Ewan Mackinlay weighing up a possible move to the VFL or SANFL in 2024

The 20-year-old took the Ovens and Murray by storm this season and his performances for Lavington were recognised with a place in the league's Team of the Year.

Mackinlay, who also impressed on interleague duty against the Goulburn Valley, was named in the Panthers' best players on all but two occasions and kicked 18 goals in his 16 games.

Having learned his trade in the Hume League with Holbrook before spending a year with the Murray Bushrangers, Mackinlay has already had a taste of state league footy with Essendon.

He played three VFL matches in 2022 before opting to give the O and M his full focus this year but is weighing up a move interstate in a bid to maximise his potential.

"I want to take my footy pretty seriously to be honest," Mackinlay said.

"I've got my whole life to figure out my career and other things I'll be able to do when footy's not here so footy's the main thing for me at the moment.

"I've got a few options with a few state leagues so whether I do go to the VFL and keep Lavington as my home club or if I end up going to the SANFL and trying to have a go there or I could even just end up staying at Lavington for another year...

"But I think I am ready.

"I've still got a lot of things to learn but I think I'm ready to have a go at it and make a few mistakes along the way but keep getting better as well and playing a better level."

Mackinlay's decision to focus on his development by committing to spending the whole of this season under Panthers coach Adam Schneider looks to have been vindicated.

"Growing up in the Hume League, I always wanted to play a bit of O and M," he said.

"I was pretty happy to do that this year and I think I definitely improved as a footballer because of it.

"The group of players we had at Lavington, I really enjoyed my football with them.

"Schneids is unbelievable.

"He really picks up on the little things well, with a player like myself especially, what I have to work on and what I need to keep improving if I do want to go to the next level and get better at the O and M level as well.

"He was really good this year."

Lavington finished seventh with a 6-10 record, with seven of those defeats by 13 points or less, but getting close was no consolation for Mackinlay.

"I guess if you lose so many close ones, there's a bit of a theme that maybe you just weren't quite good enough," he said.

"In a few of them we were pretty unlucky but when it keeps happening, sometimes luck isn't involved as much."

A year on from winning the Hume League grand final with Holbrook, one contributing factor stood out above the rest when it came to Mackinlay's ability to play consistently good footy at the level above.

"It was just about getting to training," he said.

"I only missed one training session for the whole pre-season and the year and that's when I was working away.

"Getting good continuity with the people you're playing with and understanding the speed of the game as quickly as you can is important.

"I just love to play well.

"I hate walking off the ground playing bad and feeling like I could have done more.

"So it's just doing everything you can to put yourself in a position to play the best you can and then, if you don't, you've only got yourself to blame."

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