Played any role in the initial stages (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
early on
'the initial stages' is the definition.
'played any role' is the wordplay.
'played' indicates an anagram.
'any'+'role'='anyrole'
'anyrole' is an anagram of 'EARLY ON'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for early on that I've seen before include "In the first stages" , "near the start" , "Ere much time passed" , "right at the start" , "Before much time has elapsed" .)