Like Cook, can play both forward and back.

Likens himself to Chad Cornes.

Fingers crossed.

TOM McDONALD

From the mfc website:

No.53 Tom McDONALD

Height: 194cm

Weight: 88kg

DOB: 18/09/92

Club: North Ballarat Rebels (Vic)

Bio: Highly rated tall forward/ruckman who hails from Edenhope in western Victoria. Travelled long distances to train and play with North Ballarat in the TAC Cup, so there's no doubting his commitment.

Tall ruckman come forward.

Has great endurance / work rate. Never stops running and presenting.

Can take pack marks as a forward and able to fly across packs as a ruckman and take marks.

Gets hands up to handball off.

Clean hands below knees.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/105364/default.aspx

And here we have BP's view, courtesy of the mfc website:

Selection No.53: Tom McDonald (North Ballarat)

Player profile

"He's a versatile tall that can play forward. He has a basketball background. All the talls have really good endurance, so with a three-man interchange bench and the fact that we have four talls that have 14.0-plus beep tests to go along with Jack Trengove, Tom Scully, Jack Grimes and Cale Morton ... we think they provide really good run and if they step up to the mark they'll take pressure off the rotations.

"We thought Tom could develop as a tall marking forward as well and we acknowledged that was an area that we needed to bolster in our list, but we were able to get what we were after at the opportunities that presented."

All of our draftee big men have 14+ beep tests!

Consistent with the way the game is going, but that is exceptional.

Also of note is that Cook & McDonald were teammates at North Ballarat.

And we have another Tom to go with our Jacks (& Lukes).

Do you think we have planned to draft players that will assist each other to settle in at the MFC. The last three drafts Bennell and Jetta, Trengove and Tapscott, Cook and McDonald

Tom McDonald footage

Coincidence, but a handy one.

No mention so far of his foot and hand skills. He mentions that one of his strengths is getting his hands free to dish off but not much else to go on. Can anyone comment? His kicking style doesn't look too flash.

I think the forward/ruck is becoming a really important position with the new interchange rule. Can no longer afford 2 'true' ruckman in the 21.

We now have Fitzpatrick and McDonald developing as key forward who can do ruck relief. I don't expect to see McDonald play for a while

McDonald looked okay in the highlights footage. It gets pretty hard to pick a superstar at #53 so I think the dees have done well stockpiling the forward/ruck type player to unsure we will have one top flight candidate come out of the most recent batch of players.

The more the merrier.

At 194cm, I don't see him making any impact in the ruck. Still, he might grow a bit. But he will take time to develop. Look to 2013/14 (same as Cook) for him to be ready for seniors. Unless he does grow, play him as a forward if there is any room left for a tall in the forward line alongside Watts, Cook, Jurrah and a second ruck (Spencer/Fitpatrick/Gawn) swappimg with Jamar. At his size, the beep tests are fantastic. Hope he can keep it up when carrying more muscle.

At 194cm, I don't see him making any impact in the ruck. Still, he might grow a bit. But he will take time to develop. Look to 2013/14 (same as Cook) for him to be ready for seniors. Unless he does grow, play him as a forward if there is any room left for a tall in the forward line alongside Watts, Cook, Jurrah and a second ruck (Spencer/Fitpatrick/Gawn) swappimg with Jamar. At his size, the beep tests are fantastic. Hope he can keep it up when carrying more muscle.

He can play forward or back.

How tall is Leigh Brown?

He managed to make an impact in the ruck, even before the advent of the substitute.

He can play forward or back.

Everything I have read says "forward or ruck". Can you quote a source?

How tall is Leigh Brown?

He managed to make an impact in the ruck, even before the advent of the substitute.

Against Sandilands? Or Jamar?

As a backup ruckman/forward, you can't ask for much more than them to compete.

Like Cook, can play both forward and back.

Likens himself to Chad Cornes.

Fingers crossed.

As a player only, I'd hope.

As a player only, I'd hope.

I don't mind players that have a C U Next Tuesday streak in them, provided they play for us.

Edited November 19, 201014 yr by E25

Bailey in his interview confirmed what I originally thought.

McDonald is the type of player that has suddenly become very valuable because of the new substitute role. He is able to ruck AND play as a key forward, which will allow us the flexibility of not playing two 'true' ruckman. That is the way the game is heading

Everything I have read says "forward or ruck".

I have read "versatile", but BP did say he could fill that forward KP and perhaps ruck - said there could be scope to grow a couple of centimetres...(currently 194cm)

Can run a 15.3 beep test which is ridiculous for a bloke his size.

The club sees him as a good fit for the substitute rule.

Likewise Fitzpatrick.

I do like this pick, and agree he "could" be a part time ruckman, i am talking 5 minutes each qaurter to relieve Jamar, similar type pick to Bennell and Jetta? went to watch one player who we were strongly interested in (Cook/Nat) then found i possible late smokey with some upside?

Watching his highlight reel i couldn't help but make a comparison between him and a young Drew Petrie. The way he moves, rucks and kicks are all really similar to the North big man IMO. Petrie has never been quite tall enough (197-198?) to play as a full-time ruckman, and with North's ruck stocks has never really had to, but when fit and firing, he's capable of taking the majority of forward-half ruck contests, and can provide a handy sized 2nd stringer if needed, as well as a full-time forward option.

Obviously it will take Tom quite a few years in the gym to put on the muscle get to Petrie's size, but he looks to have a good solid frame and is still young. I've no doubt he'll grow to at least 197cm by the time he is fully grown, being currently 194cm at 18 years of age. At that size he'll be able to at least provide a solid contest (people forget Jamar is on the short side for a ruckman at 198cm, and he does just fine). If we could get a player of that type out of McDonald, a late pick, i'll be thrilled.

Edited November 27, 201014 yr by Doggo