MIDFIELDER Tom Liberatore has joined the list of Western Bulldogs heroes who played through injury in Saturday's Grand Final after suffering an ankle injury during preliminary final celebrations.
It was reported on Monday that Liberatore injured himself during on-field celebrations at Spotless Stadium after the Bulldogs won through to the premiership decider with a thrilling win over Greater Western Sydney.
The injury, reported by News Limited, meant he was unable to train fully during Grand Final week, but he was able to overcome the setback and be a key contributor with 22 possessions, eight clearances and eight tackles.
Defender Dale Morris revealed post-game he had suffered a back injury at the start of the finals, and the extent of an ankle injury to defender Easton Wood was also kept secret.
Wood suffered the injury in round 22 against Essendon but returned after missing one match and the pre-finals bye to be a key leader in the preliminary final and premiership decider.
It was reported the stand-in captain required injections before each of the Bulldogs' four finals matches.
Defender Matthew Suckling, who missed the Grand Final with an Achilles tendon injury, said his push to face former club Hawthorn in the semi-final had cost him a chance of playing in another premiership.
After a brave push to be available for selection, he said he would now have up to eight weeks without running to fully recover from the injury.
"I have been battling this 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," the two-time premiership player told News Limited.