Young Dog to miss rest of season with injury

[LostDoggy]

WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis has been ruled out for the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a broken foot that will require surgery.

The 21-year-old suffered the injury late in the third quarter of the Dogs' narrow loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.

Wallis had limited Bombers star Dyson Heppell to 14 possessions before he hobbled from the field.

Heppell then broke free in the final term as Essendon came from behind to score a crucial victory.

Scans have revealed that Wallis suffered a break in the fifth metatarsal bone in his foot.

"People were thinking it was his ankle, but it was his foot that got twisted underneath him," sports injury expert Dr Peter Larkins told 3AW on Monday night.

"The really nasty break that occurs on the fifth metatarsal always requires surgery … because it's got a terrible history of not healing.

"So it's a really bad break for Mitch Wallis in terms of the location.

"The healing time of those is quite extended. It's six to 12 weeks."

Wallis has played 13 games in 2014 and has averaged 16.5 disposals and 4.4 tackles per match.

Twitter: @AFL_AdamMcNicol

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-07-2...t-for-the-year

[Go_Dogs]

Terrible luck for Wally, was playing some good footy. Hope the surgery and recovery goes well for him.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Bad luck, he was in career best form or close to in the last few months since returning.

Hopefully he recovers well - that's the most important thing now.

[Bulldog4life]

Rotten luck. He was playing so well too.

[bulldogtragic]

Smith & Wally gone for the year. Disappointing all round this weekend for injuries.

[NoseBleed]

Ouch - I broke Metatarsal 5 in 1998, two weeks before a skydiving comp I'd trained 18 months for. 12 of the nastiest landings of my life - you cannot run with it broken (not without crying at least). Took me a solid 3 months before I trusted it to jog, almost a year before I could "forget" I'd done it under pressure.

Tiny bone, big consequences.

[Murphy'sLore]

Awful, awful news. A double whammy with Clay Smith going down again too.

Best of luck to both to them, and wishing them a speedy (and complete) recovery.

[Sedat]

Shocking news for Clay but he's made of tough stuff. I'm sure he will do everything possible in rehab to get ready to go again towards the latter stages of next season. It is 2 years of footy he has lost but if there is a bright side for him, he will still have 10 years of a career when we should be very much in finals contention for the majority of it. I'm backing him in to make every post a winner.

Sad news for Mitch as well, who has been terrific for us in the last couple of months. He is also a dedicated footballer and will do everything possible to be 100% ready to go next season.

Injuries like this when we are bottom 6 are far more palatable than the injuries to the likes of Cooney and Morris in 2008-10 when we were knee deep in contention.

[Greystache]

Terrible news for both players, but I suppose if there is to be a silver lining, you couldn't hope for two more dedicated players for it to happen to.

Not many players come back the same from 2 knee recos, but if anyone can, Clay Smith can do it.

[Bulldog4life]

Shocking news for Clay but he's made of tough stuff. I'm sure he will do everything possible in rehab to get ready to go again towards the latter stages of next season. It is 2 years of footy he has lost but if there is a bright side for him, he will still have 10 years of a career when we should be very much in finals contention for the majority of it. I'm backing him in to make every post a winner.

Sad news for Mitch as well, who has been terrific for us in the last couple of months. He is also a dedicated footballer and will do everything possible to be 100% ready to go next season.

Injuries like this when we are bottom 6 are far more palatable than the injuries to the likes of Cooney and Morris in 2008-10 when we were knee deep in contention.

I know he did it in rd 16 last year. What rd did he play this year? Does anyone remember?

[LostDoggy]

Round 10 vs. Gold Coast, but that was LARS. He's going old school now apparently.

[Sedat]

Round 10 vs. Gold Coast, but that was LARS. He's going old school now apparently.

His first reco was traditional surgery as well, not LARS.

[Bulldog4life]

Round 10 vs. Gold Coast, but that was LARS. He's going old school now apparently.

Do you remember when he played his first VFL game?

[Greystache]

His first reco was traditional surgery as well, not LARS.

Sort of- It wasn't quite traditional due to the type of rupture, but it certainly wasn't LARS.

[LostDoggy]

Smith has shown twice now that he can come back from LTI's alot quicker than expected. There's no doubt he will do whatever possible.