Majak Daw was enjoying a coffee in Hobart on Friday afternoon when his phone rang. Darren Crocker, standing in for Brad Scott as head coach, came up on the display of his iphone.

“I thought it was trouble at first,” Daw said.

“He [Crocker] was so serious. He was like, ‘Yeah come back and ring me and I’ll come up to your room’.”

It was anything but bad news for the 25-year-old with Todd Goldstein ruled out after failing a fitness test earlier that morning...

“So I came back and just had a chat and he said that Goldy didn’t get up and that, ‘You’ll come in and play his role for us’.”

Named as an emergency, Daw said he was always ready to come in as a late inclusion for the game against the Tigers at Blundstone Arena.

“Prior to leaving Melbourne I had a brief chat to Scotty [Brad Scott] and he told me to ‘prepare like you’re going to play’.”

Up against Shaun Hampson, Daw held his own.

“He’s got me in height and also a little bit stronger,” Daw said.

“He’s also smarter with the games he’s played so he had me covered in that area, so I just thought if I’m going to get beaten around that area, I could have an impact around the ground.”

Daw says the experience playing as the prime ruckman gave him an even better appreciation of what Goldstein brings to the table.

“Trying to play the whole game last night, I couldn’t get my head around how he does it week in, week out. He’s been pretty consistent over a long time.”

On a personal level, the 18-game-player looked at last night as an opportunity to prove that he deserves regular games.

“The last two games I’ve come in, I’ve felt like I belong at the level,” he said.

“I guess a bit of that is having the belief that I can play AFL footy and show the coaches that I’m more than capable to play that role. Just give them the belief and the trust that when I come in I’m going to play my role for the team.”