William O. A. Hayward (born 26 October 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Sydney with their second selection and twenty-first overall, a priority draft pick, in the 2016 national draft. He made his debut against the  in the twenty-three point loss against the  at Etihad Stadium in round 2, 2017.

Hayward received the AFL Rising Star nomination for round 23 after kicking three goals in the Swans' 81-point win over  at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2022 season.

|-
| 2017 ||  || 9
| 17 || 22 || 13 || 106  || 47 || 153 || 50 || 44 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 6.2 || 2.8 || 9.0 || 2.9 || 2.6 || 0
|-
| 2018 ||  || 9
| 23 || 28 || 18 || 173 || 101 || 274 || 91 || 71 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 7.5 || 4.4 || 11.9 || 4.0 || 3.1 || 0
|-
| 2019 ||  || 9
| 13 || 12 || 16 || 89 || 58 || 147 || 43 || 35 || 0.9 || 1.2 || 6.8 || 4.5 || 11.3 || 3.3 || 2.7 || 0
|-
| 2020 ||  || 9
| 16 || 10 || 3 || 87 || 74 || 161 || 54 || 37 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 5.4 || 4.6 || 10.1 || 3.4 || 2.3 || 0
|-
| 2021 ||  || 9
| 20 || 28 || 15 || 134 || 74 || 208 || 81 || 60 || 1.4 || 0.8 || 6.7 || 3.7 || 10.4 || 4.1 || 3.0 || 2
|-
| 2022 ||  || 9
| 25 || 34 || 22 || 198 || 103 || 301 || 112 || 74 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 7.9 || 4.1 || 12.0 || 4.4 || 2.9 || 0
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3| Career
! 114 !! 134 !! 87 !! 787 !! 457 !! 1244 !! 431 !! 321 !! 1.1 !! 0.7 !! 6.9 !! 4.0 !! 10.9 !! 3.7 !! 2.8 !! 2
|}

Honours and achievements
Individual
 AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017 (round 23)

Personal life
Will Hayward was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, starting in grade 3 in 2006 and completing his final year in 2016. He has two older siblings Harry and Alice.

References

External links

 Profile at Sydney Swans

1998 births
Living people
Sydney Swans players
North Adelaide Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from South Australia
People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide