IT TOOK a lot of perseverance on both sides, but Matt Suckling's precision left-foot kicking has eventually become an integral part of Hawthorn's game-plan and looms as one of the keys to Grand Final success.

But Suckling and his golden left boot very nearly didn't make it to the big stage.

Suckling has become well known for hitting targets streaming out of the back half, and he's also kicked 24 goals in the past two seasons, but he had to overcome enormous odds to get where he is now.

The Sydney Swans had the opportunity to sign the Wagga lad during his draft year as a zone selection and passed - his pace was one of a few concerns for recruiters - before the Hawks took a punt on the raw kid with the big left boot ahead of the 2007 season.

But his first two years on the club's rookie list were ruined by persistent hip and shoulder injuries that robbed him of confidence and required debilitating surgeries that stopped him from developing physically.

He only won back a spot on the rookie list after vigorous debate, but his career finally looked set to take off when he made his AFL debut in round one of the 2009 season.

Suckling promptly suffered a quad injury and didn't play AFL footy again that season.

He managed five games in 2010, but only two of them came in succession, to leave his career hanging by a thread.

"In 2010 he had a terrific finals series in the VFL and that probably saved his spot on the list to be honest," Hawks head of coaching and development Chris Fagan says.

"I always remember Clarko (senior coach Alastair Clarkson) and I and the rest of the coaches really debating whether we would keep Matthew on the list, but his performance in those finals and the fact that he's always been a fantastic kick probably saved him.

"We had a frank and honest conversation with him at that time and we said, 'Mate, you're here because you performed well in the [VFL] finals, you've got a great kick and you're a really good person, [but] it's time to get the job done or you won't be here next year'.

"He hasn't looked back from that point.

"He got his body right, he got some opportunities, was able to take them and his confidence has grown to the point now where he's a really important cog in our team."

Click here to view Suckling's career stats

Suckling deserves much of the credit for his reversal of fortunes, but he didn't do it on his own.

Fagan and fitness coach Andrew Russell, welfare and development manager Jason Burt, assistant coach Brendon Bolton and [then] list manager Chris Pelchen were among the important figures in his development.

Former teammate and mentor Rick Ladson, whose No.4 guernsey Suckling now wears, was certainly a key figure.

"He needed to start to believe he could actually play at the level, but he had to get fit," Ladson says.

"A couple of pre-seasons do that to you and he had to get stronger too. So he did all that over the last two years and he's had an outstanding year. He definitely didn't need to work on his kicking, that's one thing."

In the past two seasons Suckling has played 47 of a possible 49 games for the Hawks, with his work ethic in preparing for games and recovering from them among the best at the club.

That wasn't always the case.

It's not that Suckling was lazy - he thought he was working as hard as he could - it's just that he needed to be shown there was a level beyond what he believed was his breaking point.

"You'd look at him in the pre-season running and they might have been doing repetition 200m sprints or something like that and Matt would never push himself to the front - he'd always be down the back," Fagan says.

"We sort of had to push him and prod him to understand that ... 'Mate, get up the front - if you run out of gas then that's the way it is'. That's what you have to do to improve yourself - [he] had to get out of his comfort zone.

"Part of that was that he just didn't have the training base because he'd missed all those pre-seasons. A lot of that learning that normally takes place in the first or second year didn't happen for Matthew, but he cottoned on to those things a little bit later as we pushed him.

"To his credit, he was able to take that on board to lift himself to those levels. Now he's one of our very best trainers and when he plays his GPS data is always very strong.

"He's just improved out of sight in that work rate area. I often use him now with the young fellas - to get him up at the start of the year to tell his story."

In an age of seemingly disposable AFL footballers, Matt Suckling is a reminder that sometimes patience, persistence and a little bit of faith can still pay very large dividends.
 
"It was hard for him at times and he was frustrated," Fagan says.

"He probably spent the first four years here wondering if he'd ever make it - there were times when he probably thought he wouldn't - it's just been a really good story of persistence by him and the club.

"We're all starting to get some reward for that."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.