Magnay reflects on growth as JackJumpers captain

The end to a fifth season with the Tasmania JackJumpers hasn’t ended how Will Magnay hoped, but having played in the NBA, at the Olympics and winning an NBL championship, the move to Tasmania is the best thing he's done.

Initially when Magnay joined the JackJumpers for their inaugural NBL season back in 2021/22, he still had a firm focus on putting together a healthy run and then getting back to the NBA and chasing those dreams.

However, it didn’t take him long to realise that he could make himself quite the long-term home both playing with the JackJumpers and living in Hobart as he now reflects on the past five years.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing on a health front and that's continuing right now with his NBL26 season ended prematurely with a toe injury, but up until that he was thriving both in his performance and with the responsibility for the first time as captain.

Settling in Tasmania

When Magnay first signed for the JackJumpers for that first season in NBL22, he wasn’t thinking beyond that initial campaign only to see his mindset quickly change as he embraced the culture that coach Scott Roth quickly built from the start.

Combine that with the unrivalled support from the entire Tasmania public and for so many reasons the past five seasons for the JackJumpers has been the best part of Magnay's career and it goes beyond just the success on the court he's been such a key part of.

"At the time I was very big on just being back here in Australia for one more year and I'll get back to the NBA as long as I got through a season of being healthy, and that's all I was really focused on," Magnay said.

"But from just being in Tassie, I just felt better about everything and since being here I've learned the game a lot better and the thing I've loved most is that I find myself loving going into work every day.

"I know that every single day everyone is going to work hard and try their best to support each other. That might sound corny, but actually just enjoying going into work is a big part of why I love this club.

"Everyone is about the right things, we have a no dickhead policy and we do a good job of holding each other accountable, and everyone is held to the same standard.

"It's just those little sort of culture things about the club that I really love and then obviously Hobart as a city to live in, and Tasmania as a state, is just a beautiful place.

"It's quiet and slow in a way, but in a good way, and the club gets so much support from everyone and love from the whole state," he added.

"You look around at other teams in the league and if they lose they get abused by their own fans, but Tasmanians are always so positive and supportive so that's also a big part of it.

"My family has loved being there too and it's just such a good situation for me to be in and the five seasons have gone quick."

Adjusting to captaincy

One big change for Magnay in NBL26 up until his injury suffered late in the game against Melbourne United at HoopsFest in Perth was that it was his first as captain.

Clint Steindl had been the first and only captain of the JackJumpers over the first four seasons, but upon his retirement it was Magnay who was voted in to take over the role.

He had always felt himself somewhat of a natural leader and someone who would always speak up to offer his thoughts whether asked for or not.

But what he quickly learned upon being captain was that suddenly his words carried a lot more weight so he had to make sure both the message he was delivering, and when he spoke up was on point.

He was settling into that role nicely, though, and that was evident in his performances where he confirmed himself the best interior defender in the league, by playing career-high minutes and also putting up some new scoring highs too.

"It's funny, I had always viewed myself as a natural leader and I've always been confident enough to speak my mind in situations in meetings or practice," Magnay said.

"I've even been confident enough at practice to stop and speak up to say what we're doing isn’t good enough so for whatever reason that's always come naturally to me.

"The difference was when I wasn’t captain, I had a bit more freedom where I felt like I could say what I want and my voice was just another one and the leaders could then take over.

"But then when you do get elected captain, I realised you have to choose your words a little bit more carefully and I learnt that over the season.

"I couldn’t just erupt and blow up about something so that was definitely the biggest development side where I had to pick and choose my moments a bit more when to speak up.

"There's also been a lot more one-on-one more stuff with all my teammates to stay on top of how they were feeling and getting their feedback, and also trying to empowering others to step up to say something if they were saying anything," he added.

"I wanted the team to know I needed their help and it wasn’t just my voice they needed to hear so we have a lot of good players who can add a lot to help the team with what they're seeing.

"So that has been a big learning curve for me this season and I guess I was voted in by my peers as well and it wasn’t like I was just chosen by Scott, so that was also a special moment."

Learning from previous captain

Magnay enjoyed the four seasons previously with the JackJumpers where Steindl was the captain including leading the team to the Championship Series in NBL22 and then to championship glory in NBL24.

He found that he learned a lot from Steindl and not so much from anything in particular he said, but more from the way he conducted himself as the ultimate professional and then how he spoke up when necessary, not just talking all the time to fill the silence.

"I definitely picked up bits and pieces from him and the biggest thing I probably learned over my time is that there's different types of leaders," Magnay said.

"There's the vocal leaders and loud leaders, but Clint was definitely someone who would lead by example. He wasn’t the loudest and I wouldn’t say he'd speak every day, but when he decided to speak it held weight and it was definitely the right message.

"What he did do a great job of was leading by example. He had the same routine every day, the same shooting routine every day and would show up 100 per cent every day, which is hard to do.

"It's almost impossible to do and he's getting yelled at by the coach as much as anyone else, but he would never drop his head and would always try to cheer dudes on. So that side of just showing up every day is something I picked up a lot of from Clint."

Taking on extra responsibility

While Magnay wasn’t necessarily deliberately trying to change anything too much about how he went about his business as captain, he did find it altered his mindset somewhat.

Suddenly Magnay wasn’t just worrying about his own job and holding himself to account, but found that it was now one of his responsibilities to do that for his teammates too.

"I think it's definitely made me think about the game a little bit differently and I'm not sure how much that's actually helped, but I definitely am viewing the game different throughout it," Magnay said.

"I find myself thinking about if I should speak in this timeout or not, and I definitely know that I have to know my own job really well and have to know what's expected of others.

"So then I have to think about if I can call someone out or not on what they might be doing wrong or what not. I'd say in that aspect, it did change my game but how much it actually affected my performance I can't really tell that."

The form before injury

Magnay was in some of the best and most consistent form of his career prior to his toe injury suffered at HoopsFest putting up 10.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks across 24 games.

He was also playing 28 minutes a game which is a career-high for the 27-year-old and it included the highs across his 155 NBL matches with 27 points in 37 minutes back on January 3 against Melbourne in a match-winning display that included 13 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

While the subsequent toe injury has clouded things a little now, Magnay was feeling good just because he had been putting in the extra work to give himself the best chance to stay healthy.

"I think being healthy was the key and for the most part until this I had a pretty uninterrupted run for a good period until by toe problem last year as well," Magnay said.

"Just being able to have a good run staying out there was key and a little bit of luck too, but unfortunately sometimes that runs out.

"I just did the best I could even when I had my little knee problem to stay on top of my rehab and my prehab as I've come to learn about, and then doing the right recovery things after games.

"So all those things helped me able to play 36 minutes but then you understand you can't get Maccas on the way home anymore if you want to recover properly.

"It's those little changes that have helped and my partner has been a big help with that too and she's taken on a big role in helping me to recover properly and to do all the right things."

Standout three-man front court

Another key part to Magnay enjoying this season so much with the JackJumpers up until getting hurt was the three-man front court he was part of alongside Majok Deng and Josh Bannan.

While it's now tough watching them hold down the fort in his absence, Magnay was proud of the way the three of them more than held their own against some bigger name and deep front court groups across the competition.

"I think we had a front court that was as good as anyone and we pride ourselves on competing against the best," Magnay said.

"When Bannan and Jook are on point defensively, we as a team collectively become really tough to score on and they're always tough offensively with how aggressive they are and the pressure they put on the paint.

"Then Jook's shooting ability is something that separates him a little bit too. We always went out there thinking we could win our match up every week and it was always a challenge for us and there's no easy match up across the league, but what I loved was that we were always up for that and tried to always come out on the front foot."

Reflecting on career so far

Given Magnay is still only 27 years of age and he could very well still have a decade left in his professional career, there's no reason for him to be content with what he has achieved so far.

That doesn’t mean he can't be proud of what he has done and it started as a big man with potential in Brisbane nearly a decade a go and he has only continued to rack up the accolades.

Along with playing 155 NBL games now across the Bullets, Perth Wildcats and JackJumpers and winning the NBL24 championship, Magnay played for the Australian Boomers at Paris 2024 and also had a stint in the NBA at the New Orleans Pelicans.

There's still a lot more he wants to achieve before he hangs up the boots, but he's rightfully proud of what he has accomplished to date.

"I've probably done more than I could have hoped to be honest and I think as a kid I wouldn’t say you're delusional, but you think you're going to be in the NBA and you'll make $100 million and nothing's going to stop you doing that," Magnay said.

"But as I've grown and being in different parts of the world and being on different journeys and meeting lots of different people, your values change and the why you do this evolves.

"I've just come to terms with knowing that if I just push myself to be the best that I can be, then I'll end up where I deserve or will get the opportunities I deserve or earn.

"It definitely has led me to a great career so far and hopefully I have a few more years left under my belt, but reflecting on it just briefly and I'm pretty proud of where I am and what I've done."