Former Gold Coast Sun and VFL star Alik Magin makes an immediate impact at Bendigo Football League club Kyneton
FORMER Gold Coast Sun Alik Magin has taken little time to establish a reputation as one of Kyneton’s favourite sons in the Bendigo Football League.
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ALIK Magin had no shortage of suitors at the end of 2014.
The mop-haired midfielder, who played eight AFL games with Gold Coast, had just produced two of the most consistent years of his career with VFL club Bendigo when it folded.
He instantly became hot property, fielding offers from several VFL clubs.
Magin had lengthy discussions with Werribee about continuing his VFL career, only to join a local club which shared the same nickname — Kyneton.
The 24-year-old’s connection with Tigers’ star Ben Weightman and his brother Rhys’s decision to depart Avondale Heights for Kyneton Showgrounds helped convince Magin to join the Bendigo Football League club.
“I had a few offers to stay at VFL level, but I had a few mates that were playing at Kyneton,” Magin said.
“I knew the coach Mark Adamson and my brother (Rhys) said he was going to play there as well, so it was a good opportunity for me to play with a couple of mates and my brother.
“Werribee was the main one. I had a real good chat with Werribee about where they were headed.
“I thought I’d see myself there, but talking to my brother and a couple of friends I thought it was time to take a step back after starting a family as well.”
The former Sun has rapidly become one of Kyneton’s favourite sons.
In his first seven matches, the on-baller was named in the club’s best five times.
Tigers coach Mark Adamson, who knew Magin after being involved at Bendigo, said the ball magnet had set the standard at training and on match day.
“Alik has obviously been at a higher level for most of his career,” Adamson said.
“He’s a pretty laid-back character but he’s an elite trainer. He certainly adds (a lot) to our training.”
Magin, from Eynesbury, was delisted by Gold Coast at the end of the 2012 AFL season.
He threw himself into training after linking up with Bendigo, desperate to earn another opportunity at the top level.
But when two years passed and nothing eventuated, Magin realised it was time to return to local football.
“After I got delisted I spent two years at Bendigo and I thought I gave it the best crack I could have,” he said.
“Then I sat down and thought, if nothing has happened in those two years, I’m getting older now.
“You never know, but I’m still happy with the decision I’ve made.”
More than 1700km separates Kyneton from the Sunshine Coast.
But in Mitch Scholard, Weightman and the Magin brothers, the club has a rare connection to an area it would otherwise have little in common with.
The quartet played junior football together in Queensland before their careers took different paths that have ultimately led to a Bendigo league reunion.
“Ben Weightman was there last year, we all spoke to him and then jumped on board with Kyneton at the start of the year,” Magin said.
The last time Rhys and Alik Magin played together, they represented their junior club Pomona in Queensland.
Despite the best part of a decade playing at different clubs, Adamson said the brothers shared an innate football sense.
“You sometimes see brothers or good mates that wax on the footy field and it might not always have the desired outcome,” he said.
“I can tell you when these two blokes do it, given their decision-making and their execution, it’s something you probably wish (for).”
Magin said the greatest lesson he had taken from his time at the Suns was the professionalism required to carve out an AFL career.
If the drive and desire Magin displayed in two tough years with Bendigo rubs off on his Kyneton teammates, the Tigers will be on track for a historic return to finals.
“I knew they weren’t around a couple of years ago,” Magin said.
“(For) a club that wasn’t around two years ago to sneak into finals (would) be a massive step and huge reward for everyone at the club.”
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