Don Deeble nominee Thomas McGuane grew up in the change rooms of Keilor Football Club.
His earliest memories are being among the senior players watching and learning from them.
“I just love the mateship, the culture and the enjoyment I get from being part of a team,” McGuane reflected.
“I tried all sports from athletics to swimming to cricket and soccer, but I always came back to footy. My dad, mum and family never interfered in my sporting choices.”
McGuane had the typical start to his football journey, Auskick into the Keilor under-8’s and then progressing through the grades.
He played in the Essendon District Football League premier division premiership last year as a 17-year-old, under his father and former Collingwood champion, Mick McGuane who has coached Keilor since 2008.
“I loved being the waterboy for the senior team because it got me into the rooms and onto the field on gameday,” he said.
Thomas played his early underage footy in the forward line developing his football IQ and his skills.
It was all about football.
“I never hit the gym, my development was all around improving the fundamentals of footy. I always had a football in my hands. It has held me in good stead.”
McGuane’s underage teams won three premierships in a row from under-14s through to under-16s and he won a league and three club best and fairest awards in those years.
That put him clearly on the Western Jets radar in the Coates Talent League.
“Those years coincided with my introduction into the Maribyrnong Sports Academy, the value they added to my football, and still cannot be discounted,” he said.
“Strength and conditioning sessions, running technique, plyometrics, touch craft, flexibility sessions are just some of the sessions MSA introduced me to, that are now part of my weekly routine at Collingwood VFL [Victorian Football League] training.”
Collingwood added McGuane to their Peter Daicos Academy squad the year before Covid struck having an eye on him for the future.
“It is a squad that includes potential father-son and NGA players,” he said. “We meet and train together once a fortnight at Collingwood.
“It has been an eye opener.”
McGuane played three games in the Collingwood VFL team, with his dad presenting his jumper.
“I played on the wing and as a high half forward, with time in the midfield with the Jets,” he said. “They have given me added exposure in those roles to add to my versatility.
“In the Vic Metro under-18 team, I was played primarily as a winger with stints on ball.
“It was a great learning experience for me. I learned most about the importance of getting your running patterns right.
“You can have a 30-possession game but be more effective and influence a game more with better running patterns and 15 possessions.”
McGuane’s week is jam packed with year 12 studies and footy training.
Training sessions at Collingwood, Western Jets, Keilor and at MSA means he can train five nights a week, playing on a Saturday or Sunday.
Then there’s plenty of recovery along with coaching reviews.
At the Jets this season, McGuane is ranked first overall for total disposals, leads the competition in handballs and finished fifth for total kicks.
McGuane said he has had some great mentors at Keilor while his heroes were Nick Daicos, Zach Merrett and Errol Gulden.
He could join Dacios at the Pies later this year as another father-son pick.
“Finishing year 12 is important to me,” he said.
“I have always barracked for the Pies but obviously being drafted into the AFL system overrides what club might pick me up. I can’t control any of that, my mantra has always been to control the controllables. “There is nothing wrong with daring to dream.”
The Don Deeble Sports Star Award is sponsored by the Yarraville Club Cricket Club, Strathmore Community Bank, the Deer Park Club, Ascot Vale Sports and Trophies and Star Weekly Newspapers.
If you would like to nominate a winner or attend a dinner, contact swrsportsclub@gmail.com or 0408 556 631.
