{"id":75219,"date":"2025-06-25T13:37:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=75219"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:29:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:29:49","slug":"the-logan-morris-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/06\/the-logan-morris-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The Logan Morris Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You could reasonably call the Lions season disappointing given expectations.<\/p>\n<p>You could also reasonably respond to that by calling whoever said it, to quote Ted Cruz, bat crap crazy.<\/p>\n<p>In a world where nothing makes sense anymore, the most reasonable position on the Lions \u2013 the pre-eminent global issue of our times \u2013 is that two things can be true.<\/p>\n<p>Given how good they were down the stretch last year, and that they added Levi Ashcroft for free, they have been a bit disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>The Lions are down on time in forward half, scores from turnover, scores from the front half, and virtually every transition stat.<\/p>\n<p>But\u2026they\u2019re 10-4-1 and second on the ladder.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a <em>We Own This City <\/em>type of season compared to last season\u2019s <em>The Wire. <\/em>Same creative team, same milieu, same basic subject matter.<\/p>\n<p>But <em>The Wire <\/em>was supercharged because the characters were funny and magnetic all the way through what was partially a show and partially criminology degree.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Wire | Snoop Buys A Nailgun\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JDpvkwBBu6U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>We Own This City <\/em>just didn\u2019t have the same juice. It was more grim and less fun, unless Wayne Jenkins was on the screen.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"We Own This City - Wayne Jenkins gets promoted to Sergeant [1x04]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8mvHnXKvrRk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But with the emergence of Logan Morris, the Lions have found their Wayne Jenkins, the man that can supercharge their premiership defence.<\/p>\n<p>Across Logan Morris\u2019 last two weeks, where he\u2019s kicked 10 goals and been involved in 17 scores, we have seen the true potential of the 2025 Lions.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Last Two Minutes: Adelaide Crows v Brisbane Lions | Round 13, 2025 | AFL\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OLSGDHOqPEg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Morris is not a physically dominant player, but his movement is incredibly clever.<\/p>\n<p>He competes enough in the air to give his small forwards a chance, but he\u2019s not going to take screamers like Joe Daniher did.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1936015472580796618&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F06%2Fthe-logan-morris-effect%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s closer to the Nick Larkey archetype, where he\u2019s a brilliant leading player who struggles at this point in his career to win genuine one on one contests.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also, crucially, a very straight kick. By expected score, he\u2019s the fifth best shot for goal in the AFL.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of player, working to get on the end of the hyper-aggressive kicking game Brisbane\u2019s pivoted to at the end of last year, is perfect for a Brisbane team that keeps the forward line more open than they did last year so they can play more direct and let their highly skilled players cook.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1936023359143526788&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F06%2Fthe-logan-morris-effect%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s like dropping when Hugo Weaving dropped into <em>Slow Horses<\/em>, it just fits.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jack Lowden vs Hugo Weaving \u2013 Tense Grenade Moment | Slow Horses 4K\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Vpet4notGvU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Their willingness to move the ball quickly from the back half has been notable this year, with Dayne Zorko playing on and kicking aggressively from virtually every kick-in opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re also still a strong transition team, front half team, and a rock-solid defence.<\/p>\n<p>Even if those numbers are down on last year, they\u2019re still top six in all of them.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the last fortnight where they have really turned the forward line over to Logan Morris, they have just struggled with end product.<\/p>\n<p>Last year with Daniher, they took about 13 marks inside 50 and got a scoring shot on about 47% of their entries.<\/p>\n<p>They also got about 18 ground ball gets inside 50 per game.<\/p>\n<p>This year, all those numbers are down.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re taking 12 marks inside 50 per game and scoring on 44% of their entries and, despite taking fewer marks inside 50, they\u2019re also getting fewer ground ball gets inside 50 at about 14 per game.<\/p>\n<p>But, if you just look at the weeks where Logan Morris has dominated, those numbers are back in the premiership neighbourhood.<\/p>\n<p>The Lions took a combined 31 marks inside 50, scored on 47% of their entries, and averaged about 16 ground ball gets inside 50.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/7AFL\/status\/1936029860826075631\/photo\/1<\/p>\n<p>His aerial competitiveness has brought Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey, and Kai Lohmann back into the season which is so crucial for this Brisbane side.<\/p>\n<p>At 31, Charlie Cameron is having the worst season since 2014 by player rating and might officially be at the end.<\/p>\n<p>However, watching him he still looks fast enough to be a pest in the pressure game, and with the other three playing well anything they get from Charlie will be gravy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1926181545892540495&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F06%2Fthe-logan-morris-effect%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He is also another thinker and set up man in the forward line.<\/p>\n<p>He had one kick to Morris where he shoulder faked Jack Henry into oblivion as Henry tried to defend a two on one, and hit Logan Morris wide open in the goal square.<\/p>\n<p>Brisbane still has the horses in the middle of ground, with Hugh McLuggage having a career best year, Lachie Neale and Josh Dunkley still playing well and with the added juice and speed that the Ashcrofts have given them.<\/p>\n<p>They also still have an excellent defence built around the still elite Harris Andrews.<\/p>\n<p>What they were missing was bite forward of the ball.<\/p>\n<p>With Logan Morris, they\u2019ve found it.<\/p>\n<p>His emergence as a number one option, the alchemy of the forward line makes sense. Morris as the lead dog, supported by Day and Hipwood.<\/p>\n<p>Then next to them the AFL\u2019s toughest matchup Cal Ah Chee and the smalls Lohmann, Rayner, and Bailey<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1837446563272314919&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F06%2Fthe-logan-morris-effect%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If Brisbane is able to get Kidean Coleman back healthy before finals to give Zorko some support at driving the game from the back half, then I don\u2019t see why Brisbane can\u2019t go back-to-back.<\/p>\n<p>I wouldn\u2019t have said that before Logan Morris tore onto the scene like Wayne Jenkins, yelling about working with super cop.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"We Own This City - Car Wash Bust [1x03]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0XtJQotJxJY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; You could reasonably call the Lions season disappointing given expectations. You could also reasonably respond to that by calling whoever said it, to quote Ted Cruz, bat crap crazy. In a world where nothing makes sense anymore, the most reasonable position on the Lions \u2013 the pre-eminent global issue of our times \u2013 is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":75220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8298,598,344],"tags":[8260],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-75219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-rules","category-guywholikessport","category-special-interest","category-sports","tag-guywholikessport"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":null,"md_tip_date_end":null,"md_market_url":"","tip_date":"25\/06\/2025","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75219"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=75219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}