Toast Welcome to Hawthorn, Finn Maginness “absolute Hawthorn nuffie” and a Hawk to 2025

[Howe Amazing]

I think we are missing his defensive running as he always seemed to be there to help out but he always seemed to be up forward as well

 

[Dewyyyyy]

I think we are missing his defensive running as he always seemed to be there to help out but he always seemed to be up forward as well

He's probably the best athlete on our list.

He's 190cm, really strong, workrate and then you get to it he runs all game, he's quick and explosive. Doesn't matter if it's a quick 1km, 2km time or if it's him running 16km in a game he does it all and he does it at supreme effort.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

My boy Finn Maginness

 

[RobHawk]

Finn does not seem to be injury prone unlike many of his teamates. We need more of these durable types.
Also his upward trajectory has only begun.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

The best thing about Finn is that he won't die wondering.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

It is kind of baffling given his best highlights tend to be winning in congestion and distributing it out. He obviously has some assets for a wingman role but we could really use a big mid that can tackle and win contests. We have Nash and duke but one more would be nice, especially a positionally versatile one like Finn.

you have to imagine theyre giving him the wing role so he can learn AFL-level running patterns and really exploit his greatest strength if/when he transitions into the contest

inside mids hate nothing more than being accountable two-ways. super exploitable for someone with Finn's running power.

i might be way off the mark but that's my best guess

 

[James Buchanan]

It is kind of baffling given his best highlights tend to be winning in congestion and distributing it out. He obviously has some assets for a wingman role but we could really use a big mid that can tackle and win contests. We have Nash and duke but one more would be nice, especially a positionally versatile one like Finn.

I think your answer is found towards the end of that video analysis by Robert Harvey of Finn that Strapping Young Lad posted above.

Harvey was saying that that Finn is working on his decision making, which is pretty much the critical element for an inside mid. Once he starts getting that to the standard they are looking for, you'd think he'll see more midfield minutes.

 

[Brishawk]

I think your answer is found towards the end of that video analysis by Robert Harvey of Finn that Strapping Young Lad posted above.

Harvey was saying that that Finn is working on his decision making, which is pretty much the critical element for an inside mid. Once he starts getting that to the standard they are looking for, you'd think he'll see more midfield minutes.

A bit hard to develop your decision making as an inside mid when you are playing wing. Very different kinds of decisions.

 

[HedgeFund]

Not nimble enough

Exactly.

Finn at 21, with 2 interrupted seasons, lacks foot speed to add to our treacle like inside midfield BUT:

1. He’s our best gut runner and happy to play a defensive wing role, which we clearly need

2. Proper running development (with a quality running athlete like him) can find the extra toe required to play inside mid in the years to come.

3. In the good old days (2008 - 2015) we had a midfield capable of rotating from wing to inside mid to forward. THATs what I see Sam aiming to do with this group - more flexibility with 10 players rolling though 7-8 onfield positions.

4. At the moment Finns best suited to wing and perhaps a bit inside mid. Needs to work in forward craft and inside mid decision making during the off-season

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

Exactly.

Finn at 21, with 2 interrupted seasons, lacks foot speed to add to our treacle like inside midfield BUT:

1. He’s our best gut runner and happy to play a defensive wing role, which we clearly need

2. Proper running development (with a quality running athlete like him) can find the extra toe required to play inside mid in the years to come.

3. In the good old days (2008 - 2015) we had a midfield capable of rotating from wing to inside mid to forward. THATs what I see Sam aiming to do with this group - more flexibility with 10 players rolling though 7-8 onfield positions.

4. At the moment Finns best suited to wing and perhaps a bit inside mid. Needs to work in forward craft and inside mid decision making during the off-season

disagree on the foot speed.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Exactly.

Finn at 21, with 2 interrupted seasons, lacks foot speed to add to our treacle like inside midfield BUT:

1. He’s our best gut runner and happy to play a defensive wing role, which we clearly need

2. Proper running development (with a quality running athlete like him) can find the extra toe required to play inside mid in the years to come.

3. In the good old days (2008 - 2015) we had a midfield capable of rotating from wing to inside mid to forward. THATs what I see Sam aiming to do with this group - more flexibility with 10 players rolling though 7-8 onfield positions.

4. At the moment Finns best suited to wing and perhaps a bit inside mid. Needs to work in forward craft and inside mid decision making during the off-season

The bloke was talking about Howes lack of foot speed pretty sure. Because saying Finn lacks it is just wrong.

Finn is one of the fastest blokes on our list. He’s explosive but also holding a top speed over a good distance which is why he’s so athletically elite to mix with his endurance.

 

[play2win]

Foot speed or light feet inside the contest i think is what is being referred too

 

[HedgeFund]

Foot speed or light feet inside the contest i think is what is being referred too

Correct. Light feet in traffic.

I’m not saying Finn isn’t quick once he gets rolling on the outside, but he has room for improvement with the first 1 - 3 steps once he gets the ball.

He also lacks the ability to use lateral speed. That can be worked on for sure.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Foot speed or light feet inside the contest i think is what is being referred too

Both wrong.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Correct. Light feet in traffic.

I’m not saying Finn isn’t quick once he gets rolling on the outside, but he has room for improvement with the first 1 - 3 steps once he gets the ball.

He also lacks the ability to use lateral speed. That can be worked on for sure.

He's explosive and quick, there's nothing or no one you're gonna convince otherwise. Doesn't matter if it's him in his first few steps or his lateral movement or his overall top speed and over distance.

He's quick but he's also strong and an elite endurance runner. Physically, he's elite.

His improvements come from reading the game, although he's playing on the wing not because he's not a good inside mid, it's because he needs to learn parts of the game to then make him capable of being a "star" or "superstar" level mid.

His hands in tight, contested and contest ability in finding the pill and being clean with it, holding up in tackles and being strong, explosive and ability inside is very good, it'll probably improve to an elite level.

It's the, spread, decision making, play reading and ability to use his running strength on the outside he's working on both as a defender to start and now on a wing.

He's become very good at spreading, running both ways and being at every contest while still being explosive and quick. The next step is just constantly playing and then moving into the middle where he'll naturally learn to read the ball better, both how it moves in space or in tight but also off hands and setting up at stoppages/centre clearance.

But also how quickly he can do all that, aka fast of mind.

The main one is his ball use and for me mainly his ball drop, it looks quite awkward but unlike other poor kicks he's gonna be physically able to kick the ball distance so then improving his ball drop will give him more confidence but also general ability to use his pace and be the xfactor that he physically could do.

Jaeger had similar issues with his ball drop from what i've noticed and has only gotten better over time, especially this off-season he worked closely on it and i've seen plenty of improvement in his kicking and kicking inside 50.

 

[HedgeFund]

He's explosive and quick, there's nothing or no one you're gonna convince otherwise. Doesn't matter if it's him in his first few steps or his lateral movement or his overall top speed and over distance.

He's quick but he's also strong and an elite endurance runner. Physically, he's elite.

His improvements come from reading the game, although he's playing on the wing not because he's not a good inside mid, it's because he needs to learn parts of the game to then make him capable of being a "star" or "superstar" level mid.

His hands in tight, contested and contest ability in finding the pill and being clean with it, holding up in tackles and being strong, explosive and ability inside is very good, it'll probably improve to an elite level.

It's the, spread, decision making, play reading and ability to use his running strength on the outside he's working on both as a defender to start and now on a wing.

He's become very good at spreading, running both ways and being at every contest while still being explosive and quick. The next step is just constantly playing and then moving into the middle where he'll naturally learn to read the ball better, both how it moves in space or in tight but also off hands and setting up at stoppages/centre clearance.

But also how quickly he can do all that, aka fast of mind.

The main one is his ball use and for me mainly his ball drop, it looks quite awkward but unlike other poor kicks he's gonna be physically able to kick the ball distance so then improving his ball drop will give him more confidence but also general ability to use his pace and be the xfactor that he physically could do.

Jaeger had similar issues with his ball drop from what i've noticed and has only gotten better over time, especially this off-season he worked closely on it and i've seen plenty of improvement in his kicking and kicking inside 50.

Righto - so basically he’s the best inside and outside athlete in the competition and if he could fix up his kicking he’d be an AA mid.

I think he’s a great endurance runner and has good speed after his first 3-4 steps to wind up. He’s got average spatial awareness inside which is why he’s getting caught a bit and fumbling in the contest at VFL level.

You’re seeing a different calibre of player to most of us at the moment. (including the coaching staff it would seem), but that’s okay. We can agree to disagree.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Righto - so basically he’s the best inside and outside athlete in the competition and if he could fix up his kicking he’d be an AA mid.

I think he’s a great endurance runner and has good speed after his first 3-4 steps to wind up. He’s got average spatial awareness inside which is why he’s getting caught a bit and fumbling in the contest at VFL level.

You’re seeing a different calibre of player to most of us at the moment. (including the coaching staff it would seem), but that’s okay. We can agree to disagree.

He has barely played at the "contest" in the VFL. He's played as a wing and his best game was when he was on the wing, tho this was because it was a congested game and he was getting into contest and extracted the ball, he was getting the ball and exploding away and was using the ball well by hand, even hit a few really nice kicks.

And no that's not what i was talking about at all, there's alot of little things he can improve which are pretty key for his role in the future, the fact is he's playing out of his natural position so people can't expect him to play at the highest standard that he could at this stage.

I am not seeing a different calibre of player. And neither are the coaching staff. If they wanted him to play inside to do what he does best, how is that gonna improve him as a player? They're playing him out of position to get him to learn which translates back to his natural position. Once it gets to a point where he has really started to learn to a high level in his current wing role, he'll go back to a midfielder.

It's quite smart actually.

 

[KermitJagger]

Correct. Light feet in traffic.

I’m not saying Finn isn’t quick once he gets rolling on the outside, but he has room for improvement with the first 1 - 3 steps once he gets the ball.

He also lacks the ability to use lateral speed. That can be worked on for sure.

Loathe to agree with Dom but he certainly doesn't lack for anything related to leg or foot speed. Decision making is the difference.

Sam Mitchell certainly wasn't a quick player, but he got separation in the contest because his decision making was better. Gaz Jr similar, not quick but when you've already taken 3 steps before your opponent has realised what's going on you have an advantage.

These things are difficult to develop.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Loathe to agree with Dom but he certainly doesn't lack for anything related to leg or foot speed. Decision making is the difference.

Sam Mitchell certainly wasn't a quick player, but he got separation in the contest because his decision making was better. Gaz Jr similar, not quick but when you've already taken 3 steps before your opponent has realised what's going on you have an advantage.

These things are difficult to develop.

Gaz Jr was an explosive beast for his first few steps to be fair, but yeah look at a bloke like Sam Walsh. It's not only decision making with ball in hand, but with where you position yourself but also how quickly you do it. If you're first to react, first to make the correct decision and read the game better you're gonna be there first no matter if you're slower or quicker. This is why Finn is on a wing, you can see the game better and he'll improve that which then improves his overall game and in particular his natural midfield position.

 

[Rudi Gilham]

Gives me Sam Menegola

27

Sam Menegola

Age

32

Ht

189cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.6

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

9.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.4

3star

CL

1.7

4star

D

19.6

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

9.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.4

2star

CL

1.7

4star

D

18.4

5star

K

9.0

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.8

4star

CL

1.8

4star

vibes at times.

 

[play2win]

Both wrong.

you may disagree with HedgeFund but I am not wrong, I was just pointing out the different context in which foot speed was being applied. Nevertheless, you may still be ignoring the point though, Finn doesn’t have great lateral speed or agility which is a trait we have looked for in our inside mids. Whilst he didn’t work out, this trait was one of the reasons we drafted Lovell.
fwiw, I‘m a big admirer of Finn and think he will be quite the player in years to come.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

you may disagree with HedgeFund but I am not wrong, I was just pointing out the different context in which foot speed was being applied. Nevertheless, you may still be ignoring the point though, Finn doesn’t have great lateral speed or agility which is a trait we have looked for in our inside mids. Whilst he didn’t work out, this trait was one of the reasons we drafted Lovell.
fwiw, I‘m a big admirer of Finn and think he will be quite the player in years to come.

He does, you clearly have no idea. Physically he's one of the more "perfect" athletes in the AFL.

Endurance, speed, explosiveness etc all elite.

His issues are never gonna be physical.

 

[play2win]

He does, you clearly have no idea. Physically he's one of the more "perfect" athletes in the AFL.

Endurance, speed, explosiveness etc all elite.

His issues are never gonna be physical.

Well ok then, I look forward to celebrating his brownlow win

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Well ok then, I look forward to celebrating his brownlow win

And here again, nonsensical smartass comment.

Being physically elite means jack s**t if you can't play football, which is part of the reason he's playing on the wing to improve parts he's not great at. Which hopefully fast tracks development.