A goldmine of father-son prospects
Sons of Guns not as far away as you think
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Hawthorn enters the 2023 season in almost uncharted territory and it’s not because the club seems destined to spend the season near the foot of the ladder.
It’s to do with the draft.
Mark McKenzie and his team will have to keep tabs on no fewer than three draft eligible father-son prospects over the course of the SANFL U18’s and Coates Talent League seasons.
For a club bestowed with the honour of lifting the Premiership Cup on 12 occasions over the past 52 years, and has produced champion players across all generations, Hawthorn has struggled to produce father-son prospects who go on to be champion players in their own right.
The father–son rule is seen as a double-edge sword.
It is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution (more than 100 games) to the club.
It adds to the romance of the game, with sons (and daughters) of club greats being eligible to continue the family legacy, but it also dilutes the general talent pool, removing access to talented prospects for struggling clubs.
Father-son selections across the AFL
Across the AFL, there are some incredible examples of football clubs reaping the benefits of the father-son rule, whether that be Geelong who had access to Gary Ablett Jnr (son of Gary), Tom Hawkins (son of Jack) and Matthew Scarlett (son of John), the Western Bulldogs who were able to select Mitch Wallis (son of Stephen), Tom Liberatore (son of Tony) and Sam Darcy (son of Luke) via the rule, and more recently the Brisbane Lions were granted access to consensus number one pick Will Ashcroft (son of Marcus) and first round talent Jaspa Fletcher (son of Adrian).
Hawthorn, however, has not had the same success as others around the AFL. In the past 22 years, the Hawks have had priority access to, and selected Steven Greene, Travis Tuck, Josh Kennedy and Finn Maginness.
Greene and Tuck showed early promise but ultimately failed to make the grade at AFL level. Kennedy has proven himself to be a champion of the AFL, but unfortunately for the Hawks, where he made his debut and played 13 games, it was at Sydney where the youngest of three generations of Kennedy’s has made his name, playing a further 276 games and counting.
There was so much pinned on Maginness in his draft year that it almost worked against him in his early Hawthorn career, but after some careful man-management from head coach Sam Mitchell, Maginness has established himself as an elite run with player with scope to develop into a contest ball winner as an inside midfielder.
Hawthorn’s father-son prospects for 2023
Hawks fans have a lot to look forward to over the course of the 2023 season, and one of those things is the development of draft eligible father-son prospects Will McCabe, Ned Maginness and Calsher Dear.
Followers of all things Hawks Insiders will most likely have heard of Will McCabe. The son of back pocket and unsung hero Luke, Will is not built the same as his father. Standing at 196cm and weighing 75kg, McCabe is a developing utility who has shown capability of playing up forward, on the wing and at Centre Half Back, where he won team MVP and All Australian honours as an approved overage player at last year’s U16 Championships.
McCabe is described as a very competitive player who excels one-on-one and uses the ball effectively on the rebound. He will play his draft year at Central Districts and factors to be a pivotal piece to South Australia’s team at the National Championships.
Ned Maginness is also a familiar name, and if selected by Hawthorn, would follow his older brother Finn onto the list. Ned has been dominant in local under-age football, with some at his local club East Brighton Vampires believing Ned was a better prospect than Finn before he switched his attention to rowing.
Maginness has since returned his focus to football and has secured a place on the Sandringham Dragon’s list for the upcoming season. Ned is a lightly built midfielder who will be looking to impress in his draft year to earn himself a chance at an AFL career.
The feel-good story of the three potential prospects, Calsher Dear, the son of the late Paul Dear, has also come from local football where last year he played for Beaumaris.
He is a forward or undersized ruckman at local level and was brilliant in the U17 Grand Final win for Beaumaris in the SMJFL (South Metro Junior Football League) kicking two crucial last quarter goals.
Dear has an older brother, Harry, who was overlooked by the Hawks as a father-son selection in his draft year and was subsequently drafted by Adelaide but failed to play an AFL game.
Calsher will be looking to put his best foot forward for the Sandringham Dragons in 2023 and will be hoping to go one better than his brother by being drafted by the Hawks.
How do the Hawks take all three?
It remains to be seen how McCabe, Maginness and Dear develop over the course of the season, but all three have had exposure to the Hawthorn system, having been invited to train with the club at stages over pre-season.
If all three prospects develop enough to be selected, the Hawks will look at a situation similar to what Essendon had in 2022, with Alwyn Davey Jnr, Jayden Davey, and Anthony Munkara (NGA). Barring serious development, Will McCabe is likely to come into draft consideration in the late teens to early twenties, allowing Hawthorn to use their first-round and possibly their second-round pick (tied to the Bulldogs) before a bid comes in.
At this stage of the year, Ned Maginness and Calsher Dear are seen as draft smokies which will allow the Hawks to match a bid on either player as the bid comes in, using the late picks the Hawks have or will accumulate.
In a season where the hope and excitement will predominately come from the clubs’ young players and their pre-season and in-season development, it will no doubt excite Hawks fans to know that there is potential for additions to the list in the off-season, with as many as three of those additions being sons of Hawthorn guns.
What are the chances hawks take all 3?
Nice article, well researched and written. Cheers!