Hawthorn draft pick Will Day shares premiership bloodlines at the Hawks
Brown and gold bloodlines run rich through Hawthorn’s first-round AFL draft pick Will Day. Jay Clark reports he shares a premiership lineage with the club, which hopes he can eventually fill the void left by the likes of Grant Birchall.
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Hawthorn has selected the grandson of 1971 premiership player Robert Day with its earliest pick in the AFL Draft in 13 years.
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The Hawks secured creative but lightly-built defender Will Day at pick 13 to help replace departed veteran defenders Grant Birchall and Luke Hodge.
The 187cm Day starred for West Adelaide this year with his rebound off half back.
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But Hawthorn recruiting manager Mark McKenzie was adamant the 70kg playmaker could develop into a fully-fledged utility who could play in each third of the ground at AFL level.
McKenzie said it was a “nice touch” that Will Day already had brown and gold in the blood, with his grandfather playing 38 games for Hawthorn in 1971-72.
“That’s where (pick 13) he was in our talent order,” McKenzie said.
“You have got to take the emotion out of the pick but we are rapt to have him come in and look forward to him getting started.
“He has played most of his footy at half back-wing but we see him putting some weight on and going through the midfield as well and adding some real versatility to the squad.”
Day was highly-rated for his excellent decision-making and ability to carve through traffic by hand or foot.
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McKenzie said he fit the Hawthorn mould.
“We do think he makes good decisions and we like that he can play some different positions,” McKenzie.
“But we don’t draft for next year we draft, hopefully, for the next 10 years.
“It wasn’t necessarily going for needs. Every year there are a number of players who regenerate your list when players move on.
“We look for talent and we think Will has a lot of that and we think he can thrive in our environment.”