Matthew Suckling admits he was never a chance of playing in Grand Final as he battled achilles injury

HEARTBREAK story Matthew Suckling has revealed his determination to play former club Hawthorn ultimately cost him a chance at another premiership.

Matthew Suckling missed out on the Bulldogs’ premiership win. Picture: AAP

HEARTBREAK story Matthew Suckling has revealed his determination to play former club Hawthorn ultimately cost him a chance at another premiership.

Suckling has been battling an achilles injury since Round 15 when he was kicked in the back of the leg against Sydney.

He said on Sunday it was painful enough that the club considered shutting him down for the year after the Round 23 loss to Fremantle.

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In hindsight, Suckling should have missed the semi-final against Hawthorn to give him a chance to push his Grand Final claims.

But he pulled up sore once more and with only a single training session in the past fortnight was never going to push out Toby McLean.

“I am over the moon for everyone, it’s been an amazing year,’’ the dual Hawks premiership player said.

Matthew Suckling was restricted on the training track heading into the Grand Final. Picture: Getty Images

“Going into the Hawthorn game it probably wasn’t a game I was prepared to miss and since then I have only ran once and I was probably never a chance after that.

“I probably should have had that week off. To play that game I knew it would set me back but it just wasn’t a game I was prepared to miss.

“You never know what is going to happen so we took the risk and then I had last week off and the boys played so well there was no need for change.”

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Suckling said he would need 6-8 weeks rest for the achilles to recover, but he could never get it under control after that Round 15 mishap.

“I got kicked in the back of the achilles and since then it flared up and I wasn’t able to train pretty much since then,” he said.

“It is a tough competition and if you can’t train, it is hard to play your best.

“I know I have given everything I have got. But I could not be happier for the boys.”

In hindsight the Dogs got their medical decisions spot on, not playing a half-fit Suckling as Sydney’s Callum Mills and Jarrad McVeigh both struggled in their returns from soft-tissue injury.

Suckling pulled up sore after playing against former club Hawthorn in the semi-final. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Suckling said he had put his hand up to play but knew he was never a chance of displacing one of McLean or another Dogs defender.

“I trained Tuesday and did about 4km and felt all right but I probably knew deep down it was a bit of a stretch,’’ he said.

“I was with the medical staff and we said if I was called upon I would be ready to play but with the boys 100 per cent it was better to let them play.

“I am all right, I will have 6-8 weeks no running and it will be completely fine.”

Suckling says he will return from the pre-season break hungrier than ever to win his third premiership, aware he might never have got this far.

“I have been battling tis for a long time and I probably thought I wasn’t going to make the finals week one so to be in the mix for game number four, I gave everything I got and just came up a little bit short.”

Originally published as Matthew Suckling admits he was never a chance of playing in Grand Final as he battled achilles injury