Will Day

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]

Will Day
Personal information
Full name	Will Day
Date of birth	(2001-06-05) 5 June 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth	South Australia
Original team(s)	West Adelaide (SANFL)/PHOS Camden
Draft	No. 13, 2019 national draft
Debut	Round 6, 2020, Hawthorn vs. Collingwood, at Giants Stadium
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder/Defender
Club information
Current club	Hawthorn
Number	12
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2020–	Hawthorn	76 (19)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 21, 2025.
Career highlights
Peter Crimmins Medal: 2023 22Under22 team: 2023
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

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 Collingwood 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]

Day's 2025 season was marred by repetitive injuries in his foot. Despite a promising start to the season, Day suffered a bone stress injury that was initially expected to rule him out of the remaining home and away season. However, he made an early return in Round 20 against Carlton but unfortunately irritated the same foot in the round following. The injury immediately ruled out a return to the playing field in 2025.

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 21, 2025.^[8]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2020[a]	Hawthorn	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	Hawthorn	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	Hawthorn	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	Hawthorn	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	Hawthorn	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	Hawthorn	12	6	6	4	63	63	126	18	31	1.0	0.7	10.5	10.5	21.0	3.0	5.2
Career			76	19	16	796	721	1517	324	234	0.3	0.2	10.5	9.5	20.0	4.3	3.1	17

Notes

1. 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.

Honours and achievements

Team

• McClelland Trophy (Hawthorn): 2024

Individual

• Peter Crimmins Medal: 2023
• 22under22 team: 2023
• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2020