Will Day has not yet played 60 AFL games but is already being hailed as an on-field mentor by Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.
The 22-year-old is back to causing trouble for his opposition in the midfield after missing out on the opening six rounds of the season with a stress fracture to his foot.
Having returned to the AFL stage in round seven against Sydney, star ball-winner Day has helped launch the Hawks to four wins in their past six games ahead of Saturday's tricky assignment against Adelaide at the MCG.
The club's reigning best-and-fairest winner comes into the game after slotting a goal and notching 26 disposals in the Hawks' 25-point win over Brisbane.
He shapes as an important cog in Mitchell's plans to get on top of the Crows in the crucial midfield battle.
"Having Will back, he's just one more player that helps us with being able to control the narrative of the game," Mitchell said.
"Sometimes you miss the player himself, sometimes you miss the peripheral stuff that he does.
"His vision and understanding where other players need to be, his communication on the field is first class.
"He's a bit like a coach out there for us."
A blockbuster match-up between Day and Crows midfield bull Jordan Dawson could be on the cards, after Mitchell opted out of deploying Finn Maginness as a tagger.
Boasting an average of 25 disposals and five marks a game this season, the Crows captain's quality was on full display against West Coast last time out.
Dawson stunned the Eagles with two goals and 32 touches in their 99-point win.
Maginness held the All-Australian midfielder to 15 disposals and one mark in their round-17 clash last season, but has been named as one of the emergency players ahead of the weekend clash.
"Jordan Dawson is as important to Adelaide as any player is to their team in the whole competition," Mitchell said.
"His ability to take a game away from the opposition - you saw it in the first quarter (against West Coast) last week.
"He's going to be a massive player for them and we're going to need to curtail him."
Hawthorn will also be celebrating three-time club premiership player Jack Gunston's 250th game when they host Adelaide.
