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Will Day

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Will Day

| image =

| image_size = 200px

| caption =

| fullname = Will Day

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|06|05|df=yes}}

| birth_place = South Australia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| originalteam = West Adelaide (SANFL)/PHOS Camden

| draftpick = No. 13, 2019 national draft

| debutdate = Round 6, 2020

| debutteam = {{AFL Haw}}

| debutopponent = {{AFL Col}}

| debutstadium = Giants Stadium

| height = 191 cm

| weight = 83 kg

| position = Midfielder/Defender

| currentclub = {{AFL Haw}}

| guernsey = 12

| years1 = 2020–

| club1 = {{AFL Haw}}

| games_goals1 = 74 (18)

| statsend = round 3, 2025

| 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.{{cite web|title=Will Day, a star on the rise|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/266340/make-my-day-hawks-cut-the-dialogue-before-stunning-call|date=10 September 2020|access-date=10 September 2020}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2020-09-12 |title=Where there's a Will, there's a Day: How Hawks teen took control of his destiny |url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/499186/where-theres-a-will-theres-a-day-how-new-hawk-took-control-of-his-destiny |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=afl.com.au |language=en}} In 2019, he played for South Australia in the under-18 national championships as well as playing three reserves games.{{cite web|title=Meet the Pack – Will Day|date=November 2020|url=https://westadelaidefc.com.au/news/meet-the-pack-will-day/|work=West Adelaide FC|access-date=10 September 2020}} 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 {{AFL Col}} at Giants Stadium.{{cite web|title=MEMBER FIRST: Double debutant alert!|url=https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/740056|date=9 July 2020|access-date=10 September 2020|work=Hawthorn FC Media}}

Day received a Rising Star nomination after round 16, 2020.{{cite web|title=Will Day, a star on the rise|url=https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/810422/will-day-a-star-on-the-rise|work=Hawthorn FC Media|date=10 September 2020|access-date=10 September 2020}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/1011661/season-snapshot-will-day | title=Season Snapshot: Will Day }}

Day re-signed with Hawthorn until 2027 in April 2023.{{cite web | url=https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/1301919/hawks-fans-day-made-as-young-star-commits | title=Hawks fans' Day made as young star commits }}

Statistics

Updated to the end of opening round, 2025.{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/W/Will_Day.html|title=Will Day Stats|work=AFL Tables|access-date=8 July 2020}}

{{Australian rules football statistics legend}}

{{AFL player statistics start with votes}}

|-

| 2020{{efn|The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.}} || {{AFL Haw}} || 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 || {{AFL Haw}} || 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 || {{AFL Haw}} || 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 || {{AFL Haw}} || 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 || {{AFL Haw}} || 12

| 16 || 3 || 4 || 146 || 163 || 309 || 43 || 74 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 9.1 || 10.2 || 19.3 || 2.7 || 4.6 || 8

|-

| 2025 || {{AFL Haw}} || 12

| 1 || 3 || 0 || 17 || 9 || 26 || 4 || 6 || 3.0 || 0.0 || 17.0 || 9.0 || 26.0 || 4.0 || 6.0 ||

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 71 !! 16 !! 12 !! 750 !! 667 !! 1417 !! 310 !! 209 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 10.6 !! 9.4 !! 20.0 !! 4.4 !! 2.9 !! 17

|}

Notes

{{notelist}}

Honours and achievements

Hawthorn

Individual

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{hawplayer}}
  • {{AFL Tables|ref=W/Will_Day.html}}
  • {{AustralianFootball}}

{{Hawthorn player squad}}

{{Peter Crimmins Medal}}

{{2020 AFL Rising Star nominees}}

{{2019 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Will}}

Category:Living people

Category:2001 births

Category:West Adelaide Football Club players

Category:Box Hill Football Club players

Category:Hawthorn Football Club players

Category:Peter Crimmins Medal winners

Category:People educated at Sacred Heart College (Adelaide)

Category:Australian rules footballers from South Australia

Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen