He doesn't care now he has a premiership ring in his possession, but if the Cowboys had have lost the grand final against the Broncos on Sunday then five-eighth Michael Morgan's confidence would've been shot.
Telling NRL.com he wasn't "overly happy" with his performance, Morgan failed to reach any great heights until the final second of the game, where he set up Kyle Feldt in the corner to send the game into extra time thanks to a magical flick pass that's sure to be on the highlight reel for decades to come.
After coming up with two errors and conceding a penalty which led to a Jordan Kahu goal for Brisbane to go four points ahead, Morgan said it took all his might for his performance not to frustrate him.
"There were times where I was really blowing and the Broncos defended well. A couple of things didn't go our way and you try not to let it frustrate you because we knew they were a good defensive side and they worked extremely hard," Morgan told NRL.com.
"We just had to keep getting through our sets and building pressure. At times we did that and at times we didn't but in the end it paid off.
"I definitely wasn't happy with my couple of errors earlier on. I forced a pass there which didn't work and had the ball stolen off me, but honestly now it doesn't bother me too much because we won.
"If we had have lost my lip would've been hanging on the ground until I had this opportunity again."
Of his clutch flick to Feldt with 79:59 on the clock, Morgan proved every second counts in rugby league and said he never thought the game was over no matter how grim it appeared to get with the Broncos up 16-12 for the majority of the second half.
Yet with the ball coming his way on the last play of the game Morgan found the necessary space to draw in Broncos centre Jack Reed and winger Corey Oates to open up the line for his winger to score.
"It's hard to describe to be honest. By far this is the greatest day of my footy career, one of the best days of my life. It's something I'll treasure forever and now nobody can take it away from me," Morgan said.
"It was very lucky it came off. It was obviously our last chance to get over the line and I was lucky 'Feldtsy' kept pushing up. I was sort of getting tackled and I think Oates came in on me so it was just a matter of hoping it came off.
"We have been able to score points from anywhere this season and I was still confident with 10 minutes to go that we'd get over. It took a bit longer than what I would've liked but we've done something special and I'm just so glad I'm a part of it."
Casting his mind back to the devastation of North Queensland's 2011 Holden Cup loss, where he played with fellow first grade teammates Feldt and Jason Taumalolo, Morgan said he'd never imagined he'd partner Johnathan Thurston ever, let alone in a grand final, down the line.
"Not a chance in the world did [I think I'd ever play with JT]. I feel very privileged that I've been able to play alongside him and all the other boys in the side as well. We're a very tight group and it's been a good year," he said.
"JT deserves that, he's been very good for the game. He's done a lot for it and the club. It's just awesome to see him win a grand final. From the outside in he had a lot of pressure on him to win a competition and to help him do that is unreal."
Match report: Thurston kicks Cowboys to premiership
NRL Grand Final: Five key points
Cowboys player ratings
Broncos player ratings
Match highlights
Magic Moment: Feldt's late, late try
Magic Moment: Thurston wins it
WATCH: Winning skippers' speech
WATCH: Hodges' post-game speech
