Dale Morris in talks with Western Bulldogs over new deal ahead of his 250th AFL match
WESTERN Bulldogs veteran Dale Morris has revealed he is in discussions with the club about a new deal for next season as the much-loved defender prepares for his 250th game.
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WESTERN Bulldogs veteran Dale Morris has revealed he is in discussions with the club about a new deal for next season, with the 35-year-old insisting he feels physically and mentally fresh enough to extend his remarkably resilient career.
As he prepares to become oldest player in VFL-AFL history to reach 250 games this weekend, Morris said he is driven by the dream of adding a second premiership medal to the one won in 2016.
“I am never one to put a cap on my career,” Morris said. “I will keep going on for as long as I can, for as long as there is a role for me to play, and as long as I am holding up mentally and physically.”
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“Physically, the body has copped a bit of a battering, but I have been able to bounce back every time.
“I will keep going on for as long as I can ... it is the best job.
“I am always chatting to Bevo (coach Luke Beveridge), not just about that (a contract), but about heaps of things. The one thing I love about Bevo is his honesty, when you sit down and talk to him, you know exactly where you stand.”
Beveridge said earlier this week that he wanted the defender - who has overcome a host of serious injuries including two broken legs, a broken arm, a torn pectoral muscle, a cracked vertebrae during the 2016 finals series and even a partially torn ACL earlier this year - to play on in 2019, and potentially beyond.
Morris said his teammates made him well and truly aware he was about to become the first 35-year-old to reach 250 games, bypassing Richmond’s Vic Thorpe, Bulldog Tony Liberatore, Essendon’s James Hird, Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands and Essendon’s Don McKenzie, who were 34 when they reached it.
“Jacko Macrae was the quickest to tell me I am the oldest person to reach the 250-game milestone,” he said. “He’s got a dry sense of humour.”
Enjoy 😉#Moz250 pic.twitter.com/KIqtZCEN6x
— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) August 8, 2018
“I thought I was lucky to play one game, and now I’m playing my 250th. It’s a bit surreal ... I am just rapt to be able to repay the club 250 times.
Morris admitted injuries had taken a significant toll on his body, but said the support he had from his wife, Gemma, and his young family, as well as the medical and coaching staff and his teammates had been a crucial part of his story.
“They are the ones who have helped me through the hard times,” he said.
He insisted the dream of chasing another flag still burns for him: “That’s why we play footy, we are not here to fill the numbers, we are here to win it.”
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Originally published as Dale Morris in talks with Western Bulldogs over new deal ahead of his 250th AFL match