Hawthorn has been dealt a major late-season blow, with star midfielder Will Day — arguably the club’s best and most important player — ruled out for the rest of 2025 with a bone stress injury.

Day returned to Melbourne in a moon boot after the same left foot that required surgery earlier this season was stomped on in the Hawks’ 14-point loss to Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

Precautionary scans on Saturday confirmed a bone stress in Day’s troublesome navicular in a brutal season-ending blow just a week after the 24-year old returned from a four-month layoff.

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“We know Will has put in a mountain of work to get back to playing, and indeed performing, at the elite level, and we are really disappointed for him,” Hawks footy boss Rob McCartney said.

“The club’s medical and high performance team have taken extra precautions with Will throughout his rehabilitation this year. This included very closely managing his workload and consulting external specialists both in Victoria and interstate to help guide his return to play timeline.

“Will is an outstanding person who has showcased an incredible amount of resilience, and we know he will engage his rehab with the same attitude.

“As a club, we will obviously support Will throughout every stage of his rehabilitation and wrap our arms around him as he navigates this tough period.”

Day returned to Melbourne in a moon boot (Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui)Source: News Corp Australia

It’s a disaster for Hawthorn as the club fights for to hold its spot in the top eight ahead of clashes with Collingwood, Melbourne (both MCG) and Brisbane (Gabba) to finish its home and away campaign.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell was initially unable to provide a concrete update on Day, who last week returned for his first game since Round 3 due to a navicular injury.

“Not sure. I figured I’d get asked about it, so I deliberately didn’t talk to the medical guys, because I don’t have an answer yet,” Mitchell said after the game.

“He was cramping, he had ice on most parts of his lower body, as plenty of players do. Unsure just yet.”

It came after a controversial moment late in Thursday night’s game as play was stopped to allow Day to exit the match due to cramp — not his foot injury — despite being away from the play while the Hawks were trailing by 14 points.

There’s confusion towards the injured player rule after play was stopped late in Friday night’s classic to allow a cramping Will Day to exit the field.Source: FOX SPORTS

It was met with immediate criticism from Fox Footy commentators, with Hawks legend Jason Dunstall declaring “you can’t stop the game for cramp” and “there’s something wrong with that rule.”

Demons great Garry Lyon added “that’s not on” and “is open to manipulation all day long”.

“It’s not Will Day’s fault,” Lyon said. “It’s the umpire who should’ve identified: ‘No, you’ve got a cramp, get out of the road and get on with it’.”

While it didn’t affect the outcome of the game as the Crows held on to win, it shines a light on the rules around stopping play for injured players.

The AFL this season introduced new rules to assist clubs in removing players from the field who suffer head knocks as the league focuses concussion management, while umpires are also instructed to stop play if a player is injured in the vicinity of play.

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However Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph clarified instances like Friday night should prompt a please explain from the AFL, suggesting Melbourne could’ve manipulated the rules to thwart St Kilda’s epic comeback last week.

“Add another one to Greg Swann’s hit list, he absolutely needs to clarify the injured player rule before this costs a club a final,” Ralph said on Fox Footy’s post-match coverage.

“Umpires under the rules are told to stop play if the player is injured within a kick of play.

“It’s not supposed to be used for concerns like cramp, according to the AFL’s umpires boss Steve McBurney.

“This is the drama of, it’s so easy to fake a cramp. Imagine last week if Max Gawn was smart enough in those last eight seconds to drop to the ground with a cramp and give his team 40 seconds to work through how to defend that 6-6-6 breach.”

Lyon doubled down on his criticism of the Day situation post-match and believes Swann and the AFL need to immediately clear up the rules around when umpires are allowed to send injured players off the field.

“Knock that on the head straight away. Let’s treat head knocks with the seriousness they need. But if it’s a tap on the ankle or a sore knee, bounce it and away you go,” he said post-match.

“(The Day incident) is 40-55m off the play. This doesn’t stop the game.”