Grand final hero Logan Morris played through a stress fracture in his back and barely trained in recent months as he became the first AFL footballer to win a premiership in each of his first three seasons.
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he → play → seasons
Morris’ injury revelation followed a star turn in the final quarter, when he kicked all three of his goals, including slotting the go-ahead major with 64 seconds left after brilliantly out-marking Oscar McDonald just inside 50.
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he → follow → 50
“I think throughout the game I was getting under them [when the ball was kicked to him], and wasn’t marking ones that I would have liked,” Morris said.
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Morris → think → that
“[Development coach and ex-AFL player] Liam Jones came up to me at half-time and just said, ‘Be patient with your marking, don’t release too early’, and that last one, I think I did it perfectly and released at a perfect time and was able to mark it and then obviously go back and kick it.
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I → come → it
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“I was definitely shitting them a bit [lining up for the goal].
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I → shit → goal
I knew that this kick was to put us up in a grand final.
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kick → know → final
I was nervous, but I just went back to what I do in training … and I was super stoked to kick it.”
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I → go → it
Morris started poorly early with an errant set shot that went out on the full late in the opening quarter, but his afternoon transformed after Alex Pearce suffered a game-ending Achilles injury while he and Morris were chasing after the loose Sherrin.
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he → start → Sherrin
“It was obviously shattering for him,” Morris said.
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Morris → shatter → him
“They were probably a bit smaller [in defence after that], so we wanted to isolate whoever had a better match-up.
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whoever → want → up
It’s shattering for him, but it probably worked out better for us.
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it → shatter → us
“I didn’t have the start that I wanted, but in a grand final – a high-pressure game – I knew that my moment was going to come.
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moment → have → final
I had a quiet three quarters, and I was a bit flat with myself … [but] I knew that it would open up late in the game, and I just got my chances, and took them.”
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I → have → them
Morris has kicked 149 goals in his first three seasons – 72 of them this year while earning his maiden All-Australian selection – to go with his history-making premierships, and he finished this year under great duress.
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he → kick → duress
The Lions’ medical staff nursed him through to the grand final, with a weekly regimen where he didn’t train early in the week.
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he → nurse → week
“I can probably say it now.
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I → say → it
I’ve had a stress fracture to the left side of my back for probably the back half of the year,” he said.
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he → have → year
Obviously, you want to be fresh, but you also want to be playing.
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you → want → ?
Credit to the medical staff; the way that they’ve handled it and been able to get me up for games every week.
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they → handle → games
“It’s a relief now, sitting back and winning a third grand final after a pretty challenging year with my body.”
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It → ’ → body
Morris said it was “super special” to have accomplished so much at such a young age, but he sent a warning to the rest of the competition that Brisbane were not yet satisfied.
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Brisbane → say → competition
“I’m super grateful to be part of this footy club, and I just love coming into the club every day,” he said.
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he → ’m → club
“Will Ashcroft and Levi Ashcroft’s old man, [Lions premiership star] Marcus, came up to me after the game and said, ‘Enjoy this one, but you’ve got to go again’.
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you → come → one
So, we’ll enjoy it for a week, a couple of weeks, and rest our bodies in the off-season, come back fit and firing, and go again.”
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we → enjoy → country
With minutes to go, Fremantle looked to have secured their first-ever AFL premiership.
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Fremantle → go → premiership
The Lions stopped them cold.
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Lions → stop → them
Who soared and who flopped, on the AFL’s biggest stage?
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who → soar → stage
Patrick Voss, almost more than any other Fremantle player on the day, typified the vast contrast between winning and losing.
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Voss → typify → winning
Late on Saturday afternoon, he became the unexpected shoulder of comfort amid a flood of Dockers despair.
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he → become → despair
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