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North Queensland's Michael Morgan's long-awaited NRL return didn't go out as planned with the Cowboys skipper having a horror day against Gold Coast.

It was a highly anticipated return to the NRL but North Queensland captain Michael Morgan won't look back on Sunday's performance against Gold Coast with fondness.

Just days after the birth of his first child, Morgan stepped out to play first grade for the first time since March.

A serious shoulder injury had sidelined the Queensland State of Origin representative since round two.

And it may have been that lack of action that explained a shocker of a first half as the Titans charged to an unassailable 20-0 lead at CBUS Super Stadium.

Morgan missed five tackles in the opening 40 minutes, two which led directly to Titans' tries, as well as conceding a penalty from which the hosts would go on to score a four-pointer from the resulting set.

In the end Morgan finished the match with seven missed tackles, four errors and the dubious honour of being at the helm as the Cowboys slumped to six consecutive defeats for the first time since 2010.

"It's a week he'll never forget ... he's his harshest critic, Mick. He's in there pretty disappointed with some of the involvements he had," interim Cowboys coach Josh Hannay said.

"A bit of rust there and that's probably to be expected but a lot of his errors, if you like, came from trying to do something to help the team.

"We put ourselves in that hole ... Mick might have been guilty out there today of trying too hard.

"Certainly, it's great to have him back and he'll be better for that."