Perth: Will Day’s emotions were not the same as his teammates after the Hawks claimed the first sport in this year’s preliminary finals with their brilliant win over Fremantle.
He was in tears in a post-match interview, and then hugged his mum, Monique, and dad, Julian, in the Optus Stadium rooms with as much vigour as any of the 57 fierce tackles the Hawks had laid during the pressure-packed win, 5.10 (40) to 10.12 (72).
After missing the past two finals series through injury, he had finally made it to the line for his first final.
Sam Mitchell knew how big a moment it was for the 25-year-old, saying post-game he could only imagine how he must have felt when he woke up on Thursday morning with the match just hours away.
Day decided there was only one way for him to attack what was ahead of him.
“I just stripped back all the pressure, [and] took off all the expectation,” Day said. “I knew just by being out there I was going to help the team, so I did not want to try to do too much.”
As he spoke, the emotion welled in his eyes again as familiar faces in the rooms loomed in his vision.
“I just keep locking eyes with a lot of people that have helped me so much … they are happy tears,” he said.
Happy tears were everywhere for Hawks fans who have ridden Day’s journey, ruing his absence through injury in their past two finals series when they seemed a midfielder short.
After missing out on securing Essendon skipper Zach Merrett through the trade period, they then had their summer ruined by the sight of Day leaving the track with a shoulder injury in early January.
The optimism most Hawks fans carry as though it’s a birth right suddenly slipped.
To make matters worse, Day, himself, was quite reasonably wondering how his shoulder had become as pear-shaped as his career.
“[I was] pretty defeated. The last two finals series, especially last year losing the preliminary final, you feel so helpless, you just want to be out there and help,” Day said.
“It was tough early [this year], but you just have to switch to a positive outlook. It was very tough and very much easier said than done, but you just have to hope for a time like this, and it has been so worth it.”
Against the Dockers, he was more than just out there helping.
With James Sicily putting on a masterclass down back with a best-on-ground performance alongside his defensive allies Josh Battle, Blake Hardwick and Tom Barrass (who all dominated their opponents), the scene was set for Day to break open the game.
When the Dockers threatened to charge with minutes remaining in the third quarter, Day won two critical possessions that helped Nick Watson to deliver the settler.
Watson, Dylan Moore and Jack Ginnivan rattled the Dockers’ defence with their pressure from the start, while the Hawks surprised the Dockers by pushing Jack Gunston high and leaving Mabior Chol deep.
There was nothing Hollywood about the Hawks this time around. Instead, they produced a low-budget, no frills classic.
Day finished the match with 24 disposals and eight centre clearances to show why he was so missed in September.
Mitchell hugged him post-match. He knew what his midfield star had overcome to be there with his mates, one match away from being in a grand final.
“He showed it a lot more than I did, but I felt exactly how he looked after the game,” Mitchell said.
The contrast with Justin Longmuir could not have been more stark as the Dockers coach attempted to rally his demoralised team after their first loss at home for the season.
“It’s not the way we wanted it to go [tonight], but we are not dead and buried,” he said.
The Dockers could do worse than look to the way Day responded to his January jolt for inspiration.
Because, to adapt a line from Mike Brady’s One Day in September, the resilient Hawks midfielder is finally seeing “the joy that hard work brings”.
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