HAWTHORN star Will Day is set to return to full-contact training by the Christmas break, following off-season collarbone surgery to repair the complex injury he suffered in August.
The 2023 Peter Crimmins medallist underwent surgery in September after the Hawks' three-point semi-final loss to Port Adelaide, ending his pursuit of a late finals return, which was always considered a long shot by the medical department.
When the surgeon operated on Day, it became apparent the injury was more complicated than first thought, with his windpipe and major blood vessels in the surrounding areas at risk if another knock occurred.
Since returning from trips to the United States and New Zealand, where he spent time training in both countries, Day has made an eye-catching start to pre-season at Waverley Park.
The 23-year-old completed some contact training to the side of training during Thursday morning's session and will integrate into full training in the coming fortnight.
Day endured a challenging 2024, missing the first six rounds of the season after a stress fracture was discovered in his foot in January, before watching from the sidelines during the final round and then throughout Hawthorn's first finals series since 2018.
Small forward Sam Butler has made a strong early impression this pre-season after missing most of last season due to the horrific leg break he suffered at the end of April.
The 21-year-old played rounds four and five before being dropped to the VFL, where he broke both the fibula and tibia bones against Sydney at Box Hill City Oval, in an incident that resulted in the quarter running for 66 minutes.
Butler was one of the standouts in the six-minute run test a fortnight ago and will fight for a spot in a stacked forward line, alongside Dylan Moore, Jack Ginnivan, Nick Watson, Connor Macdonald and Luke Breust.
Breust was forced to deal with a lingering groin issue across 2024 before inking a one-year extension in September. The triple premiership great was on the track on Thursday and will follow a modified program this side of 2025.
Captain James Sicily is also on an individual program after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction in October to repair the injury that he carried across the season.
The All-Australian defender has been mainly confined to running with Mitch Lewis and James Blanck since reporting back for training last month, but will be let off the leash in January if things continue to go to plan.
Ned Reeves was restricted to four senior appearances around nine games for Box Hill, but has overcome the nagging back issue that limited his output in 2024. The ruckman went head-to-head with Lloyd Meek on Thursday and appears up for a fight across the summer after losing the No.1 ruck mantle to the former Docker.
Hawthorn trained for more than two hours in 30-degree heat on Thursday, but one block stood out more than anything else. For more than five minutes, a full-ground drill was run in complete silence akin to a long tennis rally. When assistant coach David Hale blew the whistle, the same drill was run with the volume turned up.
After recovering from a 0-5 start to 2024 to win a final for the first time in nine years, the Hawks will be hoping to turn up the volume again in 2025.
