Harry Morrison has a new outlook on his development as a footballer.
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While he hopes he can improve as a player every time he steps foot on an AFL field, he isn't analysing his game in the same way week-to-week.
“For the first three years of my career, I probably said to myself I needed to improve certain aspects of my game every week,” Morrison said.
“And I focused on those individual aspects. I'm realising as I get a bit further into my career that it isn't the best way of going about it.
“My focus now is to look back on my season and know I have grown as a player, and by doing that I think it's helping my game develop further.”
If ever there was a year for Morrison to change his outlook on the game, this was it.
If not, he may have gone mad, because there wasn't a lot of escaping football for the soon-to-be 22-year-old.
Like most AFL players, Morrison had no choice but to pack up his life in Melbourne, leaving his girlfriend, family and dog behind, and head into hub life.
The club began its season with a strong win against premiership-fancy Brisbane in front of an empty MCG, with the threat of the season being cancelled looming over the competition.
As the Hawks produced one of their better performances of a disappointing 2020, AFL House was in overdrive.
At half-time, with the Hawks up by nine points, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan announced at the completion of the round, the season was off until further notice.
“We'd heard rumours throughout the day,” Morrison said.
“There was a real chance the season was going to be put on hold. We were on the field when they made the announcement, so we weren't told.
“We had a really good win against Brisbane, but after the game we had a meeting and were told the season was off.”
Like many other players, Morrison made the decision to go home, spending most of his off time training alone back at Benalla.
“It was like being back on pre-season. We were given training programs we could do at home, and we had to work through them on our own,” he said.
“It's not easy to do these things alone, you're so used to being with your teammates, it makes it tough at times. So you have to break up the sessions a bit, do it in blocks to make it work.”
The season returned in early June, and the Hawks spent their first three weeks in Melbourne before heading to their first hub.
“We got told basically the day after the game, and within a few days we were off,” he said.
“We had a meeting with the whole club and told we were off, so we had to quickly pack and go.”
First stop was Coogee Beach in Sydney, before the AFL moved clubs out of NSW.
Next was Perth, before the season finished in the Barossa Valley.
But with his family back in Victoria, Morrison said it was hard not to think about the situation.
“You feel a bit helpless,” he said.
“You hear and read about everything that is happening back home, it's really tough. In the first month it was worse because we didn't know how long we would be away for.
“Once we knew it was going to be the whole season, I think it was easier as we could put a time frame on it.”
Compounding the issues was the club's form.
The Hawks had started 3-1, but would win just two of their next 13 games.
Though Morrison said it presented challenges, he was just happy to be on the field.
“It was nice just playing,” he said.
“It was a challenge though, the only people you were seeing were footy people, so you could fall into the trap of thinking about footy every minute of the day.
“It was a key to find outlets to get away from it at times, otherwise it felt a bit like groundhog day.
“You'd prefer to be winning in a situation like that, but when you're together you spend a lot of time working together and figuring out what we could do better, how we could improve and be better footballers.
“It wasn't easy on the field, but we have a lot we can take away from it and build for the future.”
On his own, Morrison found some frustration in his game.
“I got frustrated in myself at times,” he said.
“I'd play some good football for a patch in a game or a couple of games in a row, then fall off a bit and find myself out of the side a couple of weeks later.
“I want to be more consistent, it's something I will continue to work on and it's an area I think I can improve on.
“But we also know it was a tough year, so it was good to get through it, and I feel like the experience has made me a better player.”
Now, he has not only the time, but the opportunity.
With a number of senior players retiring, and question marks on whether others will be at the club going forward, Morrison and other young teammates are rapidly taking position as the group that will lead the club into the next decade.
And it's a prospect that in many ways excites Morrison.
“It's a sad time when you lose players at the end of the season,” he said.
“But at the same time, as a young player you look at the opportunity. It's a chance to grow and develop. Guys my age want to take these opportunities and make an impact in the future.
“There's a group of us young guys who have a meeting before each game and discuss what we want to do. It started off small. but by the end of the year there were quite a few of us there.
“As the year went on we started to really understand what the young guys had to add to the side and what we will need to do going forward.
“I have a lot of faith in our young guys and what we can offer in the future.”
Now back in Melbourne, and fresh off signing a new one-year deal, Morrison is about to hit the ground running with his off-season program, and will join the younger players at the club for part of their session before Christmas and wait for the new season to start.
But he's already thinking about round one, and a hopefully packed MCG.
“It will be special to have the fans back,” he said.
“As cool as it was to play in front of no-one at the ‘G and hear everything that was happening, I'd prefer to not be able to hear the bloke 5 m away from me.
“Nothing compares to a packed MCG, to a massive crowd cheering you on, and I can't wait for that to be back.”
Sports journalist