Hawthorn club champion Will Day has undergone successful surgery on his injured collarbone following the premature end to his season.
Day missed both of the Hawks’ AFL finals matches after suffering a partial dislocation in the last round of the home-and-away campaign.
The 23-year-old pushed to return in September but needed Hawthorn to at least make the preliminary finals to be a chance of earning a recall, something that did not come to pass.
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“Not the way I imagined finishing such a fun season, and absolutely gutted I wasn’t able to be out there with my mates playing finals footy,” he wrote.
“Could not be more proud of the boys and the growth we’ve shown this year.”
Day was swiftly booked in for an operation to fix his SC joint where the collarbone is attached to the sternum, going under the knife on Friday.
“In the end my injury was a lot more complicated than first anticipated, with some potentially serious implications to my health if I was to re-injure the area,” he said.
“Can’t thank the club, doctors and high-performance team enough for the process we went through, having my wellbeing at the forefront of every decision.
“Surgery went well and now gearing up for a big pre-season. Coming for 2025.”
Day had been held out of contact training during the finals to protect his health.
In the end, the collarbone injury capped off a mixed year for Hawthorn’s reigning best-and-fairest winner.
He was forced to sit out the first six weeks of the 2024 season after a stress fracture in his foot derailed his pre-season.
Day was one of multiple Hawks players to finish the year under an injury cloud.
Hawthorn captain James Sicily endured two shoulder dislocations and is set to undergo surgery in the off-season.
Veteran defender Sam Frost played every game this year but then missed the semi-final when he was diagnosed with bone stress in his foot.
“It’s heartbreaking for us,” ruckman Lloyd Meek said in the lead-up.
“We’re a tight-knit group, and he’s played such a huge role for us this year.”
Like Day, young gun Cam Mackenzie missed both finals when he suffered an ill-timed hamstring injury.
