HAWTHORN defender Ryan Schoenmakers has turned to fellow defender Matt Suckling for advice on what to expect as he prepares for surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Suckling ruptured his ACL in week three of the pre-season competition, just six weeks before Schoenmakers tore his in almost the identical spot on the wing of Aurora Stadium.

But the similarities for the pair don’t end there.

In addition to suffering season-ending knee injuries in almost identical places at the same venue, the pair has also done similar damage to their knees.

In an exclusive interview with hawthornfc.com.au, Schoenmakers revealed he has turned to Suckling for advice and support given he has never suffered any long-term football injuries.

Such has been the closeness of the pair since Schoenmakers suffered the injury, they have also hit the gym together, with Suckling casting an eye over his teammate’s strength work.

“Suckers’ (injury) is very similar to mine I think in terms of the damage so I’ve been asking him for advice and what kind of things I should be doing now and what I should expect,” he said.

“I haven’t really had surgery before so I’m just trying to get my head around that and what I’ll need the week after surgery.

“It’s a pretty weird situation, I’ve never really had any long term injuries in football, I’ve been pretty lucky up until now – I don’t really know what to do with myself.”

What he has been doing though, is diligently preparing for his knee reconstruction next week and ensuring his leg is in the best shape possible before surgery.

He says the stronger his quadriceps and leg is, the quicker he will recover from surgery.

“During the week at the moment I’m doing some pre-op strength work,” he said.

“The stronger my quad and leg goes into the surgery, the better the result is afterwards so hopefully that can shorten my recovery time post surgeries.

“That’s the main goal at the moment, just trying to get some range and movement back into my leg.”

It has been almost two weeks since the worst was confirmed for the 22 year old, but he says the seriousness of his injury didn’t truly sink in until he watched his teammates take on North Melbourne from his home.

“The first week probably didn’t feel that different, I had the scans and was told that it was going to be a year (out of the game) but probably didn’t realise until I watched the boys play on the weekend,” he said.

“I was sitting on the couch with Suckers (Matt Suckling) and Brendan Whitecross, that’s probably when it hit me the most.

“Watching the boys run out and I’m not there, that was probably the hardest thing.”

Interestingly, Schoenmakers revealed he was more nervous about the game as a spectator than he was for any of his 64 matches to date.

“I actually got really nervous for the game as well,” he revealed.

“I was probably more nervous than when I play because you don’t really have time to think about it then.

“I was just sitting on the couch sweating, just hoping for a good result.”

Schoenmakers is attacking the long road to recovery with the same resilience and tenacity he has shown throughout his five-year career and more recently, the commitment he showed to improving his game over the pre-season.

Once the surgery is complete, the youngster hopes to be back on his feet as soon as possible so he can begin the rehabilitation process.

“It depends on how I come out of the surgery but hopefully in about five days I’ll be up and walking and trying to come out to the club to get some massage and some work in to try and drain some of that fluid,” he said.

“The quicker I can straighten my leg the better and then the quicker I’m up and about I can do some upper body weights and get that all going.”

Matt Suckling casts a watchful eye over Ryan Schoenmakers as he strengthens his legs before surgery.