THE FINN Maginness hype-o-meter went into overdrive this week as the first-year running machine outlasted Hawthorn's time trial king Isaac Smith.

Maginness' is a familiar father-son storyline, even though history tells us to be wary in these cases.

The son of dual Hawks premiership defender Scott was their second pick (No.29 overall) in last year's NAB AFL Draft, once they matched North Melbourne's bid on him.

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That followed Maginness being the standout performer at the NAB AFL Draft Combine and him putting together an impressive NAB League campaign for the Sandringham Dragons.

The 18-year-old was one of three father-son draftees, including Port Adelaide pair Trent Burgoyne (son of Peter) and Jackson Mead (son of Darren), to bolster the League's active tally to 30.

Maginness is just the fourth father-son selection in Hawthorn's history, with the Langford brothers – Will and Lachie, sons of club great Chris – nabbed separately in the rookie draft.

None of the previous three was particularly successful, at least at the Hawks: Steven Greene played 42 games, Travis Tuck 20 and Josh Kennedy just 13.

Kennedy, of course, was traded to Sydney in 2009 and became one of the game's best midfielders across 233 more games – and counting.

He co-captains the Swans, finished third in the 2017 Brownlow Medal, has won three club best and fairests, was a pivotal part of the 2012 premiership and also made three All-Australian teams.

Kennedy is one of 31 father-son draftees to play 100-plus games, out of the 99 whose AFL dream was achieved via this route.

He joins Rhyce Shaw, Sean Dempster, Nick Davis, Brett Peake, Tom Mitchell, David Sierakowski and David Clarke in reaching the milestone at a second club.

Jarrod Molloy is technically a different case, because Fitzroy merged with Brisbane and his century of matches came between them, before he also played for Collingwood.

*current player

However, the reality is the high expectations on father-son draftees, especially the offspring of champions, don't align with the numbers.

That's despite clubs having an extended period to weigh up whether they want access or not to eligible sons of guns.

The crop above were mostly hits, while others such as Darcy Moore (71 matches) and Jed Bews (83) – both of whom will likely reach 100 and beyond – are also success stories.

Yet 11 of them came and went without a senior appearance; Simon Fletcher played 90 games overall but none originally for the Cats; and another five active father-sons, excluding the new batch, also haven't debuted.

Another 16 who did play a game managed only 15 matches or fewer before departing.

So, the evidence suggests it's only slightly more likely a father-son draftee will play triple-digit games rather than sub-15.

Maginness may well be the footballer who breaks the father-son mould for Hawthorn and becomes a quality contributor for the next decade.

Then again, he might not.