May-day: Shoulder reconstruction sidelines star Hawk until mid-season

Hawthorn will be without star midfielder Will Day until the middle of the season after he had surgery on his right shoulder on Monday night.

The 24-year-old’s recovery is estimated to take four months, meaning he will be unavailable until late May, which could sideline him until around round 12.

Day dislocated his shoulder at training last Thursday.

After consultation between specialists and the Hawks’ medical team, the club decided the 2023 best and fairest winner needed a reconstruction as it will give him his best chance of being at his best when he returns. Day had only just returned to training following a bone stress injury in his foot.

Hawthorn football manager Rob McCartney remained upbeat about Day, despite the gun onballer’s difficult run with injury in recent seasons.

“While this is unfortunate news for Will, we are pleased that the surgery was successful and that we now have a timeline to work towards for his return,” McCartney said.

“Will has already put in a mountain of work over the off-season so, while this is clearly frustrating for him, knowing the sort of person that Will is, he will continue to do everything he can to get back onto the field as soon as possible.

“As a club, we will be there to support him every step of the way.”

Day is yet to play a final with Hawthorn, having been sidelined with injury at key stages of the past two seasons. He is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the competition but managed only six matches in 2025 – just two of those after round three.

Life-saving surgery for North forward

North Melbourne forward Paul Curtis is recovering from life-saving lung surgery after making an emergency dash from a post-season holiday in Bali.

Curtis boarded a 17-hour flight from London to Bali on antibiotics prescribed in the UK when he presented at a hospital with pneumonia at the end of a holiday with Kangaroos’ teammates in October.

Due to meet with his partner, Kelera, in Bali, he arrived with his face swollen and with serious concerns about his health after the antibiotics failed to address the issue.

Seven News reported on Sunday his face and feet were swollen, and a rash covered his body when he disembarked.

Curtis contacted North Melbourne’s club doctor, Kendall Brooks, who organised for him to be assessed in Bali where he was diagnosed with empyema, a condition where pus accumulates around the lungs.

“They pretty much just said if I was anyone else, not a fit, young, healthy man, I’d be in a bit of strife,” Curtis told the Kangaroos’ website.

Brooks immediately arranged for Curtis to be medically evacuated from Bali for urgent surgery at Hollywood Private Hospital in Perth, as the condition is life-threatening.

He was operated on in Perth the morning after he arrived, spent eight days in hospital and then had to remain in Western Australia until it was safe to fly home with Brooks ensuring Curtis and his partner had appropriate care during the recovery process.

“[This was] a serious, very serious life-threatening illness and he could have died from this,” Dr Clay Colledge told 7News.

North Melbourne officials believe Curtis’ fitness and age were critical in allowing him to hang on until the operation with a litre of pus removed from his lungs.

“They cut me open, and they were just draining out all the liquid and scraping it off the side of my lungs,” Curtis said. “It was pretty scary and shout out to the doctors and physios. They were tremendous.”

The talented forward, who kicked 38 goals in 19 games in 2026 and finished 10th in the club best and fairest, is considered a chance to play in round one despite his health ordeal.

North’s rehab’s specialist Tanya Paunovic said the biggest challenge was restoring Curtis’ lung capacity as he began pre-season unable to run for longer than 30 seconds.

“He’s had a do a hell of a lot of work at his own pace to get back,” Paunovic said. “To see him back training and playing footy is pretty amazing.”

Curtis said he fought hard as he focused on recovering for his toddler, Elijah.

“I knew I had to be healthy first to obviously provide for him,” Curtis said. “I’m just so grateful for the people that helped me get back to where I am now.”

Cats players’ flying visit to Dublin for teammate’s All-Ireland club triumph

Geelong’s Mark O’Connor has achieved a boyhood dream, helping his hometown Dingle win a thrilling All-Ireland club Gaelic football final in extra time at Croke Park in Dublin.

Among the crowd of 25,392 spectators were premiership teammates Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Blicavs, Jack Henry and Cam Guthrie. The trio of current Cats made a rushed trip from Melbourne to Dublin to watch the match live.

O’Connor was granted permission to extend his stay in Ireland for the final while the Cats agreed to let the current players make the self-funded trip to be on there for the game and celebrations as long as they flew business class.

They were only expected to miss one training session, while the well-regarded O’Connor has missed about five.

The trip was worthwhile, however, as Dingle launched their trademark comeback to win the match over St Brigid’s by one point after trailing at half-time. Dingle kicked the final three scores in extra time to clinch the thriller, although there was controversy when St Brigid’s were denied a free.

An ecstatic O’Connor told SmallerFishGAA.ie he would be forever grateful to the Cats for supporting him and the club in their quest for victory.

“It feels like a dream to be honest. Looking up and seeing my Geelong teammates sitting next to my family at Croke Park in the red and white of Dingle is probably something I did not even dream of as a kid because it seemed so outrageous,” O’Connor said.

“If they weren’t the way they were I wouldn’t still be in Australia, and I am just so grateful to them.”

O’Connor said it didn’t take much convincing for the Cats to let him play in the final.

“I think the other players probably got into the ear of people around the club because they fully bought into the whole journey,” he said.

“It’s not just that they allow me … it’s like, ‘We’re loving this and we hope you want to do it’. It’s not necessarily a marketing ploy. It’s in their culture to say, ‘We care about what our players care about’.”

O’Connor’s celebrations will be curtailed when he boards a plane on Tuesday to return to Geelong, a premiership player and All-Ireland Senior Club Football championship winner.

Knee injury fears for emerging Crow

Emerging Crows star Dan Curtin suffered a dislocated kneecap at training during a wrestling drill on Monday. That was a positive diagnosis after initial fears he had suffered an ACL injury when he carried from the field on a stretcher after writhing on the ground in agony after the incident.

The 20-year-old had a breakout season in 2025 and is expected to play a key role in the Crows’ attempt to build on their 2025 season when they lost both finals after finishing the season as minor premiers. The Crows are expected to give a formal update on Curtin on Monday afternoon.

Both North Melbourne (Jackson Archer) and Carlton (Jesse Motlop) lost players to serious knee injuries last Monday.

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