GOOD fortune hasn't been a regular theme during Xavier Ellis' football career, especially in recent times.

But 2012 may yet have a happy ending for the Hawthorn wingman.

Ellis missed last year's finals with injury, and has been dogged by more problems this season.

But after 12 months unseen by the greater football world, the 24-year-old has finally made it back onto the field in the past fortnight, and wasted no time providing a reminder about his talents.

He managed 17 disposals and two goals against Port Adelaide in round 20, and followed up with another 24 disposals and two goals against Gold Coast last week.

Even though the statistics suggest otherwise, the former No.3 draft pick says the game felt slightly foreign after so long on the sidelines.

"Twelve months is a long time out," Ellis told hawthornfc.com.au this week.

"Even [on Sunday] I felt like I was on the MCG bypass, with the ball just going over my head every time.

"But it was good just to be out there playing."

Ellis' horror trot with injury this year started just as he seemed set for a big season.

He'd enjoyed an excellent summer, completing almost every pre-season session, before hurting the cuboid bone in his foot in the club's final intra-club practice match.

He then strained a calf muscle in April and, in his first game back in the VFL in June, tore the medial ligament in his knee.

It would have been easy to sulk over yet another dose of rotten luck, but some wise advice from Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson helped Ellis stay focused.

"I spoke to 'Clarko' when I got injured earlier in the year and he said, 'Would you rather play the first five games or the last five games?'" Ellis said.

"It's a bit of a no-brainer that there are much bigger fish to fry than the stuff earlier in the season, so you've just got to keep working towards giving yourself a chance of playing finals."

Throughout the year Clarkson publicly maintained Ellis would have an important role to play late in the season, and the player is grateful for the support from his coach.

"He's shown a fair bit of faith in me, and I probably owe him some good performances now," Ellis said.

But despite Clarkson's support and his encouraging form, Ellis said his spot in the Hawks' finals line-up was not yet secured.

"I can't be overly confident," he said.

"We've got massive games this week and next week, so a couple of solid performances will go a long way."

Ellis also admitted to nerves about the possibility of getting injured again, but maintained his injuries hadn't been down to conditioning or genetics.

"I probably do get a little bit more anxious now to be honest, but if you go through the injuries I've had … there have been a couple of soft tissue injuries, but the major ones have been impact injuries," he said.

"That's part of football, I suppose.

"It could happen to anyone, and I've been unlucky to have a few."

For now, he's hoping his luck has finally turned, just in time for September and, all going to plan, for a second premiership.

"I didn't time my run very well last year, getting injured around round 16," he said.

"This time I've come in at round 20 and hopefully I'll get four good games of footy under my belt and set myself up for a strong finals campaign."