Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley is confident of returning to the AFL playing field this season after surgery revealed a ruptured tendon in his hamstring.

Buckley admitted one more hamstring injury would end his career, but the club was hailing the operation as a success, saying it finally cast light upon the problem.

Initially the diagnosis was that Buckley was suffering from scarring of his lower right hamstring, but Collingwood president Eddie McGuire told Channel Nine the operation revealed a one centimetre split in his hamstring tendon.

"I'm pretty positive I'll get another crack at it this year," Buckley said before surgery.

Buckley would miss at least eight weeks, and the club was likely to place him on the long-term injured list on Saturday, allowing the promotion of a rookie-list player to take his place.

Before going under the knife, Buckley admitted his storied career was literally hanging by a thread of hamstring muscle.

The Magpies skipper missed seven games with hamstring injuries last year and tore the muscle again in the first pre-season match in Sydney this season.

At the time of that recurrence, Buckley sensed his football mortality.

"I knew in my mind then that there were two strikes left, and I've already had one of them," Buckley said on Channel Nine.

"If I have another one I'd reckon unfortunately it'd be out of my hands and the (retirement) decision would be made.

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