Willing to study finale of play (5)
I believe the answer is:
ready
'willing' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'study finale of play' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'read' (synonyms).
'finale of' says to take the final letters.
The final letter of 'play' is 'y'.
'read'+'y'='READY'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ready that I've seen before include "All set to go" , "At hand" , "Primed" , "bread" , "Waiting" .)