Will Day Explained

Will Day
Fullname:Will Day
Birth Date:5 June 2001
Birth Place:South Australia
Originalteam:West Adelaide (SANFL)/PHOS Camden
Draftpick:No. 13, 2019 national draft
Debutdate:Round 6, 2020
Debutstadium:Giants Stadium
Height:191 cm
Weight:83 kg
Position:Midfielder/Defender
Guernsey:12
Years1:2020–
Games Goals1:70 (13)
Statsend:round 23, 2024
Careerhighlights:

Will Day (born 5 June 2001) is a professional Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Day is the grandson of 1971 VFL Grand Final premiership player Robert Day.[1]

Early career

Will played his junior football at local club PHOS Camden. He was part of the SANFL junior development programs at Glenelg before transferring to West Adelaide, (where his grandfather had played) for better opportunities.[2] In 2019, he played for South Australia in the under-18 national championships as well as playing three reserves games.[3] He went to school at Sacred Heart College.

AFL career

Day's AFL career was initially hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a young player coming into the system, Day would normally start by playing with the Hawthorn affiliate, Box Hill Hawks, but because that competition had been suspended for the year he had to show his mettle with scratch matches against other AFL clubs.

Day made his AFL debut in Round 6, 2020, against at Giants Stadium.[4] Day received a Rising Star nomination after round 16, 2020.[5]

He had an injury-affected season in 2021. He fractured an ankle against Richmond in Round 3. He recovered in time to play in round 13 that year and played another three games for the season before having complications from his earlier injury.[6]

Day re-signed with Hawthorn until 2027 in April 2023.[7]

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 23, 2024.[8] |-| 2020 || || 30| 11 || 1 || 1 || 100 || 72 || 172 || 48 || 15 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 9.1 || 6.5 || 15.6 || 4.4 || 1.4 || 0|-| 2021 || || 12| 5 || 0 || 0 || 55 || 44 || 99 || 25 || 8 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 11.0 || 8.8 || 19.8 || 5.0 || 1.6 || 1|-| 2022 || || 12| 17 || 3 || 1 || 169 || 104 || 273 || 68 || 33 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 9.9 || 6.1 || 16.1 || 4.0 || 1.9 || 0|-| 2023 || || 12| 21 || 6 || 6 || 262 || 275 || 537 || 122 || 73 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 12.5 || 13.1 || 25.6 || 5.8 || 3.5 || 8|-| 2024 || || 12| 16 || 3 || 4 || 146 || 163 || 309 || 43 || 74 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 9.1 || 10.2 || 19.3 || 2.7 || 4.6 || |- class="sortbottom"! colspan=3| Career! 70 !! 13 !! 12 !! 733 !! 658 !! 1391 !! 306 !! 203 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 10.5 !! 9.4 !! 19.9 !! 4.4 !! 2.9 !! 9|}

Notes

Honours and achievements

Individual

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Will Day, a star on the rise. 10 September 2020. 10 September 2020.
  2. Web site: 2020-09-12 . Where there's a Will, there's a Day: How Hawks teen took control of his destiny . 2023-10-12 . afl.com.au . en.
  3. Web site: Meet the Pack – Will Day. November 2020. West Adelaide FC. 10 September 2020.
  4. Web site: MEMBER FIRST: Double debutant alert!. 9 July 2020. 10 September 2020. Hawthorn FC Media.
  5. Web site: Will Day, a star on the rise. Hawthorn FC Media. 10 September 2020. 10 September 2020.
  6. Web site: Season Snapshot: Will Day .
  7. Web site: Hawks fans' Day made as young star commits .
  8. Web site: Will Day Stats. AFL Tables. 8 July 2020.