Schneider was a late replacement for veteran forward Stephen Milne in the Saints' clash with Hawthorn, and started as the substitute.
But when he was activated into the game, replacing defender James Gwilt for the second half, Schneider did everything he has always done. He created play, kicked well, linked up, kicked goals and was exciting in St Kilda's forward half.
Having not played since round two due to a serious hamstring complaint, Schneider said it was a different feeling ahead of the game.
"I was like a little kid before the game, I was pretty excited to be back out there," Schneider told AFL.com.au.
"It's been a long road to recovery – round two to round 20 – so I was pretty excited and I didn't know what to do with myself for the first half sitting on the bench.
"It was good to just get back out there and have a run."
Since suffering the injury in April, Schneider carefully planned a return to senior football.
Three weeks ago he played for Sandringham in the VFL, St Kilda's affiliate, before gradually building his match fitness so he was ready for the call whenever it came from head coach Scott Watters.
"I had a 60-minute game in my first one, and then an 80-minute game, and felt extremely good in those two. And then I played a full game last week," Schneider said.
"I had three games under my belt. I was sort of running out of games [to play] so I wanted to push my case forward and luckily enough Scotty gave me the chance.
"I'm just happy to play some footy again."
He finished with 14 disposals and three goals.
Schneider found it difficult watching from the sidelines for most of the season, and not being able to get out there and help.
Now that he's in, Schneider is keen to play out the remainder of the year, which would see the Sydney Swans premiership player reach his 200-game milestone in round 23.
Watters acknowledged Schneider's presence on the field.
"Adam's 28 … it feels like he's been around a long time. He's battled soft-tissue injuries for an 18-month period, and worked really hard to get himself back out there," Watters said.
"You see the class that he has when he plays – maturity, leadership, kicks the ball really well.
"He just needs to keep moving forward. Fit and hardened, and he's still got to get there, Adam's a really important player for us."
Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_CalTwomey.
