‘Bloody tough’ for Josh

WESTERN Bulldogs forward Josh Bruce has revealed he has been in tears every week since his season-ending knee injury, describing his lost grand final opportunity as like a “grieving process”.

The hard-luck story of the Bulldogs’ premiership push, Bruce, 28, suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the dying seconds of the team’s round 21 loss to Essendon.

Now at his third club in his 10th AFL season, Bruce felt like everything was coming together for him this season, in which he had kicked 48 goals before his injury.

“After the Brisbane game I just burst into tears at the final siren, I couldn’t hold it back,” Bruce said.

“I just felt such a longing to be there and to be involved in finals like that ... it’s been bloody tough to deal with.

“It is like a grieving process. I have had close friends and loved ones pass away but it’s not similar to that. “The grieving process is tough and when they did the initial test on my knee and I just knew it wasn’t there, it was fully ruptured, I broke down for an hour and a half and then once I got that initial hysterics out of the way I felt a little bit better.

“I cry probably at least every week. It does get easier with time as all things do.”