Dale Morris (born 29 December 1982) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Morris spent four years playing for

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-base ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

before being added to the Bulldogs'

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Category B rookie-listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unle ...

in the 2004 Rookie Draft. He quickly cemented his place in the Western Bulldogs' lineup, impressing many with his pace and consistency as a defender, and finished with 17 games for season 2005. He was elevated to the senior list at the end of 2005. Morris was selected in the

back pocket Vulfpeck is an American funk/soul music, soul band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart, the band has released four extended plays, six studio a ...

of the 2008 All-Australian team. Morris played in guernsey number 38 for the duration of his career. In Round 21, 2011, against the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

, Morris suffered a broken tibia in his lower right leg which prematurely ended his season. Morris returned to play one quarter in a Development Match game in Round 6, 2012, but suffered a stress fracture in the same leg which he broke in horrific circumstances in 2011. The injury sidelined Morris for the rest of the season. Morris made his return to AFL in Round 1, 2013. In what was overall a successful campaign for Morris, he provided defensive solidity to the Bulldogs' backline, and also managed to play all 22 games for the season. In 2016, Morris was a part of the Western Bulldogs premiership team that ended their long-standing premiership drought of 62 years. With over five minutes to go in the match, Morris laid a game-turning tackle on

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

forward

Lance Franklin Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013 and the Sydn ...

, which set up Tom Boyd to kick a goal that gave the Bulldogs a 15-point lead. After the game, it was revealed that Morris had played the entire finals series with a fractured vertebrae. Morris is known for his quick recovery from injury. He suffered a partial tear in his ACL in 2018 yet came back to play the back-end of the 2018 season. In 2019, he suffered another ACL, and was out of action until Round 19, where he rupture his ACL for the third time in 18 months. Prior to the 2019 final series, Morris announced his retirement after 253 games.

Statistics

: , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, , 38 , , 17 , , 0 , , 1 , , 56 , , 107 , , 163 , , 48 , , 43 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 3.3 , , 6.3 , , 9.6 , , 2.8 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , 38 , , 24 , , 1 , , 3 , , 127 , , 170 , , 297 , , 104 , , 56 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , , 7.1 , , 12.4 , , 4.3 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , 38 , , 21 , , 0 , , 1 , , 135 , , 126 , , 261 , , 101 , , 56 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.4 , , 6.0 , , 12.4 , , 4.8 , , 2.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , 38 , , 25 , , 0 , , 0 , , 156 , , 170 , , 326 , , 120 , , 73 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.2 , , 6.8 , , 13.0 , , 4.8 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , 38 , , 25 , , 1 , , 2 , , 115 , , 187 , , 302 , , 123 , , 59 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 4.6 , , 7.5 , , 12.1 , , 4.9 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 38 , , 21 , , 0 , , 1 , , 111 , , 141 , , 252 , , 73 , , 62 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.3 , , 6.7 , , 12.0 , , 3.5 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , 38 , , 18 , , 1 , , 0 , , 127 , , 100 , , 227 , , 80 , , 70 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.1 , , 5.6 , , 12.6 , , 4.4 , , 3.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 38 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 38 , , 22 , , 0 , , 0 , , 122 , , 133 , , 255 , , 83 , , 51 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.5 , , 6.0 , , 11.6 , , 3.8 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , 38 , , 20 , , 0 , , 0 , , 119 , , 108 , , 227 , , 82 , , 47 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 5.4 , , 11.4 , , 4.1 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , 38 , , 14 , , 0 , , 0 , , 70 , , 85 , , 155 , , 69 , , 35 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 6.1 , , 11.1 , , 4.9 , , 2.5 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

^# , , 38 , , 23 , , 0 , , 2 , , 129 , , 178 , , 307 , , 104 , , 54 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 5.6 , , 7.7 , , 13.3 , , 4.5 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , 38 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 38 , , 74 , , 112 , , 34 , , 24 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.4 , , 6.7 , , 10.2 , , 3.1 , , 2.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , 38 , , 11 , , 0 , , 1 , , 49 , , 70 , , 119 , , 39 , , 23 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 4.5 , , 6.4 , , 10.8 , , 3.5 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 38 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 3 , , 3 , , 6 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 3.0 , , 6.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 253 ! 3 ! 11 ! 1357 ! 1652 ! 3009 ! 1062 ! 653 ! 0.0 ! 0.0 ! 5.4 ! 6.5 ! 11.9 ! 4.2 ! 2.6

Honours and achievements

*Team **

AFL premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1989, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

** Pre-season premiership player: 2010 *Individual ** Doug Hawkins Medal: 2016 ** John Van Groningen Domestique Award: 2016 **

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Dale Western Bulldogs players Western Bulldogs premiership players 1982 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) All-Australians (AFL) Doutta Stars Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Australia international rules football team players VFL/AFL premiership players 21st-century Australian sportsmen