After spending two weeks on the sideline for precautionary reasons following a pair of concussions, Michael Morgan confirmed he is 100% certain to make his club return against the Wests Tigers on Thursday night.
Morgan admitted he’s been feeling fine since the sickening knock which left him lying on the ground convulsing during the Origin decider.
"It's been a bit strange really. I don't feel like I've been out with an injury. I feel like I’ve had two weeks off," he said on Monday.
"Normally if you're missing games through injury, you've got something that you’re carrying. I was training and doing everything else, so playing [and any contact work at training] was the only thing I wasn't allowed to do.
Morgan understood why it was necessary for him to take some time off but he said it was frustrating watching on from the sideline knowing his club’s season is on the line.
"You never like to miss games. When I felt like I could play, that's what was probably more annoying than anything. I understand why and I don't disagree with the reasons for me not being able to play."
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Although an annoyance to Morgan, the star playmaker went for scans post Origin and the decision to miss a few weeks was to lower the chances of it happening again.
"I went down to Brisbane and saw a specialist. I went over a few things with them, everything was good. It was purely the fact that I'd had two in a row."
The Cowboys sit three points outside the eight heading into this Thursday night’s crucial clash and Morgan was confident they could upset the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
"We showed for the last two weeks, the majority of the game, we were the better team. And unfortunately, we've got into a habit of once we get the lead, we're just trying to protect it a bit too much and worrying about doing the wrong thing," he said.
"That snowballs and it gives the other team a bit of momentum, we stop playing the footy that got us the lead."
The Cowboys only have to look back to 2017 for inspiration when they scraped into the finals, becoming just the second eighth-placed side to make the grand final.
"Given the way the competition is, how close it is, the more we win, the more chance we are of being there at the end of the year," he said.
"As simple and easy as that sounds, it does require a lot of work and building momentum. At no point this year have we had the momentum. Hopefully six weeks down the track, we’re sitting with a few more wins and we're not just scraping into eighth spot."
Morgan believes Jake Clifford has “done some really good things” as the primary playmaker in his absence.
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"It's not an easy thing to do at his age, to come in and have that responsibility. He had the responsibility of getting us around the field and also goal kicking. There were a few extra things that he probably wasn't used to at first-grade level and he'll learn from it," he said.
"The Roosters game [a 15-12 win] is probably a perfect example of how good he can be for us. And then the next challenge for him is to do it week to week. That's probably what takes the longest at this level to get used to."
Matt Scott, who announced recently he would retire at seasons end, said having Morgan back would be a huge boost.
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"We're certainly been missing Morgo’s talents, not only with the ball, but probably his game management a little bit as well," he said.
"We’ve definitely made it hard for ourselves [to make the finals]. The last couple of weeks have been a little bit disappointing because we've been in positions to win games and couldn't get across the line, but it's certainly still possible.
"I think the problem at the moment is we get a bit passive when we're in front, we go into our shells and try and protect the lead. Close enough is not good enough. It's been too often the case this year."
