Bulldogs’ Dale Morris opens up of true toll of injuries

WESTERN Bulldogs veteran Dale Morris has opened up on the true toll his injuries has taken on his family revealing that the stress of his broken leg led to his wife Gemma to go into early labour.

Morris, a premiership player for the Dogs in 2016, has had a raft of injuries over his AFL career, which includes breaking his leg twice, breaking his back, breaking his arm and, more recently, partially tearing his ACL.

In an exclusive interview with Fox Footy’s On The Mark, an open Morris said that his broken leg in 2011 was the worst that he had, leaving ramifications on the whole family.

“The worst injury I’ve had is my broken leg in 2011,” Morris said.

“We had Riley who is two years old at that time and Gem was pregnant with our second child Charlie. Which doesn’t really sound like a big deal, but I was in a plaster cast up to my hip in a wheelchair and immobile.

“I couldn’t do anything, so a lot of stress and pressure goes on Gem and she’s a proud person too and says, ‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me’. It took its tole on Gem and probably just as much as me. And I hated it, because it’s hard to see someone you love and who is always there for you really doing it tough.”

Morris also believed that his wife’s early labour was the result of his 2011 leg injury, despite being assured by people that it wasn’t his fault.

“Gem at the time was 20, mid-20 weeks pregnant,” Morris explained.

“She ends up going into labour and everyone’s telling me, ‘It’s not your fault’ but I knew that it was all on me because of this significant injury and how much stress I put her under.

“It was quite tough and we had to race to hospital. If the doctors couldn’t get Gem under control with the contractions she was experiencing and the pain, then who knows what would’ve happened and I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if anything had of happened.”

Morris also said that his injuries led to his son’s Charlie and Riley turning their back sport, to avoid being injured themselves.

“You talk about injuries, Charlie missed all of that, but unfortunately he’s still seeing quite a few injuries that I’ve been able to sustain, with my knee, my broken arm, broken back,” Morris explained.

“He did Auskick last year and this year rolled around and he liked the ideal of taekwondo as well and they clashed. So we sat him down and said do you want to play footy or would you like to do taekwondo, with any hesitation he said taekwondo.”

“I asked why do you want to do taekwondo — which is fine, whatever they want to do I’ll support them … Riley does scouts now which is great — it’s right down his alley. And I’m rapt for him, I’ll support him all the way and Charlie said, ‘I don’t want to do footy, because footy hurts dad’.”