WHEN Sam Mitchell calls before 9.30 on a Sunday morning in winter, it can only mean one thing.

You're in.

Henry Hustwaite was nervously trailing his dog around the quiet streets of Rosebud last weekend when a boyhood dream became a reality.
 
The 19-year-old knew he was a chance to make his AFL debut, but he didn't want to count his chickens. Hawthorn had pulled him out of the VFL game against Frankston on the Friday night. He completed the captain's run with the AFL squad on Saturday morning. And then waited to see how Jai Newcombe's hamstring pulled up.

Finally, the call was made. After biding his time across 13 appearances for Box Hill in 2023 – and after trying to block out the prospect of a debut all weekend – the boy from the Mornington Peninsula with the smooth lateral movement and the classy left foot had his chance against Melbourne at the MCG.

"It was nuts. I found out early on Sunday morning. Mitch was just like: It's bad news for Jai, but it's good news for you," Hustwaite recalled at Waverley Park this week.

"Once I got the call, I just felt a range of different emotions. The nerves definitely flicked a switch pretty quick. I walked back in the door and just said: Far out, I'm in. It was a crazy day, a pretty surreal today to be honest."

Not many beyond Hustwaite's inner circle knew he was playing until the Hawks submitted their final team 60 minutes before the first bounce. It didn't take long for the news to filter back to the Rosebud Hotel, where his old Rosebud Football Club just happened to be settling into their 'Silly Sunday' celebrations.

"They finished up (the season) the day before and rolled into Sunday and they found out an hour before the game. They were out the back of the pub in dress ups watching the game, which was pretty cool," Hustwaite said.

With some dressed as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne from Dumb and Dumber, others as Where's Wally and an ensemble of Mario Kart characters, the rowdy crowd up the back of the pub didn't have to wait long to make some noise.

Hustwaite nailed his first goal in League football before the first break, then added a second in the second half to finish with two goals from 15 disposals and five tackles in a performance that has left the Dandenong Stingrays product wanting more. Much more.

"I was saying to Mum and Dad after the game that it has certainly put a fire in my belly to hit pre-season very hard," he said. "I saw plenty of areas to work on out of the game and that's what makes me so excited and eager for the pre-season and for next year."

The 195cm midfielder has taken nothing for granted across the past 12 months. He knows how much has to go right just to get drafted in the first place, let alone earn a debut and secure another contract.

The Hustwaite family endured an anxious wait heading into last November's draft. They knew nothing was certain, no matter what clubs told them. They had lived the heartache of watching Henry's older brother Campbell, who is now Collingwood's VFL captain, miss out in 2018 despite attracting genuine interest from AFL clubs.

Henry hasn't forgotten Campbell's bitter disappointment. And won't. It is that memory that filled the family with an overwhelming sense of relief when his name was read out at pick No.37 last year.

"To be honest, Campbell's pathway messed me up a little bit and put me in the mindset that nothing is set in stone. Once I got the opportunity on draft night, I was so grateful for the chance," he said.

"But it was such a range of emotions. Knowing what Campbell went through – we thought he had a great year in his draft year and we thought he was going to be fine and get picked – but it fell the other way. Coming up to the day, it never felt set in stone that it was going to happen until it happened."

Hawthorn list manager Mark McKenzie and player acquisition manager Mark Finnigan made the trip to Rosebud around this time last year to meet with the Hustwaites at home, before inviting them into the club closer to the draft.

The Hustwaites have been part of the furniture at the Rosebud Football Club for what feels like forever. Henry's father Mark is a club great, having played and coached the club to two premierships before coaching the junior teams his three sons played in. Fletcher, the eldest brother, is a gun in the senior team, and mum Karen has been there every step of the way.

"Footy has been instilled in all of us. Dad and my brothers have taught me well so I will forever be thankful for them," Henry said. "Going to Dad's games on Saturdays to watch him play and then coach, then backing it up on Sundays with us playing. He has always been coaching one of us, whether it was Fletcher, Campbell or me."

Last Sunday, Hustwaite made the hour-long journey up Peninsula Link and the Monash Freeway to the MCG in silence. He returned to Rosebud on Sunday night with the evidence he will be making that trip again, regardless of whether it is this Saturday against Fremantle or in 2024.

Next time, it won't be as a late inclusion.