By Michael Morgan, captain of the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys

LEARNING of Matt Scott’s mini-stroke was a scary experience.

It just came out of nowhere and it definitely took a bit to process.

I know he wasn’t feeling well on the Sunday and the club made the decision to send him to hospital in Brisbane. But we thought at worst it was a delayed concussion from the game.

You never think it is going to be something to the extent of what it was.

We are all thinking of Thumper. More than anything we want him to get better. As a playing group our main concern for him is that he has a full recovery and gets back home.

It is something I have never experienced as a player, but the thought of sitting out tonight’s game has not crossed my mind.

You just have to look at what Thumper has gone through in his career, how much he has put his body through, how much he has hurt, yet he still gets back out there every week. There is not much that would hold him back, and he would not want this to hold us back.

In fact, I think he would probably be annoyed at all the fuss it has caused.

At the end of the day he has to worry about his health. Football comes second to your life. He has a family, two young boys, and he needs to make sure to take care of himself first.

Tonight we will take the field in our pink jerseys as the club pays tribute to the special women in our lives.

Every person who has played in the NRL has had women play a role in their success. It is special that we are able to, in some way, recognise their sacrifices and hard work.

I know for me, I have had three significant women make an impact on my career; my mum Sue, My sister Melissa and my wife Brianna.

When I was kid with big dreams of playing in the NRL, my mum gave up her weekends and plenty of time in the car running me between school and trainings.

Being one of four kids, my mum sacrificed so much in her life to give us the childhood and opportunities we had. She gave up a lot for me to chase my dreams.

My sister has been there every step of the way keeping me grounded. She never let me get a big head or get ahead of myself.

She was the oldest of all the kids, so I guess she was the boss of the house.

While my wife has taught me a lot about how to better myself. Whether that is in diet, training and preparation, she has taught me how to take care of myself. She has also been the rock in my life.

She has ridden all the ups and downs with me. This season being the tough year it has been, she has been the one who I come home to each night who tries to make it all better.

I owe these women a lot in my life and all three of them will be on my mind tonight as we aim to turn our form around against the Panthers.

This article first appeared in the Townsville Bulletin.