Hawthorn has recalled Finn Maginness for its clash with North Melbourne on Saturday.
A dominant force at VFL level, the 25-year-old's return should free the Hawks up to utilise Harry Morrison in his more customary wing position.
Effectively, Maginness, a run-with midfielder – who himself may spend time on the wing – replaces tall defender Noah Mraz, meaning the club goes into the clash with North Melbourne with a more customary seven-defender, two-winger setup, rather than playing eight defenders and using one on the wing.
Morrison has played nine games this year and hasn't missed since Round 15 – during which time he signed a contract extension - averaging 19 disposals but has been utilised in several roles.
Speaking to Zero Hanger for a separate story last month, midfield coach David Hale was asked how Hawthorn looks to use its wingers.
“A lot of our assessment of our wingers is what happens when we don't have the ball and so that's something that gets overlooked externally a fair bit,” Hale said.
“Quite often, if our game's in good shape, the wingers are doing basic, boring stuff but we value it really highly. It's an important role in offence and defence and building their capacity to hurt opposition with ball in hand.”
To impact without the footy demands an understanding in both attacking and defensive phases requires experience and understanding of the role to ensure running patterns are compliant with system so the Hawks can shape the ball, flood defence and stretch a direct opponent forward.
Yet, in recent games, the Hawks have opted to play eight defenders with one of those spending time on the wing, skipper James Sicily one in particular who has had plenty of time there.
While he has played his role, expecting him to go with a Harvey Langford or Ollie Dempsey in September would likely be to steep a task, making it untenable.
First year player Cam Nairn is the only AFL-listed squad member playing on the wing for Box Hill, so the club has limited reinforcement options, but the introduction of Maginness allows the Hawks line-up to more closely resemble how they are likely to look structurally in September.
Coach Sam Mitchell indicated on Thursday that alongside figuring out whether to use one primary ruck or two, the other major selection consideration was whether a second winger was needed or eight defenders was a sustainable model.
Maginness has averaged 29 disposals this year at VFL level, establishing himself as a consistent performer in the state league but has always struggled with the step up to AFL level, playing 63 games across seven seasons, five of those coming this year.
