Lions stars reveals staggering injuries after flag
Oliver Caffrey |
Young Brisbane hero Logan Morris managed to kick the final two goals of the Lions’ epic grand final win after dealing with a back stress fracture for a large part of the season.
Morris’ final minutes against Fremantle will go down in folklore – calmly slotting a set shot to put Brisbane ahead, before snapping the sealer with only seconds left.
And he wasn’t the only Lions star to battle injury in their incredible three-straight premiership.
Veteran defender Dayne Zorko, 16 years Morris’ senior, pulled his hamstring in the first quarter, but was able to gather 28 possessions – the second most of any player on the ground.
Zorko also finished equal second in Norm Smith Medal voting, behind Dockers dynamo Shai Bolton.
After becoming a three-time premiership player in only his third season, Morris spoke about his injury battles.
“I can probably say it now, but I’ve had a stress fracture in the left side of my back for probably the back half of the year,” the 21-year-old said in the Lions rooms.
“I’ve been trying to juggle my load and it’s been a bit of a pain because you want to be fresh but you also want to be playing.”
Despite his back issue, the only game Morris missed this season was in round one against Sydney due to a hand fracture.
“It’s a credit to the medical staff in the way they’ve handled it and being able to get me up for games every week,” Morris said.
“To be able to get the reward today in a grand final, it pays off when your back’s pretty sore throughout the year.”
Morris kicked an equal game-high three goals to take his season tally 72.
It comes weeks after being named All-Australian for the first time.
“I just don’t train at the start of the week,” Morris said.
“You have to in the main training, but I don’t do much through the start of the week.
“It’s even been hard to get involved in doing touch and skills when you can’t really train much.
“It’s a relief now sitting back winning a third grand final after a pretty challenging year with my body.”
Morris’ towering contested mark on Dockers defender Oscar McDonald will be played forever in grand final highlights.
Tussling with McDonald, Morris reached up high to pluck a high kick from the matchwinner of the Lions’ preliminary final win, Hugh McCluggage.
With 70 seconds left, Morris calmly kicked the goal to put the Lions back in front by a point.
“Throughout the game I was getting under him (McDonald) and wasn’t marking the ones that I would have liked,” Morris said.
“(Lions development coach and former Carlton and Western Bulldogs defender) Liam Jones actually at half-time came up to me and just said ‘Be patient with your marking, don’t release too early’.”
“I was definitely shitting it a bit (before the kick).
“I didn’t know how long was left, I knew there were about 90 seconds, so I knew that this kick was to put us up in a grand final.
“I was nervous but I got back to what I do at training, what I do throughout the whole year, and I’m super stoked to be able to go back and kick it.”
AAP