Geelong vice-captain Nina Morrison reveals biggest lesson of back-to-back ACL injuries early in career

Nina Morrison was Geelong’s first ever AFLW draft pick. Ahead of game 50, the midfielder opens up on early injuries which plagued her first three years as well as the big captaincy question.

Geelong midfielder Nina Morrison fends off Richmond’s Tessa Lavey earlier this season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Geelong’s Nina Morrison says back-to-back knee reconstructions early in her career shone a light on how much playing football meant to her.

Reflecting on the early setbacks ahead of her 50-game milestone in Friday’s must-win clash against Adelaide, the former 2018 number one pick — and Geelong’s first ever draftee — played just seven games in her first three years in the system, with two right ACL injuries wiping out her first and third seasons in hoops.

“It feels like a longway away now, but I suppose, the first one was pretty cruisy, I think respectively come the second one that’s when you start to question what does my career and journey start to look like,” Morrison said.

Geelong’s Nina Morrison breaks away with the Sherrin. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I felt pretty fortunate at the time to have some really good people around me, and to lean on the support of the club and my teammates.

“You find a way through it and over the last couple years, it seems like a distant memory now.

“To have got such consistency back in (my game), to play three full seasons now off the back of that is pretty exciting.”

The likes of captain Meg McDonald and Georgie Rankin were two key figures who helped Morrison through the darker days, while resilience and mindset became valuable life lessons for the midfielder in the years since.

But it was the reinforcement of the role football played in her life during those times which struck the biggest cord within the 23-year-old.

“I learnt how much I love footy and how much I want to be here, that was a really big thing for me to realise... you do everything you can to get back to it and to make sure you can be here as long as you can,” she said.

Nina Morrison celebrates with teammates after the Cats’ round 9 win over West Coast Eagles. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images

Now among the league’s highly-rated midfielders and floated as a captain-in-waiting at Geelong, Morrison has taken more onus on driving the Cats forward through her leadership.

The longtime vice-captain revealed she would be happy to take the captaincy in the future if that's what her teammates wanted, though added it was something she “wouldn’t go searching for or desperately want”, adding the strength of the Cats’ list was its depth in leadership.

“It’s not something I’ve thought about too closely to be honest,” she said.
“That will land where it may when (captain) Meg (McDonald) does step away.”

Coach Dan Lowther, who praised Morrison’s standards, preparation, performance and mentorship of others, predicted his vice-captain would play a leading role in the Cats’ future success.

“A strong leader on the field, a strong leader off the field, and not to embarrass her, but she’s going to be someone at the club in leadership role for a long period and she’s going to do a good job at it and the rest of us will be all the better for it,” Lowther said.

Originally published as Geelong vice-captain Nina Morrison reveals biggest lesson of back-to-back ACL injuries early in career