The Queensland star says the transition has been made easier by Thurston’s continued presence around the club, which has allowed Morgan to relish his new role in the team.

“He definitely helps. He comes out on the training field, and this week he worded me up, gave me a few tips.

“But he helps with my game. He doesn’t try and make me be like him or anything like that. I don’t think either of us think that’d work, he takes my game and helps with that.

“It’s just competing. You know you’ve got to keep challenging the opposition defensive line as much as you can and it’s play for play type footy, you want to be competitive.

“As a group, that’s what we do and what JT did.”

Such is the magnitude of Thurston, the season-ending injury to Matt Scott has been a little overlooked.

But Taumalolo and the rest of the forwards know just how much they miss their veteran prop and the reigning Dally M winner took it upon himself to carry the load once Scott’s season was ended back in March.

“Personally, I’ve taken it upon myself this year in trying to, not change my job, but just going up another level,” said Taumalolo

“Tonight was no different — the boys needed me to do my job and hopefully I did it well enough.”

Given Taumalolo gained over 200 metres for the 11th time this season, it’s fair to say he did well enough.

Taumalolo was in supreme form against the Sharks.

Taumalolo has a speed and quickness to his runs that belie his size, and he’s able to step nimbly off both feet to add an extra element of doubt in the defender’s minds.

He can also play extended minutes without losing impact — he’s averaged 62 minutes per game this season, up from 52 minutes last year, and punched out 71 minutes on Sunday.

He is the best forward in the world and has been for the better part of the last two seasons.

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In the aftermath of the win over the Sharks, coach Paul Green and stand-in skipper Gavin Cooper lauded Taumalolo’s rise as a leader of the playing group in the last 12 months.

Taumalolo isn’t sure he agrees — “out on the field, I’m not really a fan of talking” — but Morgan thinks the Kiwi forward has begun to realise how important he is to the club as a whole.

“He knows how big a part of this team he is. I think he’s accepted that and I think he’s enjoying it as well — how influential he can be for the team.

Scott was ruled out for the season after Round 2.

“When he talks off the field, people listen and he certainly leads with his actions on the field. He’s grown as a player and a person and its great to see.”

North Queensland’s game-winning field goal came off the boot of Morgan and followed a Taumalolo play the ball.

The two stars combined when their team needed them to step up, giving the rugby league world another look into tomorrow even as their improbable season continues.

Two men don’t make a premiership team any more than one man does, but your star players are the foundations on which a title hunt is built.

Scott and Thurston still have some great footy left in them, and North Queensland will be outright premiership favourites for 2018 when they return to the field..

But once these two legends walk away, it seems hard to envision things falling apart because in Morgan and Taumalolo, the Cowboys have a future as bright as their recent history.