Harper Sercombe
Five weeks is a long time in football but for one young gun the next 30 days couldn’t move quicker.
With the AFL draft scheduled for November 20, it’s an interesting time in the life of the Western Jets’ Logan Morris, as each day passes, nerves and excitement builds.
“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Morris said.
“Getting a bit nervous now that it’s getting a bit closer but I’m trying to take it week by week and trying to do other things to distract me and not think about the draft too much.”
The Werribee District’s product is a 191 centimetre hybrid player who has proved himself at both ends of the ground, showcasing his range of talents and work ethic.
Morris enjoyed a dominant year for the Jets booting 30 goals from his 10 outings for the club.
The 18-year-old also applied his craft for Vic Metro, including a four goal haul against Western Australia, and slotted two in his Victorian Football League debut for Werribee.
“I feel like I’ve had a pretty good year, off the back of a massive preseason,” he said.
“Trying to set myself up to have a big year and try to play consistent footy.
“Setting myself up and going out week by week and just focusing on training, having a big week on the track and then trying to back that up on the weekend.”
Playing across a variety of teams throughout the season has helped Morris enhance his football by picking up bits and pieces from across the board.
“Training at the highest level and being surrounded with elite players and players that I look up to and try and base my game off, you learn so much,” he said.
“And get better as an athlete and as a person, being around an elite environment.”
An AFL player that Morris looks up to and said he bases his game around is Collingwood’s premiership key forward, Brody Mihocek.
“We’re similar heights and his ability to get up the ground and his work rate, ability to hit the scoreboard and take contested marks,” Morris said.
“[Contested marking] is definitely one of my strengths and I try to use that the best I can in games and ability to hit the scoreboard is probably my other strength.”
To further encompass all of what Mihocek does, Morris said he is still working on his fitness, although it’s an area he has seen improvements in.
“Definitely trying to build my tank,” he said.
“Especially if I do get onto an [AFL] list, that’s probably the main thing that I need to get better at, just to cover the ground a bit more, get to more contests.
“That’s the one thing I’m working on this pre-season, just to get as fit as I can leading into next year.”
It truly would be a dream come true for Morris if he were to find his way into an AFL club next month.
“It would mean everything,” he said.
“I’ve been working to this for my whole life, and it’s something I’ve dreamt of since I was a young kid.
“To make my family proud and myself as well, just for the hard work I’ve put in and to get the reward for it, I’d be grateful for that and I can’t wait to see what my future holds.”
