If you were to pick out Dean Solomon’s most commonly used phrases around the NEC Hangar, there’s a good chance that repetitions of ‘hit the contest hard’, ‘impact without the ball’ and ‘seize your moments’ would rank right at the very top.

By that logic, it’s no surprise that Archer Day-Wicks has firmly held onto his spot in the starting 23 and the weekend’s win over GWS showed exactly why. 

A look at his basic statlines across the season might not highlight it but the rookie Bomber has been earning his share of plaudits around the Club for bringing a high level of intensity on the wing and more recently forward of centre. 

The 20-year-old ranks fourth at the Bombers for total tackles and fifth for pressure acts – those metrics are going a long way in the estimations of his coaches – but it was his aerial efforts which did the trick last week. 

Day-Wicks bravely went back with the flight and split a pack open in the air to set up a gamebreaking display of forward pressure from Huss El Achkar and Sully Robey, before ultimately finishing the game with ball in hand after reeling in a strong contested mark deep inside 50. 

Regardless, he’s still crediting an approach to the fundamentals and contested work as the backbone of his game and the team-wide mentality.

“’Solly’ just lets me play with freedom,” Day-Wicks said.

“What he expects from me is my contest and my physicality and to just beeline the footy, which I think I'm doing really well at the moment. 

“Off the back of that, it just lets me fly for my marks, take my moments, get shots on goal. It's great to get that confidence from your Senior Coach. 

“It's been great around the Club this week. I think it’s something we've been working towards week-on-week-on-week since he’s come in.

“It felt like a bit of a monkey off the back (to win), I suppose, but it's still the same process that Solly wants us to go through - how can we impact without the ball? How can we take our moments, bring our physical pressure, help the backs out so they're not getting it on a platter? Those are still the focuses for us.” 

Although the Bombers have been bereft of many close-game scenarios this year, the Monday-to-Friday preparation finally paid dividends as a mix of experienced leaders and youngsters stood up in unique circumstances.

Having fielded seven teenagers last week, Day-Wicks believes the exposure to a dramatic finish will be crucial to the youngsters handling similar moments in future.  

“I mean, we always train for those scenarios but we haven’t had many games to be able to do it this year,” Day-Wicks said.

“I thought ‘Lang’ led it really well, just being able to slow the game down and take precious seconds off the clock, which was really valuable. To have the ball in the hands at the end of the game was pretty cool. 

“Other than Pete and ‘Lang’ last week, I think we had all first and second-year players in the forward half - it was Farrow coming through there, Robey, Huss, Kako, and myself. 

“To all be playing a role and not just being there for the sake of it, it's special, to be honest. It just shows you what the future's going to hold.”

A quick look at the run home will tell you the Dons have their work cut out in the form of four consecutive games against top-10 sides.

For Day-Wicks, it’s just another challenge to look forward to and an opportunity to prove their process right. 

“We look at the next five or six weeks and they're all just another game to us,” Day-Wicks said. 

“GWS are a good side and we showed that we could bring it to them and beat them. I think we've got plenty of opportunity in this last month or so to really get after these sides and give ourselves a chance of winning some more games. 

“For us, it's just about sticking to the process of what ‘Solly’ wants us to do and just competing. Everything will come off the back of our contest and pressure, so we just go out there and get that done.”

The Dons front up against old rivals Hawthorn from 4:15pm AEST on Saturday.