HAWTHORN is on track to regain star duo James Sicily and Jack Gunston in round one, but young gun Will Day could run out of time to prove his fitness ahead of the new season.
The 20-year-old has endured an injury-interrupted start to his AFL career, managing only 16 appearances since being taken at pick No.13 in the 2019 NAB AFL Draft.
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The South Australian has already flaunted his game-breaking potential across half-back in the early stages of his career, but only played five times in 2021 after fracturing his right ankle.
New Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell revealed Day's recovery has taken longer than the medical department first hoped, with time running out for a round one return against North Melbourne on March 20.
It is understood Hawthorn was looking to use Day as a midfielder this season, but his lack of pre-season could put those plans on hold for another 12 months.
"Will is probably a little bit slower than we would like. He still thinks that he'll be available for round one and he's still going to be pushing hard for that, but at this stage that's probably more unlikely than likely," Mitchell told reporters at Waverley Park on Wednesday morning.
"We'll give him every chance, but he's an important player for us right now and also for our future. Safety first with him but he's started to get back into his running, started to get back into his training. We're looking for him to have a 10- to 15-year career."
While the Hawks are likely to be without Day when they face the Kangaroos, Sicily is set to slot into the back six for the first time since he tore his anterior cruciate ligament against West Coast in round 12, 2020.
The 27-year-old has been let off the leash since the players returned from the Christmas break in January and has been one of the standouts in match simulation over the past month.
"James has been really strong. I guess he's missed 18 months, or thereabouts, but he started right at the start of pre-season," Mitchell said.
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"Pre-Christmas he was a little bit limited with some of his jumping and things like that, but we haven't taken him out of any training since Christmas. He's been a really strong performer. In what we're trying to achieve, I think he's going to be a really important player for us."
Hawthorn is set to be boosted at the other end of the ground by the return of Gunston, who featured once in 2021 due to a debilitating and complex back injury.
Mitchell, who played in three premierships with Gunston, expects the 30-year-old to play most of next Friday's practice match against Collingwood in Morwell.
"He was a little bit limited just after Christmas but in the last couple of match plays he's done the vast majority and we'd expect him to play the first four quarters against Collingwood next week," he said.
"They've been quite conservative – it's been quite a slow process – probably could have brought him in to more match play earlier. We trust the medical team. They've done a really good job in getting him back; it's quite an unusual problem that he's had. He's very hopeful and he's got a lot of confidence in his body now, which he probably lacked when he got back towards last year."
Dual Therabody AFL All-Australian Chad Wingard didn't train on Wednesday morning after tweaking his ankle but is a chance to face the Magpies next week, with minimal concerns regarding his fitness for round one.
Next Friday's game in country Victoria will include six periods of time to provide every player on the list with an opportunity to get some match practice against actual opposition ahead of Hawthorn's AAMI Community Series clash with Richmond in Tasmania next month.