Bush and ‘Burbs: Ex-Sydney, West Coast player Mitch Morton to pull on boots for old club Lake Grace-Pingrup

It’s been five years since Mitch Morton’s crippling anxiety became too much to play the sport he loves at any level. From being one of the heroes of Sydney’s last premiership in 2012 to retiring from the AFL the following year and struggling through a stint in the WAFL and his junior club Lake Grace-Pingrup, things spiralled out of control pretty fast. “In the space of three years I went from quitting AFL because it was too much for my anxiety, to quitting the WAFL a couple of years later because I couldn’t do that with my anxiety,” Morton recalled. “A year after that I quit playing country footy because I couldn’t even do that. That’s really sad for someone who’s 29 years of age to not even be able to play the sport they used to love. “Not long after I quit country footy, that was probably when I hit my lowest.” But after knocking anxiety “on the head”, the now 34-year-old is ready to pull the boots back on where it all began this weekend. Morton, who has detailed his mental health battle on his Instagram page Mr Anxiety, will make his return for Lake Grace-Pingrup against Ongerup league rivals Jerramungup in Pingrup on Saturday. He’s committed to playing for the Bombers all season and can’t wait to give back to his old club and share his journey to the Lake Grace-Pingrup community in the hope of helping others going through what he did. “I want other people to realise that stepping back and putting time into your issues and actually fixing them in the long run is going to be better,” Morton, who made 83 AFL appearances across West Coast, Richmond and the Swans, said. “I’m just really excited to play football at any level again, it’s going to be a lot of fun. “Having grown up out in Lake Grace, there’s nothing better than putting the city lights in the rear-view mirror and heading out to the bush for a few days. I love it. “To have 12 or so weekends where I’m going to be out in Lake Grace is really cool.” Morton’s brothers Cale and Jarryd, who also played at AFL level, won’t be able to join him to due footy commitments of their own. Victoria-based Cale is lining up in the Riddell Distict competition, while Jarryd is set to play for Beverley in the Avon league.