Michael Morgan

Michael Morgan (born 27 December 1991) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the NRL.

He played his junior rugby league for the Townsville Brothers and attended Ignatius Park College, where he represented the Australian Schoolboys side in 2009.

In 2009, Morgan joined the North Queensland Cowboys under-20s.

Later that year, he represented the Queensland under-18 team.

In Round 9, Morgan made his NRL debut at age 18 for the North Queensland Cowboys against the Sydney Roosters, filling in at halfback for the Cowboys' captain Johnathan Thurston in the Cowboys 32–14 win at the Sydney Football Stadium.

On 30 November, Morgan re-signed with the Cowboys for three years.

In round 14, against the Canberra Raiders, Morgan scored his first and second NRL tries in the Cowboys 16–8 win at 1300SMILES Stadium.

Morgan finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 4 matches and scoring 2 tries.

Morgan played in 4 matches for the Cowboys in 2011, once again filling in for Johnathan Thurston after he was ruled out for 6 weeks of the season.

He spent the majority of the season in the Cowboys' NYC side, playing halfback in the Toyota Cup Grand Final against the New Zealand Warriors, which was lost 31–30 in extra time.

In round 10, Morgan returned to first grade for the Cowboys against the Newcastle Knights.

Morgan starred in the game by scoring a try and setting another up in the Cowboys 32–12 win at Hunter Stadium.

From round 19 onward, Morgan cemented his halfback spot for the Cowboys after Ray Thompson suffered a shoulder injury.

In week 1 of the 2012 finals series, against the Brisbane Broncos, Morgan became the first halfback in the history of the NRL/ARL/NSWRL to score a hat-trick of tries in a finals match in the Cowboys 33–16 win at 1300SMILES Stadium.

Morgan played in 13 matches and scored 4 tries in the 2012.

On 30 November, Morgan re-signed with the Cowboys for three years to the end of the 2013 season.

On 9 February 2013, Morgan captained the Cowboys to a 28–24 victory over the Brisbane Broncos in a trial match.

He scored a try and set up another in the win.

On 10 April, Morgan re-signed with the Cowboys for a further two years.

Later that month, Morgan was given three weeks off from first grade duty after the death of best-friend and Cowboys teammate Alex Elisala.

Morgan spent most of the year playing with the Mackay Cutters.

They won the Queensland Cup Grand Final against the Easts Tigers 27–20, with Morgan dedicating a try to Elisala.

Morgan only played 9 matches and scored 2 tries in 2013.

In September, Morgan admitted he had stood himself the NRL from being emotionally drained from the death of Elisala.

In 2014, Morgan shifted to fullback for the Cowboys after new signing Lachlan Coote tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the club's Auckland Nines tournament.

Due to his form at fullback, he was called into Queensland's State of Origin squad as 19th man for Game III of the 2014 State of Origin series.

Following an impressive season at fullback for the Cowboys, including two finals appearances, Morgan was selected on the interchange bench for the Prime Minister's XIII team which defeated Papua New Guinea 34–16 in Kokopo.

Morgan spent time at hooker and lock during the game.

He finished the 2014 NRL season with him playing in all of the Cowboys 26 matches and scoring a career-high 10 tries.

At the end of 2014, Morgan was named the Cowboys members' player of the year and the most improved player.

In January, Morgan was named in the QAS Emerging Origin squad for the third year in a row.

Morgan played as a and for the North Queensland Cowboys, winning the 2015 NRL premiership and 2016 World Club Challenge with the club.

On 27 January 2015, Morgan was named in the Cowboys 2015 NRL Auckland Nines squad.

After starting the first two rounds of the season at fullback, Morgan shifted to five-eighth in round 3 against the Brisbane Broncos in the Cowboys 44–22 loss.

In round 10, against the Broncos, Morgan scored a hat-trick of tries in a man of the match performance in which the Cowboys won 31–20.

Following the return of Lachlan Coote from injury, Michael Morgan shifted to five eighth.

North Queensland's spine was instrumental in their success during the 2015 season, with Lachlan Coote, Jonathan Thurston, Morgan, and Jake Granville being named NRL.com's #1 playmaking spine for 2015.

After scoring five tries in two weeks, Morgan was called into the Queensland State of Origin team for game I of the 2015 State of Origin series, after Daly Cherry-Evans was ruled out with an elbow injury.

He represented Australia, Queensland and the Prime Minister's XIII, winning a World Cup with Australia in 2017.

Morgan was born and raised in Townsville, Queensland.