WAGGA footballer Matt Suckling faces a race against time in a bid to return to the Western Bulldogs team for Saturday’s AFL grand final.
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Just days after being ruled out of the preliminary final with an achilles injury, Suckling is hoping to be declared fit in time for the Bulldogs’ AFL grand final clash with Sydney.
In what was heartache for two fellow Riverina footballers, the Bulldogs’ epic victory over Greater Western Sydney (GWS) on Saturday night kept Suckling’s dream of a third consecutive AFL premiership alive.
Suckling told The Daily Advertiser on Sunday he will do everything possible to make himself available for selection.
I will probably try and train Tuesday or Thursday and see how it goes.
- Matt Suckling
“I will probably try and train Tuesday or Thursday and see how it goes,” Suckling said.
Suckling has battled the achilles injury for most of the second half of the season and failed a fitness test at training last Thursday.
Lin Jong is the other Bulldogs player pushing for a return from injury and he did himself no harm with a best-on-ground performance in Footscray’s VFL premiership on Sunday.
If Suckling is ruled fit, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is expected to bring him in for the grand final.
Comments from Western Bulldogs players who fronted the media on Sunday all pointed towards Suckling being right to return for the premiership decider.
Experienced defender Dale Morris believes Suckling will play.
“He would have loved to have played in the prelim but the call was from the medical staff to just rest up, with the view of playing the following week,” Morris told Channel Seven’s AFL Game Day.
“He’ll train this week and put his hand up as well.”
Suckling is likely to be the only Riverina representative on the field in Saturday’s AFL grand final.
Fellow Wagga footballer Harry Cunningham is unlikely to force his way into the Swans’ side.
Cunningham flew to Melbourne on Friday as one of the Swans’ travelling emergencies but was not needed.
With Jarrod McVeigh and Callum Mills pushing to return from injury, it is unlikely that Cunningham will be recalled for Sydney’s grand final appearance.
Cunningham and Suckling have already lined up against each other in an AFL grand final.
Back when Suckling was at Hawthorn, they both played in the 2014 grand final, won by the Hawks.
It was Suckling’s first AFL premiership after missing his team’s success the previous year through a knee injury.
If Suckling is included, he will be going for his third consecutive AFL premiership.
He is the only Bulldogs’ player with premiership experience as the Bulldogs prepare for their first grand final since 1961.
Meantime, it was despair for Narrandera’s Zac Williams and Leeton’s Jacob Hopper on Saturday night.
The pair were part of the Giants’ team that went down to the Bulldogs by a goal in one of the games of the year.