Kiwi captain Adam Blair concedes Australia have plenty of quality back-up for the missing Johnathan Thurston. He also knows the Kangaroos are simply not the same team minus the great playmaker.
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Blair said what most rival teams were thinking at the Rugby League World cup launch in Brisbane. As good as Michael Morgan may be, he's not Thurston, who brings an aura all of his own to a team of established stars.
Thurston missed the second half of the season with a shoulder injury and would have joined Cooper Cronk in the halves for the Kangaroos. No international side boasts a safer pair of hands than that but with Thurston gone, key rivals, like New Zealand, are hearing opportunity knock.
Blair maintains Australia are the clear team to beat and should Morgan get the nod over James Maloney and Cameron Munster, it's impossible to question his credentials.
He was brilliant in orchestrating North Queensland's unlikely run to the NRL grand final at halfback and his kicking and passing games have risen to match his dangerous running game.
But Thurston gives the Kangaroos an even bigger edge and Blair said it altered the dynamic of the tournament favourites.
"It's good that he's not playing. Because he is special and he does things no other player does," Blair said.
"Hopefully we get a chance to play against the Australians at some point. I feel a little bit that they are a different side without having him [Thurston] in the squad. But they have a lot of quality throughout their team, no matter who they play, because one-17 they are world class."
Maloney and Munster, who has stepped up at five-eighth for Melbourne and Queensland in 2017, are both quality candidates but most, including England coach Wayne Bennett, feel Morgan deserves his opportunity.
"I'm not sure who they play there but Morgan finished the season in such great form so he'd probably have the leg up," Bennett said.
Blair said the New Zealanders had moved on from Jason Taumalolo's late decision to withdraw and instead play for Tonga. He initially lashed Taumalolo for failing to inform team management of his last-minute decision to defect.
