Gone: nothing, nada, kaput.

"I couldn't feel my toes or bend my ankle or anything," the gun five-eighth said.

Khalfan sat on the ground for about 30 seconds, convinced he'd done serious damage after trying to make a tackle.

"I thought I'd broken my leg in terms of numbness and shock," he said.

"I had a look and there was no break or change in bone structure and saw the cut and thought 'it's a bit strange'."

The cut, only a few inches long, came from a stay Eagles boot and cut into his calf and did damage to his nerve, and while relieved he hadn't broken anything Khalfan's mind was already racing.

"I was thinking I'd definitely be out next week and it was just after half-time and we had a pretty convincing lead so the mind had already gone to the next game," he said.

Khalfan couldn't feel his foot for 15 or 20 minutes but remarkably will run out on Saturday for the Emus' sixth big dance in the top grade in a row.

"I was really, really fortunate to come away and be cleared to play," he admitted, recounting stitches, visits to the team doctor and an exceptional 24 hours of recovery to be given the all-clear on Sunday night.

And boy is he glad.

The five-eighth is keen as a bean to line up in his first grand final in his debut year at the club, and is expecting a massive sea of green in the grandstand despite the trip to Bathurst.

"I'm unbelievably excited, it should be a great day out - especially with four senior codes out there and hopefully a really healthy crowd," he said.

Khalfan is no stranger to grand final success - he was with Harden to claim victory against Grenfell in 2018 and has a few other big wins under his belt in his time.

"I've got a good history with grand final and getting the results," he said.

"Let's hope we can add one more."

The Blowes Clothing Cup first grade grand final begins a 3.15pm at Ashwood Park.