Falcons hopeful keeps his cool
IT won’t be until Thursday night that the nerves start to kick in for Oscar Morrison.
However, the Geelong Falcons defender will still have his eye on proceedings when the AFL national draft gets underway on Wednesday.
Morrison has been in talks with about half the AFL clubs in the lead-up to the draft, with five or six showing “genuine interest”.
The attraction of a key defender capable of peeling off his opponent and playing the intercept role perfected by Melbourne premiership star Jake Lever has clubs keen to pursue the St Joseph’s College captain, who puts his versatility down to a challenge thrown at him by his Falcons coaches in 2021.
“I don’t feel too bad and I am not overly anxious about Wednesday night because I don’t expect to get picked up, but I feel I will be a little more nervous ahead of Thursday and Friday (the AFL rookie draft),” Morrison said.
“I have spoken to about half the clubs and there has probably been genuine interest from about five or six of those.
“They like my versatility and ability to lock down on forwards, as well as play that intercept third tall role, which is where they see me fit in an elite environment.
“I mixed and matched a little bit this year at the Falcons and they challenged me to play as a key defender, but I probably see myself more as a third tall moving forward and that is the feedback I have received from clubs.
“So they just want me to keep working on my craft and my speed and what not, so that I can play on smalls but also be powerful enough to play on those taller forwards.”
Morrison has had no shortage of options in recent years when attending games to learn off intercept defenders, with the team he grew up supporting providing plenty of inspiration.
“I have always watched the players who have perfected that art, guys like Nick Haynes, Jake Lever, Jacob Weitering, being a Carlton fan – they are all really good at that role,” he said.
“I try to learn from those blokes and mimic what I can so I use that as a learning opportunity as well as watching vision on the opponents we are playing that week to source where there might be chances to take those intercept opportunities that week.”
Morrison’s status as captain at St Joseph’s was justified by his natural leadership and a desire to push himself from an educational perspective.
But despite his prospects looking strong, he said he would take a break from the books next year if his name was called out by an AFL club.
“This year with school and the captaincy and trying to get a good ATAR and playing football, it all took up a significant amount of time,” he said. “I was looking for a 95 (ATAR) and I banked a couple of decent scores last year, so it isn’t looking too bad, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t want to eat my words.
“I would like to progress into a business or law field … but if I get picked up, I won’t go to uni in my first year.
“I would just like to try to get some really good solid groundwork in and make the most of the facilities and opportunities in an elite environment.”
And clubs outside Victoria need not worry how the Geelong product might fare living away from his home state.
“All my close network have been really supportive of that prospect, and I feel confident that if I was to transition into life interstate, they would still be there for me,” Morrison said.
“I have family all over the country and I am fully prepared to make that move.”
The AFL national draft kicks off on Wednesday and concludes on Thursday.