HAWTHORN is preparing itself for the news midfielder Alex Woodward requires a third right knee reconstruction after going down in the VFL on Sunday afternoon.

The 22-year-old went to ground clutching his knee in the opening minutes of Box Hill's 100-point win against Coburg and was taken off the field on a stretcher.

On Sunday night, Woodward tweeted: "The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph."

Box Hill coach Marco Bello told AFL.com.au Woodward injured his knee in a "fairly innocuous" incident.

"He was running across half-back, he kicked the ball and at the same time someone came across and it almost looked like it was a knee-on-knee contact but I think it was on landing … that the leg just seemed to buckle underneath him," Bello said on Sunday night.

"Unfortunately with someone of his history, something little like that can be quite devastating."

Around the state leagues

Woodward first ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a NAB Cup game against Greater Western Sydney in February 2012.

He re-injured the same knee at training nearly a year later in mid-January 2013.

The 181cm ball-winner enjoyed an impressive return from the two knee reconstructions last year, winning the J.J. Liston Trophy as the VFL's best player.

Woodward has made two appearances for Hawthorn – in rounds 18 and 19 last season – since being recruited by the club with pick No.53 in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft.