Storm on high alert for return of Morgan

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy says the Storm are on high alert for the return of Cowboys star Michael Morgan in their NRL grand final rematch.

Michael Morgan

The Melbourne Storm are preparing for the return of Cowboy Michael Morgan (centre). (AAP)

Melbourne are on high alert for North Queensland's Michael Morgan in his first appearance of the NRL season, whether at fullback or in his regular No.6 jersey.

Morgan is set to play in their NRL grand final rematch at AAMI Park on Thursday night after being sidelined for the first two rounds due to an abdominal injury.

Morgan was the star of North Queensland's fairytale finals surge last season and is a big inclusion as the Cowboys look to make amends for their 34-6 grand final thrashing.

He has reportedly spent time training at fullback, where ex-Storm utility Ben Hampton has been named, although is more likely to play five-eighth to take some pressure off Johnathan Thurston.

Bellamy said he was a danger wherever he lined up.

"We know he's back and we know the quality of player he is and wherever he is on the field there is going to be danger there when he gets the footy," Bellamy said on Wednesday.

"Us sitting round here trying to guess where he's going to play is going to waste our time so we'll prepare for both, although we haven't seen him play at fullback for a while."

Bellamy said he was more concerned about his own team than who or what North Queensland would bring.

He said they needed to go back to basics to rediscover their NRL premiership-winning form after last week's disappointing loss to Wests Tigers.

North Queensland are coming off a last-ditch loss to Brisbane.

Bellamy said his team was "lazy" against the Tigers, with missed tackles and a high error count contributing to the shock defeat.

"We haven't been doing the basics well and we haven't been doing them so well at training either," he said.

"It was a lazy performance and not working hard enough with doing the basic things well so it's a bit more consistency that we're looking for."

One player who has been consistent is Nelson Asofa-Solomona, with the giant prop promoted to the starting line-up.

The battle between Asofa-Solomona and former Storm enforcer Jordan McLean should be fierce.

"We're talking about the team's consistency being not so great, well, Nelson's about 180 degrees from that at the moment - he's probably been our most consistent player and he's playing great footy," Bellamy said.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Last years' benchmark teams are making the equal most errors in the NRL (13.5 a game along with Cronulla).

* Melbourne last suffered two straight losses in round 15 2015.

* Suliasi Vunivalu will play his 50th NRL game and needs one try to overtake Semi Radradra (48 tries) for the most tries in 50 games in the Origin Era (1980-2018).


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Source: AAP



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