Dale Morris did't touch the ball much in his 250th AFL game but the Western Bulldogs veteran's fingerprints were all over the seven-point win over North Melbourne.
The 35-year-old had eight possessions, largely matched up against fellow veteran Jarrad Waite, in the Dogs' upset 13.14 (92) to 12.13 (85) win at Etihad Stadium on Sunday in front of 27,031 fans.
But Luke Beveridge said the much-respected defender's influence was greater than his figures suggest.
"It was a pretty good eight-possession game from Moz when you consider how hard he hit contests, how many spoils he made, how many North Melbourne transitions that he foiled," Beveridge said.
"It was probably one of, I don't know how many of those 250 games, that epitomised team spirit and that selflessness that he brings to the team every week.
"There's no doubt that his teammates every week get some inspiration from him but today there's no doubt they wanted to do extremely well for their teammate and their brother in Dale Morris."
Marcus Bontempelli was outstanding for the Dogs with 35 possessions and two goals, with Lachie Hunter (44 disposals), Jack Macrae (40) and Caleb Daniel (40) getting a stack of the ball.
On a sour note, Zaine Cordy left the game in the second quarter after a collision with Kangaroos big man Ben Brown that sent him to hospital.
"He's got a little fracture in his forehead," Beveridge said.
"It's just a bit of bad luck.
"Obviously if it was too depressed, it'd be seriously concerning.
"But hopefully he's ok (and) he hasn't got much of a dent in his head and he doesn't bleed much and he's all right.
"It seems like he's pretty stable and it's not as bad as it could be, even though it's not flash."
Share
