Finn Maginness’ Round 17 tagging job on ‘ Josh Kelly sent shudders through the SuperCoach community, with the GWS mid completely shut down. So given the success, that’ll likely persist, so who are in the Hawk’s sights.
Finn Maginness tag worry
The tag has been a hated prospect for many SuperCoach players as opposition coaches in real life look to completely negate a star player with little gain on their end. In the past, Finn Maginness has been one of those players for Hawthorn who has been assigned to shut down opposing midfielders. Last week he managed to keep Josh Kelly to his lowest disposal count for a very long time which frustrated many owners. So let’s look at Hawthorn’s upcoming fixtures and pick out the players who will most likely attract attention.
Round 18: North Melbourne
In their Round 3 matchup earlier this season, Maginness didn’t have a specific tagging target. Rather he was just left as a general defender and ended up being subbed off after an ill-inspired game. Looking back to last year though, he did do a superb job on Jy Simpkin, keeping him just to 14 disposals. Simpkin is out, so I’d be wary that he’d go to the more dangerous Luke Davies-Uniacke as he’s looking like the player in form at the moment.
Round 19: Richmond
Not a lot of data to roll with here given that he didn’t tag in their last matchup, but you’d think that he’d most likely go to Tim Taranto or Shai Bolton. However, the latter can easily be sent forward and be as dangerous as a forward still so I’d be worried about Taranto’s disposal count in this matchup. Another option is Dustin Martin but similar to Bolton he’d be pushed forward the second a tag is sent to him which would cause a grave mismatch.
Round 20: St Kilda
In Round 20 last year he went to Jack Sinclair till the third quarter before Sam Mitchell dropped this as it wasn’t doing them any favours. Sinclair still had a reasonable game picking up 24 disposals but majority of that came after the tag was dropped. This year I’d expect him to do the same, especially with how often the Saints use his run and carry. There will be times however when Sinclair can be pushed into the midfield where he can escape the tag with his explosiveness. Other options could be Jack Steele or even Brad Crouch but they don’t seem as likely given the damage Sinclair can do by foot.
Round 21: Collingwood
He went to Nick Daicos in the pre-season, so I’d see no reason why he wouldn’t at least attempt to do the same again. He still managed the 17 disposals but with how well Daicos is playing a Maginness tag may not even affect him at all. You could make a small argument that he could go to another outside midfielder like Josh Daicos but it would be unlikely
Round 22: Western Bulldogs
Last year in Round 23, Maginness spent the first three quarters on Bailey Smith before moving on Tom Liberatore in the last quarter. This already shows that he won’t go to Marcus Bontempelli, and is more likely to go to the extractor or an outside midfielder. Someone like Adam Treloar, Jack Macrae or even the out-of-form Smith won’t be safe from the tag either. But he can’t tag every Dogs midfielder here.
Round 23: Melbourne
Assuming that Clayton Oliver gets over his hamstring injury he’s very likely to spend time on him. However, in their Round 7 matchup last season, he went to Ed Langdon who at that point in time was in All-Australian form. I doubt he’d have the ability to run with Christian Petracca and even if he does Petracca has shown he can just dominate up forward by kicking 4 goals on the weekend. Even if Oliver does miss, he could just run with Jack Viney or one of the wingers in Langdon or Lachie Hunter again.
Round 24: Fremantle
Freo is actually one of the few teams that Maginness hasn’t played against ever so there is zero data to base on it. But if I were to guess then Freo’s accumulators in Andy Brayshaw or Caleb Serong as most likely to attract attention. A sneaky suggestion could be Liam Henry if he continues to impress with his run and carry from a wing but it would most likely be Freo’s inside midfield brigade that gets targetted first.
PODS for the run home
Looking to differentiate yourself from your final opponent, why not consider some of the options below? Not that it is a great decision to sideways trade but if you have a must-win game why not consider some of these inform players?
Harry McKay (SC $444k Fwd)
In the last 2 weeks, Harry McKay has been a revelation for the Blues playing into some great form and scoring back-to-back tons for the first time in a while. In that time frame, he has only kicked 2 and 3 goals but it is his around-the-ground work that has stood out more and has been a key reason why the Blues are improving. Any key forward having 20 disposals and 8 marks is already set to have a big score and with the quality that McKay can produce he could be the key to your finals. The Blues do have a tough run home with only the Eagles, Suns and Giants as bottom 8 teams which he could feast on with the Blues. But if there’s one team that does look scary coming into the back half of the year, it’s the Blues and they could do some damage especially if their key forwards are showing up in the crucial games.
Sean Darcy (SC $528k Ruc)
Now, for many people they don’t need a ruckman but with the recent news that Luke Jackson has been carrying an injury, someone like Sean Darcy will benefit from taking the main ruck mantle for the rest of the season. Since coming back from a hamstring injury he’s returned to his primary ruck role averaging 118.0. On the run home, he does play some easy ruck opponents in the Eagles, Port and Swans who he should farm monster points on. For 99% of the community, they’ll already have some combination of English, Marshall or Briggs but Darcy could be one you might consider on the run home.
Tom Atkins (SC $438k Def/Mid)
Tom Atkins is a well-loved figure at Geelong just on the basis of how well he gets the job done on a week-to-week basis. This season he’s fully embraced a centre-bounce midfielder role which he’s fulfilled in bursts in the past. The past 2 weeks he’s gone to the next level scoring 111 and 120 in which he’s managed to have 11 and 14 tackles respectively. Now he’s not the biggest accumulator of the footy as he’s only had a season-high of 25 disposals this season but it is the mix of contested footy plus lots of tackling which makes his scoring very impressive. Add in the fact he’s got DPP status and you’ve got a very nice Def/Mid selection for the run home. It is very hard to see who throws him out of that current role given that the likes of Cam Guthrie are likely to be out till finals and guys like Bruhn and Holmes are secondary options.
