STRENGTHS:

+ Competitiveness
+ Contested work
+ Dual-sided
+ Groundballs
+ Endurance
+ Defensive pressure

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Speed
- Polish

PROFILE:

You know exactly what you are going to get with Maggie Mahony. An uncompromising attack on the ball, high-level competitive nature and 100 per cent effort throughout four quarters rain, hail or shine. She is a lock to provide a role for her team, and her floor is higher than most. While others have traits that jump off the page, Mahony is one of those players who is just really good across the board.

Her nature as alluded to is focused and determined, which helps her win plenty of contested ball despite being a smaller midfielder. She punches above her size and is not afraid to get her hands dirty. Her clearance work is superb, and thanks to her dual-sidedness, Mahony can execute by foot on both sides of her body.

In terms of her skills, she can be a little hit and miss by foot at times, though when she is up and going she can put the ball into dangerous spots. She generally has great vision and knows what she wants to do, it is just about polishing up the final execution. However with time and space, Mahony can hit targets further afield both coming out of a stoppage and in space. The latter has a higher efficiency rate for the Chargers midfielder.

The big knock on Mahony is her speed. For a smaller player, she does lack that extra pace that a number of her peers have, but she has the endurance to work over opponents, with her contest-to-contest work and overall work rate fantastic. If clubs overlook that, then there is a fair bit that Mahony offers to a side in a variety of positions.

Though a natural midfielder who is so good on the inside, Mahony can play as a pressure forward, and pressure is what underpins her game. She will apply enormous amounts of defensive work - both through tackles and team-oriented efforts that maker her teammates better. Her ability to win groundballs and be clean by hand out of traffic is equally important, and she will wear bumps and still dispose of the ball well to a nearby teammate.

When given the chance up forward, Mahony can also hit the scoreboard, and set others up because her range of vision when kicking inside 50 after marking at half-forward is very good. She could well play that high half-forward role to great effect given her aerobic capacity and ability to get into ball-winning positions, but a club will likely have a role in mind for her.