Almost a year to the day, comedian Andy Lee’s phone rang.

On the end was good friend, Lachie Henderson. The two had become close during the versatile big man’s five year stint at the Carlton Football Club, before he made the move down the highway for the 2016 season.

But the call wasn’t good news. Henderson had been told by the club that day that he’d delisted, and that the then 29-year-old’s 171-game football career was over.

“A year ago almost to the day, he gave me a call and said he’d been delisted,” Lee told Channel Seven’s The Front Bar on Thursday night.

“I travelled down to Torquay where he lives, we had a few beers, I stayed the night there and played golf the next day.”

For Henderson, it was the end of a long journey that began in Birregurra, a small town about 130 kilometres south-west of Melbourne. Henderson made his way up through the ranks via AIS-AFL Academy, to the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup before his name was called out by the Brisbane Lions in the first round of the 2007 National Draft. A 15-game stint in Brisbane was followed by 102 games at the Blues, before the popular Henderson found his final football home with the Cats in Geelong.

As Lee tells it, Henderson was ready to move on. But just a month later, his phone lit up again. But this time, the news was better.

“He talked about putting his house on the market to sure up some stuff up,” he said.

“He was going to go travelling for a bit and then a month later he said he’d been re-signed as rookie.”

A spot had suddenly opened up after ruckman Ryan Abbot signed with St.Kilda and the Cats jumped at offering him a spot on the rookie list.

Henderson now gets the opportunity to line up in his first Grand Final almost a year to the day after he and Lee sat down shared that beer, contemplating what was to come.  

If a month is a long time in football, then a year, especially in 2020, is an eternity.