If Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge could find a way to field a side of 22 Dale Morris clones, he would.
Morris begrudgingly accepted his battered body would no longer allow him to play the game he loves on Friday when he announced his AFL retirement after 15 seasons and 253 games.
That body of work and his key role in the 2016 grand final win have assured him a special place in Bulldogs folklore.
It was an emotional day at Whitten Oval, Morris giving his teammates the news in the team meeting room before the media were ushered in for the press conference.
Sitting beside his fallen warrior, Beveridge joked that he’d love to find a way to clone the much-admired figure.
But he’ll have to make do with the lasting legacy Morris will leave with his current group of players and those that follow.
“If we brainstormed what our identity aspirationally might look like – courageous, hard-working, trustworthy – if we put them all up on the board you could imagine the superlatives that would be up there,” Beveridge said.
“And if we just wrote ‘Dale Morris’ next to them it would be pretty apt.
“That’s the type of person he is.
“From a legacy viewpoint there are people who come into your world who you just want to be like and everyone in this room wants to be a little bit like Dale Morris.
“And that’s his legacy … he’s someone who we can aspire to be like.”
The 36-year-old’s ability to play through pain became the stuff of AFL legend, but a third serious knee injury in the past 18 months proved to be the last straw.
Morris ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in his first AFL match of the season, in round 19 against Fremantle at Marvel Stadium, and underwent a traditional knee reconstruction which generally requires 10 to 12 months recovery time.
“It turns out you can’t play footy forever,” Morris said.
“I was trying to.
“I said as a young guy coming through that I would keep playing footy until my legs dropped off and over the last couple of years my legs have literally tried to drop off.
“It was time to call it.
“I’m one of those people who feel like I could play footy forever but we’ve had some good discussions with Bevo and the footy club and the best decision is to retire.”
Morris, who joked he will probably still think he can play at 50, gave serious consideration to trying to coax another season out of his battle-weary body, but will instead take up a coaching role at the club.
Beveridge said he leaves behind many fond memories, none more precious than his chase-down tackle of Lance Franklin that led to a decisive Tom Boyd goal in the dying minutes of the 2016 grand final – a game he famously played with a broken back.
“In the heat of the game when it was there to be won, when you needed someone to rely on, when you needed a beacon of positivity and inspiration, there was Moz standing up once again for his teammates and for the club and winning the day,” Beveridge said.
“That’s probably the lasting memory and it’s a pretty significant one.”
DALE MORRIS’ AFL CAREER AT A GLANCE
Drafted: 2005 rookie draft (No.19)
AFL debut: Round 5, 2005 vs Adelaide at Docklands Stadium
Career games: 253
Career goals: 3
Premierships: 1 (2016)
Honours: All Australian (2008)
