Faced with the prospect of starting their 2024 season with a huge question mark hanging over their halves, a former NRL gun said the Wests Tigers should look at luring premiership-winning former Cowboy Michael Morgan out of retirement.
The departure of Luke Brooks to the Sea Eagles at season’s end is set to decimate what little experience the Tigers have, and leave Starford To’a and Adam Doueihi, who himself will be coming back from an ACL injury, as the only real halves options open to Tim Sheens.
But former Sharks, Titans and Wallabies ace Mat Rogers said Morgan, who was forced into retirement two games into the 2021 season following a string of injuries, could be the “revelation” the club needs.
READ MORE: Coach’s savage move after ‘diabolical’ Dragons flop
READ MORE: Souths icon called to rescue ‘in the wars’ Bunnies
READ MORE: ‘Beef’ that could throw Panthers gun into Origin mix
Morgan played 168 games for the Cowboys between 2010 and his retirement in 2021. He also made 12 Origin appearances for the Maroons and five for the Kangaroos in their successful World Cup campaign on home soil in 2017.
But his career was cut short by a string of debilitating injuries that started after shoulder surgery immediately after the league was suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Morgan this week told the Fox League podcast his shoulder popped out five times in the first two games of the 2020 season, which prompted him to get the surgery.
Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now
His return was delayed by an infection in the shoulder site, and then a separate calf injury, but the damage done by the infection meant the shoulder never fully recovered.
He said an innocuous tackle in the second game of 2021 broke the screws that had been inserted into the joint. Three weeks later he announced his retirement.
Since then, Morgan has been working in finance, and didn’t shut down the idea of making a return.
“Umm, yeah,” was his response when asked if he was still happy with the retirement decision.
“I think I am because I look at it now and I had a good run.
“Yes, I would’ve liked my career to go for longer but if you told me when I was a 15-year-old boy that I’d have the career I did, I’d be stoked.
“I’m still grateful for what I got to do — it would’ve been nice to do it more — but I’m lucky to do what I did.”
Rogers said the time away from the game and without contact should have been enough for the shoulder to heal.
“He’d be healed up – get him training now for next year, he’ll be amazing, imagine getting him there? He’s got three or four years of good footy left in him,” Rogers said on SEN Sportsday.
Paul Green’s death could have derailed Cowboys season
Co-host Scott Sattler – himself a league veteran of more than 200 games – agreed.
“He knows what it takes to be a winner and they sort of lacked that leadership at the club, so they’ll get a genuine leader,” he said.
“But also … with sports science these days and recovery, and rehabilitation, you’re not asking a guy like Michael Morgan to play 27 games in a season.
“You may want to get (him) to 20 games and it’s enough to register him for the finals and that’s when those players go to another level.”
The Tigers will take on Morgan’s old club the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday afternoon.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
The Mole’s round 17 team of the week: Calls for Blues to shake things up with bench bolter Scott Drinkwater
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
