As much as Steve Morris feels honoured to be captaining Richmond for the first time, in tomorrow’s (Saturday, February 28) AFL pre-season series opener against the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval, it’s not something that he’s preoccupied with.
With captain Trent Cotchin, vice-captains Brett Deledio and Ivan Maric, as well as fellow playing leadership member Troy Chaplin all being rested for the clash, Morris, the newest addition to the Tigers’ leadership group, takes over the captaincy reins.
“I’m just looking forward to playing, to be honest,” Morris told ‘Roar Vision’.
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“Obviously, we’re running out there with a pretty young team . . . We just want to see the team play our way . . . play positive footy, a good brand of footy, play to the structures that we want to play to first and foremost, be hard at the contest, and enjoy it.
“It’s a good opportunity for me, but also as an entire team. We want everyone to step up and be really vocal in their leadership, demand and be accountable to one another. It’s another good opportunity for the young players to step up and be leaders out there themselves.”
Morris, who played the entire 2014 season needing a right shoulder reconstruction, after injuring it in the pre-season, is jumping out of his skin to finally get stuck into some serious on-field action against an opposing team tomorrow, following months of hard slog on the training track, and several intra-club practice matches.
“I’m really looking forward to playing . . . It’s an exciting time of year, just to get back into it,” he said.
“Obviously, you’re going to be a bit rusty at times, but it’s good to get out there and have a bit of a kick and start to play the sort of footy that we want to play.
“I feel like I’m really fit at the moment. The body’s good, so I’ve got no complaints and no excuses not to go into this season really confident and in a positive frame of mind.
“I’m just keen to continue working at the style of game that I want to play personally, but fits in with the team as well.”
Morris pinpointed a couple of areas of the game that would be priorities for the Tigers in tomorrow’s match.
“I think two things that we really want to focus on are the contest and our intent. As long as we’re trying to play the right style of footy that the coaches demand of us,” he said.
“If we make mistakes, it’s not an issue at this time of year.
“We want to try new things that we’ve practised over the pre-season and put those into place. And, if they don’t come off, they don’t come off.
“It’s a really good time of year to be able to assess that and work out what’s going to work for us going forward, and what may not.”
