Suckling spent the final five years of his AFL career at the Bulldogs before retiring at the end of last season.

The Bulldogs will go into Saturday's finals as underdogs, a good thing according to Suckling, after winning their way through to the decider from fifth place.

Suckling believes the Bulldogs' road to the grand final, that has featured trips to Tasmania, Brisbane, Adelaide and now Perth, is a positive rather than a negative.

"I just feel like the journey they've been on has really galvanised them and they're hitting it with full momentum," Suckling said.

"There was a little bit of talk that the travel might zap their spirits but I think its really galvanised the guys. They get a week off to reset and focus in on Melbourne, who going into a grand final as the favourites is a little bit tricky.

"You've got people messaging you saying how you're going to win and what not so sometimes being an underdog going into a grand final is a nice feeling because prelims can be the stressful one and grand finals are more about enjoyment and having a bit of a swing."

The Bulldogs know all about that, downing Sydney to complete a remarkable rise to the 2016 premiership.

Suckling missed that day after injury derailed the end to his season but played in two flags at Hawthorn.

He believes the pressure may get to the Demons, as they look to end the club's 57-year premiership drought.

MORE SPORT NEWS

"Absolutely. If things don't go well, do guys start thinking about it, oh no, when's it going to happen, when's our next chance going to be?" Suckling said.

"It's a funny feeling grand final day, where the media and everything outside starts to creep in so it's important for people to have that bubble as close to them as they can and focus on what they can control within their own little bubble."

The Bulldogs bowed out last season in the final week of finals in what was Suckling's last campaign. He is not surprised however that they now find themselves contending for the premiership 12 months on.

"Not really. At the end of last year there were some conversations going on, especially the ones I had with Bont (Marcus Bontempelli) about the group. It felt like we were really close to being that side but it probably was a year too early," he said.

"A lot of guys have matured and come on a lot and you also get some new guys come into the system. Brucey (Josh Bruce) obviously has his second year in the system, which helps, and Cody Weightman comes along a long way and the forward line starts to function a bit better.

"The midfield's always been such a prolific ball winner but just lacked a bit of polish over the last few years, a bit of quality and you add some of those guys up forward and start putting scoreboard pressure on, it makes a huge difference.

"I'm not surprised, certainly, you can see they've matured and found ways to win games, where in the past they might have let it slip."

Suckling was delisted at the end of last season after being restricted to just seven games due to hamstring injuries. Ultimately, it brought an end to his AFL career.

When asked whether the Bulldogs' rise had been difficult to watch, Suckling said the overriding feeling was happiness for his mates.

"Yes and no. You obviously want to see your teammates do well," he said.

"I'm sitting here on the couch, it's so easy to watch from the couch thinking you could be out there, criticising people for making mistakes but no, I'm certainly happy for the guys, hopefully they can get it done, that's for sure.

"It's an amazing achievement by the guys. We've watched them from the couch every week and for most of the year they've looked like a top two side, certainly a top four side, so it was a bit disappointing to see them drop down towards the end of the year but I think it shows they were a top two side by the way they've bounced back in the finals and progressed onto a grand final."

Suckling said he is still in regular contact with his old teammates. He said the current landscape has made things difficult but will be cheering them on from afar come Saturday.

"It's just the lockdown part that's made things a little bit hard. They've moved away again this year," he said.

"There's still plenty of banter that gets thrown around the socials, in fantasy football comps and things like that. I'm still heavily involved with most of the guys in the group."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: