Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has praised a pair of stars following his side's upset of minor premiership Fremantle on Thursday night.
Will Day and Nick Watson were both at their electrifying best to help lift the visitors to a 32-point win which puts them into a qualifying final at the MCG.
Due to an array of injuries, Day had not featured in September but 24 disposals and 14 contested possessions on September debut and was visibly emotional post-game.
"He's so resilient, he's been through so much,” Mitchell said of Day.
"Imagine his self-doubt when he wakes up this morning, thinking, ‘I've never been on this stage. Am I going to be OK?' When most of the other boys have.
"Not just that, but to play to perform at the level that he did. He showed it more than I did, but I felt exactly the way he looked after the game."
Hawthorn Hawks and GWS Giants at University of Tasmania Stadium, on March 29, 2025, in Launceston, Australia. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
Watson, meanwhile, kicked two goals from 19 disposals and set up a fourth quarter major which slammed the door shut on a Fremantle comeback.
"Oh, he's fun to watch, isn't he?" Mitchell said.
"When he handballed it to himself and created that goal, I was thinking, ‘I'm just so glad he plays for us'.
"But I think with Nick, he handles who he is really well. He's so young and he's so recognisable. And across my career I've seen other players like that, with 'Crawf' (Shane Crawford) in my early days. Lance Franklin was like it. 'Nic Nat' (Naitanui) was like that when I was at West Coast, and now Wiz, where they're bigger than the game sometimes.
"The way he handles fans and all of that, I just got so much admiration for how he goes about it, and he's pretty unflustered by it all. I was rapt with this game. He's a star."
Mitchell also acknowledged the backline, led by skipper James Sicily, alongside Tom Barrass and Josh Battle as they kept the Dockers to just five goals.
