WHEN Will Maginness was faced with a choice between playing for East Perth in the WAFL or sitting an exam for his veterinary studies, the former West Coast player didn't realise it was going to be quite the fork in the road moment it turned out to be.
Maginness had spent two years at West Coast after being drafted at the end of 2013, and then stayed in Perth, where he had started a vet course. Animals had always been his favourite thing and growing up in Melbourne's inner-east didn't dent that passion.
"We had every pet from a rabbit, guinea pig, birds, quails, chickens, dogs, cats. I tried to bring some farm animals into the mix into inner city Kooyong with a sheep. I managed to sneak that one in for a very short period of time," Maginness told AFL.com.au. "From day zero I was always completely obsessed."
Football, too, had been a massive part of his life but after injury-hit seasons at the Eagles saw him delisted after the 2015 season having not played at the top level, Maginness knew his future was more important than another game of East Perth reserves football. He never played again.
"The game was being played at 2pm, the exam was at 2pm and I had to make that pivotal call on my life trajectory going forward whether I was going to pursue football anymore or go down and really hustle in the vet space. I chose the exam and it was pretty much the end of my football," he said.
But it was the start of something bigger than even he expected.
Maginness, who is the cousin of current Hawk Finn, nephew of premiership Hawk Scott and grandson of former Hawthorn player Norm, not only saw through his five-year course through to become a vet. He returned to Victoria, founded premium dog meal range 5 Hounds and has become an online sensation, with his Instagram page 'Dr Will Maginness' catapulting him into worldwide recognition.
In a year since it launched, his page has attracted 130,000 followers as fans from around the globe track his passionate, animal-first videos and tips for feeding pets and farm animals better.
BROWNLOW PREDICTOR Check out all the votes
"I went into the vet hospital and was seeing 10, 15 dogs a day while consulting and realised it wasn't the fire in the belly that I wanted. I was the outlier vet saying, 'Let's speak about the holistic approach, let's talk about nutrition, let's do things slightly different to prevent you coming back rather than just treating with a pharmaceutical medication'," he said.
"That's where I thought I could have more power over more dogs and more outside of my district as well outside the Geelong area. I went online and started talking transparently and authentically and it started resonating with people. The whole mission was that I wanted to help everyone's dog live longer.
"You meet anyone with a dog and their dog's the best dog in the world and it's part of the family, it sleeps on the bed. It's the most important thing in their life."
Maginness, who was drafted out of Scotch College in 2013 having graduated with fellow AFL players Jack Billings, Darcy Byrne-Jones and Jake Kelly, took some time to mull over how he wanted to show his passion online. In the end, he took the plunge and kept it genuine. It has worked.
"I knew it was what I wanted to do and that I was going to do it, but it probably still took me two months to officially press post on the first video. I was hesitant. I'd never put myself out there like that before," he said.
"It was slow traction initially and I just kept sticking to my values and what I believed and put it out there. It took a couple of months for people to start vibing and understanding my mission and why I'm talking about these things. I think people started thinking 'He actually cares about my dog' because he's giving all this information and education that is very easy for them to adopt and put into their daily lives with their dogs."
Maginness' interest in canine nutrition and longevity has seen his biggest audience be in America. Every week, he does consultations online with dog lovers in the US, United Kingdom, Africa and Canada, fitting in slots at either end of the day to work through time zone challenges. This all while 5 Hounds – named after his own five dogs – builds a strong market in Australia as pet owners look to better feed their dogs. Kelly, who retired at Essendon last year after a 10-year career across the Bombers and Crows, has also helped with the business behind the scenes.
"We launched 5 Hounds and it's going a lot better than what I would have dreamed of and hoped, and the feedback and results we're getting in such a short period of time have been amazing. To me it's not rocket science. We're feeding species appropriate real food that's sustainably and ethically sourced to dogs and they deserve it," Maginness said.
Between all of this, the 30-year-old has returned to his boyhood fandom of Hawthorn. Even though it never really went away, including when he was at the Eagles.
"It was a great time at West Coast. Being in that professional environment each day with 40 other blokes and doing something that's a childhood dream was pretty surreal. It was just disappointing I didn't get to make more of a go of it," he said.
"I was a Hawks supporter through and through and at the 2015 Grand Final between Hawthorn and West Coast the writing was on the wall that I was absolutely getting delisted. I still had stress fractures and was heavily injured. I was sitting there on the second level at the 'G in my West Coast Eagles suit and tie and barracking for the Hawks.
"This year is the most I've ever enjoyed living and breathing footy as a supporter. I'm all for the Hawks, I've got Finn playing who I follow religiously, so it's interesting how it's come up upon me. I watch every Hawks game and I look at footy now as my time to not think about 5 Hounds and really have my quiet time for the week."
But there has been a special recent intersection of dog food and footy. Former Collingwood captain and coach Nathan Buckley spotted one of Maginness' videos while scrolling Instagram and got in touch. He then posted his own video of the benefits his dog has felt.
"'Bucks' reached out because he's got Tank, a much-loved dog, and he was overweight. He saw a video of me online of me relating dog food and kibble to McDonald's and that really struck a chord with him," Maginness said.
"The way he looks after his body he started translating that to 'How am I caring about my dog?' He went down the rabbit hole of my Dr. Will page and started understanding he'd been doing it wrong and reached out. I helped him and we've been in conversation for about 10 weeks now and it's been pretty incredible. For Nathan Buckley to reach out has been pretty special."