Dear Queenslanders,

Growing up, I learnt what being a Queenslander was all about from my dad Ross and older brother Ben. My older brother probably had a bigger interest in rugby league than I did.

Once I was old enough to understand it and learn what team was what, and obviously when it came to State of Origin, I saw how passionate my dad was about it.

If Queensland lost, he would go to bed sulking. My mum was from New South Wales, so they would go to bed in a fight.

Whereas, if it was the other way around, dad was obviously stoked and would sit there and have a few beers after the game.

From an early age I saw firsthand what it really meant to people, to see Queensland play and do well. Michael Morgan FOG #181

Me playing rugby league came about quite randomly.

Dad came home from work one day and asked myself and my two brothers – Ben and my younger brother Daniel, if we wanted to go down and sign up and play footy.

So we went down the road to Brothers, which was just down the road from where we were living in Townsville, and that’s as simple as it was.

I always really liked Darren Lockyer when I first started playing. Because of the player that he was, the things that he could do and the person he was as well.

Through high school, I really started supporting the Cowboys and really looked up to JT. I was lucky enough to get to play a lot of footy with him in the end, which is really cool.

Getting my first call up for State of Origin was a bit strange. My story is probably a little bit different in the way I got called in late to the team.

The team was named and I was at training and Peter Parr and Paul Green came in and told me I’d been picked because Daly was ruled out. I was going in for him.

I went home, packed my bags and got told the time of my flight and didn’t really know what I was going into.

I hadn’t spoken to anyone from the team or anything like that, so it was all really random and happened really fast.

I got down there, I was super nervous because of the team it was in 2015. I just remember being extremely nervous – excited, but nervous going into camp.

I remember thinking if I got to play one game and never play again, I wanted to make sure I took it all for what it was.

When it came to running out, that was a feeling I will never forget.

Before we went out for my debut in Sydney, JT came to me and said make sure you get towards the front of the line to experience that first initial impact of running out.

We ran out to boos because we were in Sydney, but just the noise and everything around us, you could feel the passion around the stadium.

That feeling of running out never gets old.

I remember I always thought it was cool growing up watching Origin when the camera would follow the players out of the tunnel – I thought that was a look at what it would be like.

But when you actually do it, it’s that times 1000. It’s a very special feeling that’s hard to explain.

I feel very privileged every time I get selected.

Being in the Queensland team and getting around the boys – it’s just an enjoyable place to be.

It might be the only time you see some of them, but by the second day of camp, it’s like you’ve been together all year.

It’s a group that bonds together really well and that’s what makes it so enjoyable.

I’ve been very fortunate to experience it a few times now but I don’t think it’s ever something I’ll get comfortable with.

I still look at the past players as absolute legends of the game. And no, I don’t consider myself in that calibre because of how highly I look up to them all.

One thing is, I appreciate everything that people before me have done for Queensland and the Queensland side, but like I said, I’ll never get comfortable in this position.

I know we haven’t had the best couple of years, to lose after having so much dominance for a long period of time, Queenslanders got used to winning.

A lot of people went, whether it was through school or through 10 years of their life, rarely seeing Queensland lose.

But please keep the faith in the group we have at the moment.

Obviously the team through that era was a ‘once in a generation’ type team, so we, as a group here, put pressure on ourselves and have expectations to meet those standards.

Please keep the faith and keep backing us. Know we are doing our absolute best to do Queensland proud.

For me personally, I know I have had a couple of years of probably not a lot of success. Yes, I got picked in the Queensland side which I love being part of, but I didn’t finish the series how I would have liked to.

Plus, at the Cowboys, it wasn’t great.

My focus is to come back to really enjoying things again and winning.

When you’re enjoying yourself, it helps winning, good things tend to keep happening.

A big thank you to those who do look up to me. I appreciate all of the support I get, so thank you. Know I am doing my absolute best. We, the Queensland team, are doing our absolute best.

Kind regards,

Michael Morgan

FOG #181