Forget retirement, ex-Bulldogs star forward Ryan Sutton eyeing NRL shock return

Despite not playing first grade since 2023 and being told he should medically retire because of a knee injury, the Englishman has vowed to fight on.

Not much has gone right for Sutton on the field since leaving the Raiders at the end of 2022. In four seasons he had played 75 games to entrench himself as a regular first grader.

So impressed were the Bulldogs at the time that Phil Gould signed him to a three-year deal to be the cornerstone of Canterbury’s forward pack.

His stint at the club lasted just 13 games before he suffered a significant injury.

“The past few years have been a rollercoaster,” Sutton, who played 118 games for Wigan said. “I thought Canterbury was going to be a great opportunity for me to thrive.

“Going into the New Year in 2023 I had a knee issue but I thought it was something going to be recovered from easily.

“It got worse and some of the advice might not have been the greatest.

“I did what I had to do to get back playing again and then I ruptured the patella. It was a really rocky Two-and-a-half years of my life.

“All you want to do as a footy player is play footy, but you can’t do that.

“I had to take some professional help because I was lost. I wanted to find out more about myself. I was getting into slumps.

“I can go into a place and have a smile on my face but I was hurting.

“When you hear whispers about a club wanting to get rid of you or people saying negative things it gets to you.”

Some at the Bulldogs wanted Sutton to retire immediately. There were medical grounds to do so and that would have helped with Canterbury’s salary cap position.

But Sutton thought otherwise.

“There was that conversation and that’s where they were coming from,” Sutton said. “Retirement did come into my head a few times especially when I did it the second time.

“I had a bit of time to reflect and speak with my wife. We were both like, ‘No’.

“I’ve done this my whole life. It was the only major injury I’ve had. A lot of people struggled to come back to it but a lot of people aren’t me.

“If people tell me to do something, I will prove you wrong. I’ll say, ‘I can show you’.

“That’s been my mentality towards anything. If someone wants me to medically retire and it’s not my decision, I’ll tell you no.

“I feel like I am fitter than ever and my body is in the best shape it has been in for years.”

Last year, Sutton lasted less than 15 minutes in a NSW Cup match for Canterbury in July before tearing his patella tendon.

The injury was in the same knee he damaged in the pre-season. He had been sent for a partial repair in the pre-season to get him back on the field. The gamble backfired.

It eventually led to Canterbury parting ways with him earlier this year.

“The 15 minutes before the injury I was flying and feeling like I was back,” Sutton said. “That’s when the black cloud came over me. I had that surgery and couldn’t move off the couch for three or four weeks. I was sleeping in a brace for four months.

“I couldn’t help my wife around the house. I was feeling hopeless and couldn’t contribute.

“Going into training with a smile on my face, I couldn’t give anything back to the club other than my experience, and hearing whispers of negative things towards myself it was a big black cloud.”

Despite suggestions he should give it away, Sutton wanted further medical advice.

“I met with the best surgeon in Sydney and I was in close contact with him about everything,” Sutton said.

“He told me I would get back on the field. There were conflicting opinions from the club’s side. All I wanted was more and more opinions.”

After parting ways with the Bulldogs, Sutton did some work with rehabilitation guru Justin Lang – the son of premiership winning coach Johnny.

Eventually Sutton would sign a train and trial deal with the Titans and worked hard to make his Queensland Cup debut at Ipswich.

“I ended up playing 40 minutes straight and I felt good considering I hadn’t had a pre-season in two years,” Sutton said. “The fire was back in the belly. There was a sense of achievement and I felt like a kid again.”

That was until injury struck again at training.

“Four days later I tore my bicep,” Sutton said. “I couldn’t have been more unlucky. The knee was feeling good. We were playing two handed touch. And one of the kids ran through my arm. I thought I got a cork. Something felt wrong.

“I had surgery to have it repaired.”

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Sutton is now calling out for another chance. Several Super League clubs have inquired about his services and the 30-year-old wants to give the NRL one last crack.

“I am ready and raring to go pre-season,” he said.

“It is the first opportunity that I’ve had in the last two to go into day one and be fully fighting fit. I’ve been non-stop training. The knee is feeling unbelievable.”

Originally published as Forget retirement, ex-Bulldogs star forward Ryan Sutton eyeing NRL shock return