WHEN the clock ticked over to 6.20pm on Friday night at Etihad Stadium, Hawthorn’s team for the clash against the Eagles was locked in.

There was no change to the side selected on Thursday night.

But as is so often the case in AFL football, things don’t always go to plan.

Players and coaches have to expect the unexpected.

At least, that was what Xavier Ellis needed to do on Friday night.

The Hawthorn utility was fairly relaxed 90 minutes before his teammates would enter battle against the Eagles.

He chatted to some of the players who were going through their pre-game warm up rituals, and also to injured players Cyril Rioli and youngster, Alex Woodward.

He sat along one of the walls inside the change rooms alongside Woodward and read Friday’s newspaper dressed in his Hawthorn tracksuit.

Ellis kept his distance inside the rooms as his teammates then prepared for the pre-match on field warm up.

Then, he was like any spectator inside Etihad Stadium, and he walked up to the race to watch the on field warm up.

When the players returned from that warm up, however, Ellis got a tap on the shoulder.

Head of Coaching and Development, Chris Fagan told him to get his gear - there was to be a late change as Paul Puopolo was out.

But it wasn’t that simple, Ellis explained after the match on Friday night.

His gear was in his car, two levels up from where the change rooms are located at Etihad Stadium.

“About a minute before we ran out onto the ground I got the call up, ‘Fages’ said go and put your gear on but I’d left it in the car,” he reflected.

“I had to run up and get my bag and when I came back the boys were about ready to run out onto the ground.”

Not expecting to play, Ellis had a university exam that morning and hadn’t consumed fluids in the rooms pre-game.

He even had the wrong socks on as he ran out 30 seconds behind his team onto Etihad Stadium.

But as he says he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“I ran out and had the wrong pair of socks on so I had to come back down and put different socks on, it was all a bit of a rush but that’s just footy sometimes,” he said.

“I’ve had a couple of injuries in the last couple of years, so this one went my way and it was fantastic, although obviously unfortunate for ‘Poppy.’”

But all that doesn’t matter now Ellis says, because he was back in the AFL side, having overcome another long stint on the sidelines due to injury.

His return to the seniors was even one week ahead of schedule.

But impressive form for the Club’s VFL affiliate Box Hill over the past four weeks was enough for the coaches to inject him into the senior side for the important clash against the Eagles.

His best game in the VFL was his 19 disposal and nine tackle effort against Sandringham on 16 June – one week before he’d get the last-minute call up.

“I spoke to ‘Clarko’ about a month ago and he said I needed a good four or five weeks in the twos before I was at the fitness level I need to be to play AFL,” Ellis said.

“I started with limited game time to get the body conditioned again because it has been an up and down ride the last couple of years.

“I’d played half a game, then three quarters and almost a full game over the last three weeks, so I had played a fair bit of footy.”

Ellis was, unsurprisingly, the substitute and played just over a quarter in Hawthorn’s 20 point win over the Eagles.

He gathered a modest five touches and two tackles in his time on the ground, playing in a variety of roles.

He said he felt fortunate the AFL’s sub rule exists as it gave him time to gather his thoughts given the limited preparation.

“It was probably a good result that there is the sub rule in place these days,” he said.

“I had the chance to sit there and gather my thoughts a bit to prepare; it was a good thing.

“I sat next to ‘Monkey’ (ruck coach Damian Monkhorst) and had a bit of a chat to him, but I’ve been around for a while now and not much changes from week to week with the way we want to play so I knew what to do anyway.”

He hopes now this will be the kick-start he needs to have an impact in the second half of the year.

“If I can get a good clean run without injuries, it would be a good start to now leverage into the second half of the year,” he said.