How champion’s loss ignited a breakout Lion, and put title hopes in his hands

4 hours ago 3

Once retiring champion Joe Daniher announced he would be hanging up the boots, Logan Morris felt the weight of expectation thrust onto his shoulders.

The Brisbane Lions needed a new forward leader to emerge, and pilot another premiership assault to ensure the breaking of their 21-year title drought was no flash in the pan.

But now that he has attained those heights, the 20-year-old declared he and his fellow young Lions must cement themselves as leaders in their cause, as he seeks to orchestrate another MCG boilover.

Logan Morris took his season goal tally beyond 50 in Saturday’s semi-final triumph of the Gold Coast.

The 20-year-old’s two early goals and crafty assist for Jarrod Berry in Brisbane’s 53-point semi-final triumph of the Gold Coast Suns shifted momentum back in the Lions’ favour after their rivals had got the jump on them.

His brace took his season tally to 51, more than twice what he achieved in his debut campaign en route to last year’s premiership, and his importance has only heightened following a season-ending knee injury to Eric Hipwood.

Morris admitted Daniher’s departure built an internal pressure within him to produce a breakout campaign, but felt he had found comfort in his own skin as a spearhead of Brisbane’s title assault.

Having become the first Lion to kick at least six goals in a game at the MCG since Jonathan Brown in 2007, the rising star declared he harboured no reservations about taking to the hallowed turf again for next week’s preliminary final showdown with Collingwood.

“It was very nice having him [Daniher] there last year, he was such a great player and I loved playing with him, but I do think there was a little bit more expectation when he left,” Morris told this masthead.

“It put a bit of weight on my own shoulders, but I just keep trusting my teammates, my teammates trust me, and they just back me in to do what I do. I’ll just keep having fun and hopefully the results come through.

“The year before, I didn’t really have a full preseason because I was a draftee coming in, so having that full year last year of just experience learning off Joey, Eric, Charlie Cameron - I took a lot of experiences and confidence out of that, then put in a lot of extras.

“I love playing on the ’G, you dream of playing in those games as a kid. You grow up as a kid watching those games, and now to be playing in them is pretty special.”

This time last year, Morris and his fellow cohort of emerging talents were entrusted with injecting energy, flair and unpredictability to the Lions’ brand - culminating in their grand final demolition job of the Sydney Swans.

Will Ashcroft claimed the Norm Smith Medal that day, while Kai Lohmann kicked four goals to etch his name into Brisbane AFL folklore.

Jaspa Fletcher and Darcy Wilmot would join them in announcing the quintet as mainstays of the club for years to come.

They are now joined by 19-year-old trio Levi Ashcroft, Sam Marshall and Ty Gallop - who kicked his first AFL goal on Saturday night, and played key roles in covering the injury losses of Hipwood, Lachie Neale (calf), Jack Payne and Keidean Coleman (knee).

But while last year’s glory was fuelled by coach Chris Fagan’s philosophy to allow his youngsters to move on from mistakes, Morris insisted the Lions’ blossoming core could not lean on their age as an excuse on the game’s biggest stages.

“Last year we could probably get away with it a little bit, but when you keep going you get a little bit more expectation to deliver on game day. When you run out with the jumper on, no one knows how old you are, so you’ve just got to play your role,” Morris said.

“I’m very pleased with the way my game’s come along, I’ve put in a lot of work last year, in the off season and in the preseason, so it’s good to see I’m getting the results on game day.

“I still think there’s a lot of work to do, but it’s good to see I’m slowly ticking away.”