Will Day opens up on Hawthorn’s finals charge, his midfield role, relationship with Jack Ginnivan and more

The critics wondered whether there was tension between Will Day and Jack Ginnivan after an emotion-charged goal celebration. The Hawks midfield star sets the record straight in wide-ranging interview.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAÉ June 28 , 2024. AFL. . Hawthorns Will Day after training . Pic: Michael Klein

He’s the young gun who has played a significant role in helping to turn Hawthorn’s season around, but Will Day insists he could sense the script turning well before he made his return from injury in round 7.

As the reigning Peter Crimmins medallist was recovering from a stress fracture in his foot suffered on day one of the club’s 2024 training return, Day took up an official’s spot on the bench in the first six weeks in order to stay connected with the team and assist the coaches.

Five losses to start the season mounted pressure on the club, but as the 23-year-old explained this week, he could sense a calmness and purpose within the playing group – and from the coaches – during that challenging start.

“I think even in those first five rounds — as sad as it was for us — we still had some positives,” Day said this week as a recharged Hawthorn prepared to take on a restocked West Coast on Sunday.

“I ended up sitting on the bench and helping with the coaching a bit.

“I was on the headset and felt like I could still contribute in some ways. We didn’t quite get the wins, but the trust was building, and so was our pressure.”

Will Day’s return has coincided with Hawthorn’s surge toward the top eight. Picture: Michael Klein

His coach Sam Mitchell calls it “the lag time of learning”, but Day revealed some difficult internal conversations and an evolving bond within the group played a part in the change.

“We had some really good, hard conversations ... We wanted to stay predictable to each other, but we needed to keep building on the trust in the group,” Day said.

The Hawks have won six of the eight games since Day has returned from injury.

In that time, the club’s midfield profile and territory game have been transformed to the point where Champion Data has dubbed it ‘the Will Day Effect’.

Since Day’s return against Sydney, the Hawks have gone from 14th to 7th in points from clearances and 15th to 11th in clearance differential.

Day handballs under pressure from Saints tagger Marcus Windhager. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Hawks skipper James Sicily said on Talking Footy this week: “Since he has come back, (Day) had two warm-up games (solid performances against Sydney and Western Bulldogs), and his last (six) have been really good for us.

“He sets the tone in there for us with his tackling and his toughness and he is really classy in the way he goes about it.

“He is only 23 and he has already won a best and fairest, he might challenge ‘Mitch’ (Sam Mitchell) for how many PCMs (Peter Crimmins Medals) he might win.”

Day’s blend of hardness and class has been invaluable since his return; so too is his depth of footy knowledge and leadership skills.

Will Day and his grandfather Robert in 2019. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens

The Hawks quietly added him to a leadership structure earlier this year which includes captain Sicily and vice captains Dylan Moore (Day’s housemate) and Luke Breust.

Sam Mitchell said this week of Day’s leadership evolution: “Will has always been someone with aspirations and I think earlier in his career he was putting the cart before the horse at different times.”

“(He) was helping some other people before having his own stuff sorted. I think this year he has matured a lot and has worked out what works best for him. That has enabled him to go and help others.

“He is not the only reason the midfield has turned around, but he has really helped with the consistency of the group.”

Will Day and Jack Ginnivan’s goal celebration that had some wondering about tension between the pair. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Day has always aspired to be a leader throughout his career which has taken him from PHOS Camden in Adelaide to Sacred Heart College and West Adelaide before being drafted to Hawthorn as pick 13 in the 2019 national draft.

“I think early in my career I probably tried a little bit too hard (in terms of his leadership) and probably wasn’t getting the results on the field that I would have liked,” he said.

“Having some time playing in the backline (early in his career), I think you need to be a voice behind everyone and that has helped me being able to transition up the ground and use it more in the midfield as well.

“I look at what ‘Sis’ (Sicily) has done, and I am trying to learn from it.

“I think in any environment whether it is footy or the workplace, you need to build good relationships first and a lot of things like honest feedback stems off the back of that.”

Day appears to be the perfect conduit between the more established Hawks and the younger core of players, as the club balances a fun, attacking, celebratory approach with the hard-edged work ethic.

“I think we’re still trying to find the right balance because we are such a young side,” he said. “It is a lot easier for people to see the joy aspect (of celebrating key moments), but we also pride ourselves on our toughness and our pressure.

“(The combination) has been a big factor as to why we are winning games now.”

Couple of highlights from Will Day v GWS for your Tuesday viewing ☕️ pic.twitter.com/LOMk4dDaqs

— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) June 11, 2024

Celebrating the moment – and the wins – is part of the Hawks’ mantra, and one of Day’s exuberant moments after a Jack Ginnivan goal in the win over Adelaide in round 12 raised a few eyebrows and created a new catchphrase from the coach.

Day was so fired up he ran up to Ginnivan, pushing and shoving him in a moment that was misrepresented as friction between the pair, which couldn’t be further from the reality.

“I think the boys know that’s how I like to celebrate ... I was very pumped up for Ginni, and people just took it the wrong way,” he said.

“I think the outside world sees the celebrations of goals, but the tackles, the spoils and the goals are celebrated all the same.”

Will Day and his grandfather Robert before Hawthorn’s Gather Round clash this year. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Mitchell dubbed the young Hawks “the Rascal Pack” after the Crows win, which was a term of endearment for the closely connected core.

Part of it has been the post-win selfie which has been a feature of this winning sequence.

Day laughs at the term, saying it extends to the entire team: “It’s funny everyone thinks we are a tight little pack, but it is pretty broad ... the whole team is really close.”

He loves working with the midfielders, having so successfully moved into the engine room last season.

“Worps (James Worpel), Nashy (Conor Nash) and Newc (Jai Newcombe) and I feel like we really complement each other,” he said.

“We have Nashy who is a bigger body and if someone gets off the chain, he is so reliable to get to them. Then Worps and Newc are such explosive and contested beasts.

“Even Cam Mackenzie has been awesome this year ... his first three steps are as hard to tackle as anyone I have seen, and we’ve got Wardy (Josh Ward) coming through the VFL.”

Hawthorn without Will Day: 1-5
Hawthorn with Will Day 6-2

The difference maker. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/mpb5TsyjVB

— HawthornZone (@hawthornzone) June 15, 2024

Day can’t thank Sam Mitchell enough for the faith he has shown the club’s next wave of midfielders, with the coach having made a tough decision to move on Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara at the end of 2022 in order to fast-track younger players.

“Sam has always had a lot of faith in our young talent,” he said. “He keeps backing guys in and letting guys express themselves as well.

“I’ve been a big benefactor of that. I’ve got my opportunity in the midfield and I’m not looking back.

“As a junior I was a midfielder and I just sort of got pushed out as the other boys got bigger, but now I have learnt a bit more craft in the backline, I feel that has helped me coming back into the midfield again.”

Will Day snaps at goal during Hawthorn’s win over Adelaide. Picture: Michael Klein

Day milks Mitchell for midfield tips as much as he can, with his coach being one of the greatest of the modern era, with a Brownlow, a Rising Star and six Peter Crimmins Medals to his name.

“(Mitchell) has come to me a few times this year with bits of vision and it is stuff that I just wouldn’t have seen,” he said.

“He has a footy brain that works like no one else. He comes up with these little niche things that will hopefully take me to the next level.

“I think around the footy I have been pretty good and in tight, but a few of the Sydney boys do some of their damage ... with their kicking and their impact on the scoreboard.

“There are a few I like to watch, but I think he (Marcus Bontempelli) would be at the head of the queue.

“He is the one I strive to be like, as a bigger bodied midfielder.

“I think on-field, when the game gets tough, he is always the one who stands up.”

'I'm just really Grateful' 🤎💛

Hear from Will Day following his first Peter Crimmins Medal 🏅 pic.twitter.com/O8BeRDorC8

— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) October 9, 2023

Day’s decision to sign a new deal last year locks him into the Hawks until the end of 2027, ending moves from the two South Australian clubs keen to coax him back to the state.

He did return to Adelaide during last week’s bye for his sister Bella’s 21st birthday, but sees Hawthorn — where his grandfather Robert, was a member of the 1971 premiership side — as his footy home.

“I remember on draft night when my name was called out, and looking at grandpa’s reaction, it was pretty special,” he said.

“Coming to the club, I see it as part of my broader family now.”

That same flag dream pushes Day on, along with his connection to his teammates, which is why he felt it was a no-brainer to recommit to the brown and gold.

But he is looking no further ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Coast – who regain Harley Reid and Tim Kelly – understanding the need to keep winning to remain in the finals hunt.

“We’ve had a good rest, but we know we haven’t been a great team off the bye,” he said.

“I think this is the first time I have been at the club where each game counts, so there is a really exciting buzz. We know it is just not going to happen ... we have to work for it. But (the prospect of finals) is a really good carrot to dangle in front of us.”

Originally published as Will Day opens up on Hawthorn’s finals charge, his midfield role, relationship with Jack Ginnivan and more