At the halfway point of this season, Harry Morrison’s AFL career looked to be at a crossroads.
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Without a deal beyond 2024 and having played just four games in the first eight rounds, the 25-year-old found himself out of favour at a high-flying Hawthorn that had managed to turn its season around and sit on the cusp of an unlikely finals berth.
But after spending what must have felt like a lifetime exiled from the senior group, as well as a three-week stint starting as the sub followed by three more weeks back as an emergency, Morrison earned his chance with a recall to the best 22 against Carlton in round 22.
Starting on the wing, Morrison starred with 20 disposals and a goal as the Hawks demolished the Blues to make a real statement, with the Benalla product ensuring coach Sam Mitchell could ignore him no longer.
He would hold his spot for the following week, and in doing so, ticked off a 100-game milestone that was eight years in the making.
“I think if I told myself as an 18-year-old that I’d play 100 games when I got drafted, I think he’d be pretty proud,” Morrison said when reflecting on his century of appearances in the brown and gold.
“So yeah, it is a good achievement and something that I’ll look back on with great pride.”
Growing up in the Rose City and showing plenty of promise as a junior, Morrison always had his sights set on reaching the pinnacle of the game, and with a 208-game gun in the family, didn’t have to look too far for inspiration in making his dream a reality.
“Seeing my cousin, Tom Rockliff, do it (play AFL), that was always something that I’ve wanted to do, to play AFL and just follow in his footsteps as best I could,” he said.
“So yeah, to be able to do it now is pretty cool.”
While he proudly sports the #1 for the Hawks nowadays, it was in the red, white and black of the Saints that Morrison put himself into the conversation for the national draft.
An ACL injury in 2014 saw him miss a significant chunk of football, including the opportunity to play at the under-16 national carnival; however, a blistering patch of form at under-18 level with Benalla on return from his injury layoff in 2015 allayed any fears.
An eight-game stretch for the Saints yielded seven nominations in the best players en-route to the under-18 GVL premiership in his bottom-age season, which Morrison still rates as one of the most enjoyable periods of his footballing career.
“It’s still some of the (most fun) times I’ve had playing footy,” he said.
“It feels bit more like a job these days, but definitely back then playing under-18’s, it’s just playing because you love the game.
“As I said, they’re still some of the fondest memories and I’m still close with a lot of that group that won a premiership, so it’s always something that’ll live close to me.”
Ultimately, Morrison’s strong performances with Benalla would pay dividends when it came to draft night in his top-age year.
A cruel run of injury again interrupted his campaign in 2016, missing large chunks of football not only with the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup, but also the opportunity to represent Vic Country at the under-18 national championships, a key tournament for recruiters to assess potential draftees.
Still, with a strong portfolio of work at community club level, as well as recording multiple top-10 performances at the national combine, Morrison was optimistic that he’d shown enough to compel a club to give him a chance.
“I was more hopeful than anything, but yeah, I thought I was still a decent chance to go on draft night, maybe even rookie draft if I didn’t go in the national (draft),” he said.
“As you said, it was a pretty interrupted year, I didn’t play a heap of footy in my under-18 year, but I feel like I’d played enough good footy that I could have got picked up and yeah, I was lucky enough to (get drafted).”
It would take until pick number 74 in the national draft for Hawthorn to select the boy from Benalla, the fourth-last pick, but his dream was realised.
The fact that it was the Hawks that called out his name added a layer of romance, given the special connection he held with the club.
Morrison is the godson of the late Ken Judge, a member of the 1983 Hawthorn premiership side, a former Hawks senior coach and a well-respected football figure whose final words to the aspiring footballer were “make it”.
“It was special,” Morrison said of being drafted to Waverley Park.
“The first person I think I was on the phone to afterwards was Annette, Ken’s wife and my godmother.
“That was a pretty special phone call and something that I’ll hold close to me.”
Fast-forward to the midway point of this year and seemingly in the football wilderness, Morrison’s late-season resurrection saw him reach not only the 100-game milestone, but also hold his spot in the side to play in both of Hawthorn’s finals.
Amassing 45 disposals across the two September outings only bolstered Morrison’s stock, leading him to sign a two-year extension earlier this month that will see him continue in brown and gold until at least the end of 2026.
Combined with the ‘Hokball’ phenomenon that saw the ‘Hollywood Hawks’ splashed on seemingly every back page across the Melbourne media throughout the back half of the season, it is no surprise that 2024 was a gratifying year for Morrison.
“It is (really enjoyable), it’s been a bit of a different dynamic the last couple years, but particularly this year,” he said.
“There was plenty of joy out on the field, as you could see, and I think that you can see that in the results as well.
“We play a pretty exciting brand of footy, so yeah, it’s nice to be part of it and nice to play some finals as well, especially for a young group.”
Given his status as a full-time professional athlete and his relocation to Melbourne, Morrison obviously is restricted in his ability to catch a glimpse of his former Saints side in action throughout the year, although he remains well connected to the local area, returning home during the off-season while also keeping tabs on Benalla’s progress from afar.
“I try to (keep an eye on things), I’ve still got a few good mates that are playing at Benalla, so I try and keep tabs on how they were going throughout the year,” he said.
“Obviously they didn’t go too well this year, but hopefully in the coming years they’re able to get some players on board and can get back to where they were around those 2014-15 seasons.”