Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton will undergo his 26th major operation from football on Monday as he continues to pay the price for the way he played the game.

The five-time premiership forward returns to an operating theatre to have his spine sorted following a career where he built a reputation as one of the toughest players in the game.

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But the toll of his 214-game, 14-season career now means he can’t put his socks on without help and has to roll onto his stomach to get out of bed each morning.

Round 18

“It’s a full-on procedure just to get up each day. My partner has to help me with my socks. I can’t reach down there. It’s just an awful way to live,” Brereton told the Sunday Herald Sun.

Dermott Brereton’s back x rays. Herald Sun. Source: Supplied

Brereton believes the way he played the game at centre-half forward has left him crippled at 55.

“It’s due to the way I played and those days were a bit more lethal,” Brereton said.

“The old adage was if someone drops into your space as a forward you would ran through them but back in those days the centre half forward was often camped under the ball too.

Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn with Fox Footy commentator Dermott Brereton. Source: News Corp Australia

“Being caught stationary at centre half forward someone would cannon into your back from behind and everyone endures it but that’s the price that comes with the position. I got up and got on with it.

“The amount of times I had that done to me … It looks innocuous and you would hold your breath as you got up, but you are talking about hundreds and hundreds of times. That adds up.”

