UNLUCKY Western Bulldogs veteran Dale Morris requires another knee reconstruction, meaning he might have played his last AFL game.
The 36-year-old was playing his first match of the year after a pre-season knee injury when he re-injured it during Sunday’s win over Fremantle.
The Bulldogs said the scans confirmed the worst possible news, with Morris set to go under the knife again.
It’s unlikely he will make it back to add to his 253-game career.
“Dale will undergo a conventional ACL reconstruction today,” Bulldogs medical services manager Chris Bell said on Monday.
“Although he passed every test, ticked every box in rehab and returned to play a month of VFL football, unfortunately, Dale’s knee was unable to withstand the high demands of AFL football.”
He suffered an ACL injury during the pre-season, with Morris and the club opting against surgery in the hope of having him return to the field in 2019.
It was the second year running – albeit different knees – that Morris injured an ACL before the season proper.
He returned at AFL level in round 11 last year and played 11 matches for the season.
This year, Morris played four successful matches at VFL level, before re-injuring his knee in his AFL return.
© AAP 2019
