Tara Murray
The hard work has paid off for Western Bulldogs forward Nell Morris-Dalton.
Having been in and out of the side her first two seasons in the AFLW, Morris-Dalton has played all but one match this season.
The former Northern Knights premiership player was recognised as one of the round rising star nominee after having 12 possessions and two goals this week.
Morris-Dalton said she was scared when she got the phone call from coach Nathan Burke to tell her she had been nominated.
“When Burkey called me I was a bit worried,” she said.
“Burkey ringing me normally means not good things. I have a bad relationship with his phone calls over a long period of time.”
For the 20-year-old forward, the nomination was a reward for all the hard work that she has put in.
Like many key position players, Morris-Dalton has taken some time to find her feet.
“It feels really good,” she said.
“To get some recognition for the hard work that I’ve put in during the pre-season and throughout the season.
”I’ve worked really hard on the fitness side of things and my strength to establish myself after two years in the league.”
Morris-Dalton said it was always going to take some time for her to learn her teammates’ game style and vice-versa.
She said she had done a lot of work with teammate Bonnie Toogood and assistant coach and AFL player Josh Bruce.
“I’ve been working on my game and forward skills and using the resources and people around me,” she said.
“I want to be that link up for the mids and make sure my GPS numbers are higher. I’ve improved my fitness and made such an improvement on last year.”
Despite establishing herself in the side, Morris-Dalton knows that there’s still a lot of work to do.
She wants to keep on improving and provide plenty of flexibility to the side.
“I can play small forward if I need to. Me and Burkey often talk about my game and having that versatility of playing tall or small
“That is something I’m constantly working on.”
The Bulldogs will look to keep their season alive this weekend in the final round of the season.
The Bulldogs need to beat the Brisbane Lions and hope Collingwood loses.
Whatever the result this weekend, Morris-Dalton said there’s really good signs for the future.
“It is so great playing alongside the other young girls,” she said.
“I’m excited for the future… In another one or two years we could do something special.”
