Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton has detailed the chronic pain and difficulties he faces with his body after a physical footballing career.
Brereton kicked 464 goals from 211 games in a hall of fame career, largely at the Hawks before single season stints at Sydney and Collingwood brought his time in the league to a close.
A five-time premiership player, the forward is revered for his physicality in the VFL, famously known for kicking three goals in the 1989 grand final after being lined up at the first bounce by Geelong's Mark Yeates.
However, his brute strength and fearlessness in-game have taken a physical toll on Brereton, as the 60-year-old revealed at a Melbourne Cricket Club function.
In a "Toast to football", the speech for the Norm Smith Oration described how Brereton struggles with daily tasks due to pain and limited mobility following his career in Australian rules.
The reflection came in the latter minutes of his address, following a humorous look back on his footballing journey, reminiscing on how he was recruited to the competition and his time in brown and gold.
โSome mornings, my beautiful partner Julie has to put on my shoes and socks for me. With the pain in my spine, where they put in a cage inserted there, I can't reach. I just can't put on socks and shoes,โ Brereton said.
โSome days I have to walk down the stairs sideways because I haven't got any cartilage โ bone on bone, that is โ for 40 years.
โSome days I can't shake hands with other men, and if they do so, I fear they'll re-open some of the broken bones in my hands from defenders' spoils and from when [an opponent] jumped on my hand deliberately.
โSome days I have to crab my way down the stairs because my often half-a-dozen times reconstructed ankle will not flex any more.โ
Brereton recounted that even his training regimen has taken a toll, explaining that he sleeps "very little" due to shoulder pain from arthritis caused by lifting heavy weights in the gym.
Theย Fox Footyย commentator stated that he occasionally falls victim to the pain mentally, questioning whether taking such a combative approach to the game has been worthwhile.
The answer, though, is the classic mindset of one of the AFL's all-time greats.
โSome mornings, I pathetically allow myself to become melancholy and even teary over the degeneration and the physical toll that football has taken on my body," Brereton said.
โI often ask myself, in that moment of true misery, when I can't move, that moment of weakness, I'll ask myself โ was it worth it?
โAnd the answer's always the same. I'd do it all over again, exactly the same again. Maybe next time, though, in the next lifetime, I might go a little harder.โ
