The stalking Hawk quietly taking scalps on the weekly

FINN Maginness has Hawthorn blood coursing through his veins. He is a third-generation Hawk who grew up with Luke Hodge posters blu-tacked to his bedroom walls and saw all three premierships at the MCG in the famous three-peat. 

Now the 21-year-old is playing a crucial role for Sam Mitchell, but it hasn't come easy for the father-son recruit. 

Maginness played only three games across his first two seasons and didn't sign a deal for 2022 until October last year. 

The Victorian was used as a tagger in the VFL last year under the watch of Mitchell and Andy Collins at Box Hill City Oval, but it is at AFL level where the Hawks have benefited from his mastery of the dark art this winter.

Mitchell pulled the trigger against Melbourne in round seven where Maginness clamped star wingman Ed Langdon, restricting the premiership player to just nine disposals across 120 minutes, six days after he torched Richmond with 30 disposals and 599 metres gained. 

Maginness then executed a takedown mission on Richmond wingman Marlion Pickett a fortnight later, before Mitchell reignited the role when Jordan Dawson and Adelaide turned up at Marvel Stadium in round 17, forcing Matthew Nicks to alter his plans on the run.

In the five games since then, the Scotch College product has shut down the most devasting player in the opposition each week. Tim Kelly, Jy Simpkin, Jack Sinclair, Touk Miller and Shai Bolton have all returned to their cars after games being trailed around like a caravan worried Maginness was going to follow them home. 

"I'd been watching Ed Langdon's vision for quite a while because I'd been playing on the wing and I was trying to learn all the wing patterns. We were playing Melbourne and Mitch said, 'OK, you go to Ed Langdon'," Maginness told AFL.com.au on Tuesday.

"It was the game that got me going. I felt like I could do it at AFL level after that game. That was definitely the first game that I felt like I can definitely do this and I belong."

Finn Maginness' match-ups in 2022

If the football world wasn't already taking notice of the quality of scalps Maginness had collected prior to last weekend, no one missed the job he did on Bolton on Sunday. 

Richmond might have pumped Hawthorn by 61 points at the MCG, but Maginness held Bolton to only one shot at goal after 16 shots in the previous fortnight, and just 13 disposals in a role that should see him collect coaches' votes for the third game in a row (round 22 and round 23 aren't published).  

"Shai is obviously an incredible player and great to watch," Maginness said. "I've enjoyed watching him all year. It was nerve-racking because he is quick – he is really, really quick – so I just tried to stay as close as I could to him at all the stoppages. He is flying around so fast on his feet. My teammates helped me out a lot and tried to stay switched on for four quarters. It was a good challenge, Shai is obviously a great player."

Maginness hasn't had to look far for help in the art of tagging. Three Brownlow Medal winners – Sam Mitchell, Robert Harvey and Tom Mitchell – are at Waverley Park and all have copped their fair share of attention from taggers trying to stop them finding the footy across the journey. 

When Maginness is finished preparing for his weekly match-up, he parks the assignment in his mind until he parks his car at the ground and clocks back on for the task at hand. Rinse and repeat. 

"I just watch a lot of vision, which I think is important. It's also important not to overthink things. Once I go home, I try and forget about it and prepare as normal. When I arrive at the ground for the game, that's when I clock on again and start thinking about it," he said.  

"If you overthink things, you can find yourself getting pretty nervous and feel a bit daunted with the task. If you do your vision, do your due diligence and just forget about it, I find that best prepares me mentally. I think a lot of it is just a mental battle, just trying to stay switched on for four quarters."

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While Maginness has built a brand in 2022 as an ultra-reliable tagger, much like Ryan Clarke at Sydney and this week's NAB AFL Rising Star nominee Marcus Windhager, he wants to use the experience he has gained this year to launch into other roles in Hawthorn's engine room in the future. 

"I think it's definitely a platform to build on. I'm pretty lucky because I get to follow around the best midfielders or forwards in the game or even half-backs," he said. 

"I learn from all these different players. I write down all these different things after all these games, stuff that I can implement in my game, things that I've learnt from these players. I definitely see it as something I can do and something in my kitbag and something I can always go to, but I think from here I can definitely build as a player and be more damaging myself."

After being at the crossroads this time last year, Maginness has overcome a challenging start to his career, made more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic, which also saw him become one of the first players to test positive for COVID-19 at the start of last pre-season.

"It was definitely a weird first two years. In my first season I think I played one VFL practice match and for the rest of the year was just 12v12 scratch matches, bringing the field in with cones. I played the one game that year and then last year was pretty much under Sam Mitchell all year," he said.

"I always had the belief that I could play at this level and I just took the mindset that as long as I'm getting better myself, then that's all I can really control. Last year was probably a blessing to play all of last year under Sam Mitchell. It was just an extra year under him and the way he likes to coach."

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It has been a special year for the Maginness family. Finn's father Scott played 131 games for the club including the 1989 premiership, while his grandfather Norm played 64 games in the 1950s. They are all sharing the ride. 

"I absolutely love the Hawkers. I was an absolute Hawthorn nuffie. I'm in a lucky position where I've had the opportunity to play for the club I grew up supporting. It's a massive honour," he said.

"Being a third generation Hawk is something I'm really proud of. It's a bond that I have with my Dad and my grandpa. We do like to chat about it when we catch up. It's really special to me and the whole Maginness family. It's something we're very proud of."

With only one NAB AFL Rising Star nomination still on offer in 2022, Maginness is overdue some external recognition. If he does a job on Bailey Dale or Bailey Smith this Sunday in Launceston, surely the selectors won't overlook him again.