MAX BAILEY listened to his voicemail messages and his heart sank. 

It was mid-July and Richmond's VFL side – where he was a development coach – was celebrating a hard-fought win over Port Melbourne at Punt Road. 

But Bailey had just been flattened by the news his good friend and ex-Hawthorn teammate Alex Woodward had ruptured his ACL in his right knee for the third time.

"I got on my phone (after the game) and had all these missed calls and obviously found out what had happened," Bailey told AFL.com.au.

"So I caught up with him for a beer later that night. He wasn't in a good way, which was pretty understandable.

"He found it really hard at the start because he'd been playing some good footy – he was frustrated he wasn't in the seniors – and felt like he was close to breaking in. 

"So he was really frustrated and flat to begin with and found it difficult to deal with, but he's only 22 and he's got a good head on his shoulders. 

"He's handling it really well now … coming from a pretty flat spot, obviously."

In the form of his life and hovering on the fringes at Hawthorn hoping to add to his two senior games, it had appeared as though Woodward's shocking run of bad luck was behind him.

A year earlier he had bounced back from his second knee reco to be the dominant force in Box Hill's midfield, with his blend of pace, skill and toughness seeing him crowned as the VFL's best player.

Woodward carried that form into 2015, but disaster struck just minutes into a clash against Coburg when his leg buckled in a seemingly innocuous incident. 

Naturally, he turned to Bailey straight away.

The pair had grown so close during rehab together in 2012 that Woodward gratefully took ownership of wearing his ex-teammate's No.39 jumper once the ruckman retired.

And if anyone understood what Woodward was going through it was Bailey, who fought his way back from three knee recos to become the feel-good story of Hawthorn's 2013 premiership triumph in his final AFL game. 

Max Bailey (top right) celebrates Hawthorn's 2013 premiership with his teammates. Picture: AFL Media

What helped Bailey during his dark moments was just having a friend to turn to for a chat – about anything bar his latest injury setback.

"I know what Alex found really difficult was his relationships at the club," Bailey said. 

"Players didn't really know what to say to him when they'd go past him and that happened with me too. It can get awkward because guys don't really know what to say to you. 

"So it was probably more just having other things to talk about – as simple as it is – not talking about 'How's your knee?' every time you see the guy.

"At the end of the day, when you're in rehab as long as he's been, you're just craving that being part of the team and being out on the field with the guys. So just feeling like you're part of it still is a big thing. 

"So with him I just try and talk about other stuff and if he's got things he wants to ask me, I kind of leave that up to him."

Alex Woodward celebrates victory over the Swans in his debut game. Picture: AFL Media

While Bailey had been there before, Woodward could also relate to current Geelong forward Daniel Menzel and Fremantle midfielder Anthony Morabito.

The trio have shared the rollercoaster rides of overcoming multiple knee reconstructions and helped each other through the different stages of their recoveries.

After nearly four years out of the game, Menzel made a heartwarming comeback in round 22 last season when he lit up the MCG with a four-goal haul.

It was a more frustrating season for Morabito, who failed to build on his much-feted three-game return in 2014 due to ongoing knee soreness.

However, Fremantle remains committed to the 24-year-old who, like Woodward, was delisted by his club and re-drafted as a rookie.

"I was glad the Hawks stuck with him too," Bailey said.

"I got very well looked after by them, but they're just a good club like that – they look after their own."

Woodward started running again in November and the 181cm midfielder has a steely determination to share in the Hawks' era of success.

After his latest setback, Woodward tweeted a picture with the phrase: "The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph", and Bailey has no doubt his close mate will stop at nothing to play AFL again.

"I think it's always been that way for him because he's a shorter guy and he's always been fighting to make it to where he has," Bailey said. 

"He's just been able to do that and then the next thing happens, so he's built up that resilience – which is such a good trait to have. 

"Whether he gets there in 10 years or two years in the AFL, it's going to make him a better person for it."