Will Day’s return will not “fix every problem” the Hawks are facing, according to Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell, who also suggested the star player play more defence.
Day will make his season debut on Sunday at the MCG against Sydney, having missed January’s match due to a stress fracture in his foot.
As he developed his conditioning, Mitchell said the defending best and fairest would get “slightly less game time” against the Swans, with no limitations placed on him by the medical staff.
With the Hawks ranked 18th in terms of total centre clearances in their 1-5 season opener, the coach cautioned supporters not to hold out hope that his return will instantly alleviate Hawthorn’s midfield woes.
“We’re excited to have him out there; he’ll just give us a little something different around the middle of the ground,” Mitchell remarked on Friday. “He’ll come back into the side.”
Since he’s still young and hasn’t played a lot of football, it’s unlikely that he will be the solution to every issue we’ve encountered this season.
“Everyone will be happy to see him back on the pitch, but I think it’s important that he gets back out there and starts to find his feet again.”
Mitchell stated that Day, who began his AFL career at halfback, would probably alternate between a defensive and midfield role.
According to medical advice, he can play wherever we think is most appropriate. He has spent most of his training time in the midfield, but we know that he has likely played more defence as well, so expect to see him in both positions, Mitchell added.
“He’ll most likely play a little less during the game. However, he is capable of playing the entire 100 minutes or so in the event that we suffer an injury.
After suffering a crushing loss to Gold Coast the previous week, the coach stated that he wanted Hawthorn to keep the “chip on the shoulder” going into the match against North Melbourne.
He said that while star forward Mitch Lewis underwent a fitness test at Waverley Park in an attempt to recover from a knee complaint, the emphasis was on keeping up the intense training intensity of the previous week.
Mitchell remarked, “I think Mitch has a few things to tick off; if he makes it through training, he’ll be available for selection.”
Mitchell expressed his “enormous pride” in his dual premiership-winning teammate Lance Franklin’s planned return to the MCG on Sunday to receive a formal send-off from Hawthorn supporters.
He expressed his hope that Franklin would address the Hawks players prior to the game.
Even if they are only going to be spectators, Mitchell stated, “I think everyone is pretty excited when Lance Franklin is coming to the MCG.”
“It’s great to have Bud back. He was my personal teammate during the Premiership, and we spent a lot of time together. I enjoyed watching everything he accomplished, both on and off the pitch.
“I’m incredibly proud of him for returning to the game and the MCG.
“I won’t go into too much detail about how we’ll use him; I believe he’s always been pretty private in that regard, but our playing group will benefit greatly from any access and any efforts we can make to honour Bud’s legacy.”
