Retiring Hawthorn forward Luke Breust's career has been ended without a fairytale finish after confirmation the veteran suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in the VFL.

Triple-premiership forward Breust's right knee twisted awkwardly when he was attempting to lay a tackle in Box Hill's VFL preliminary final loss to Footscray.

Scans confirmed both an ACL and MCL tear, bringing Breust's year to a close and officially ending any hopes of the veteran forward featuring late in the Hawks' bid for this year's AFL premiership.

Sam Mitchell's side will take on arch-rivals Geelong at the MCG on Friday night for a spot in the grand final.

Breust played just eight AFL games this year, kicking four goals, and was used as the substitute five times and subbed off another.

He was Hawthorn's su

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