Passing the Torch is a new spin-off podcast series under the Credit to the Girls umbrella. It profiles the young players of the AFL Women's competition who will be at the forefront of the league over the next 10 years. Episodes can be listened to via the traditional Credit to the Girls feed, wherever you get your podcasts. 

AN HONEST Nina Morrison has discussed the lows of ACL rehab during lockdown and wrestling with accepting the vice-captain position at Geelong.

Morrison's unconventional journey to the AFLW – having played two years of football before being taken with the No.1 selection – has continued into her career, rupturing her ACL at training after her first game, and re-rupturing the graft after a smother gone wrong in mid-March 2020.

It was the last game fans were able to attend in Victoria for the year.

"Personally, having to go through that injury on that night, that's probably one of the lowest places I've been, and having to process that over the next few days and weeks, to be in a space where I described it as worse than anything I'd been through in the first rehab," Morrison said.

"That was quite scary for me. I felt like I was going back to square one, where I'd spent a year trying to get as far from that place as possible. 

"I was lucky I had some really good people around me, obviously we were on the verge of lockdown, so potentially not physically around me, but my whole family was back in Melbourne and we spent that first lockdown together. 

"One of the really important [pieces of advice] was to let myself feel those emotions. I'm one of those people where in the past, has potentially tried to push things so the side and soldier through. But to allow yourself to feel those feels, but then you get to a point where you can flick that switch and get going."

Morrison was appointed vice-captain of the Cats just after she turned 21, and has held the position in both seasons last year, but it wasn't an automatic 'yes' to the role, despite having been a school captain at Geelong Grammar.

"Leadership in general is never something I've felt really comfortable with. Throughout schooling and sport, I've found myself in various leadership positions, but to be honest, it's never something I've really felt like I've owned," Morrison said.

"I think I've always looked at it that I do set the benchmark for myself really high, and pride myself on setting high standards, but am I doing anything to actively make sure I'm bringing people along with that? 

"For me, probably the last couple of years have been about trying to explore ways to develop my leadership and feel more comfortable in that space; and being able to trust myself that I have the power to influence other people and bring them along for the ride as well. 

"I reckon I had a few conversations with people like Meg (McDonald, captain) and my parents, and my teammates I was living with at the time, but I had to make the decision within a day or so. 

"It was definitely something I wasn't immediately comfortable jumping at, because I didn't really know where I sat in that space or that is was something I could take on. 

"It was also around the time I'd had two years off with injury, so I didn't know if I just wanted to focus on playing my own consistent footy. But I tried to look at it from the perspective of what's best for the team, and if people have voted me in, maybe I can provide something in that role."

EPISODE GUIDE

0.26 – Morrison's work with the AFL Data and Analytics team
2.00 – Two years of footy before becoming No.1 pick
7.20 – Joining Geelong as a Cats fan
10.20 – Rupturing a second ACL on the eve of the first lockdown
13:44 – Sitting out 2021
16.15 – Season seven improvements at the Cats
20.12 – Setting standards 
25.40 – The enjoyment of pushing yourself to the limit
30.46 – The thought process behind accepting the vice-captaincy at 21