Blame Cameron Bruce. We would have kept him if we knew he was booting off.

Why would you cut a popular, hard at it Captain when he was clearly still in our best 22 and wanted to continue playing

Because the head is willing, but the flesh is weak? (7 weeks for a hamstring, and back through the VFL?)

FWIW, I thought we should have kept him, and still do, but can certainly understand the decision. Just think we should let this season run its course, and see how many games Junior actually plays.

Junior gets 2 weeks according to tweet from Martin Blake.

Edit: Confirmed in tweet from AFL

I feel sorry for McDonald - cops a 2 weeks suspension that'll take him 6 weeks to get over...

James McDonald rubbed out for two matches. That's an absolutely outrageous indictment on the MRP. The guy's an ornament to the game. A great Demon. Why do they always pick on our boys?

James McDonald rubbed out for two matches. That's an absolutely outrageous indictment on the MRP. The guy's an ornament to the game. A great Demon. Why do they always pick on our boys?

He's not one of our boys any more.

James McDonald rubbed out for two matches. That's an absolutely outrageous indictment on the MRP. The guy's an ornament to the game. A great Demon. Why do they always pick on our boys?

Maybe something to do with the fact that his "victim" has supposedly suffered a facial fracture?

Maybe something to do with the fact that his "victim" has supposedly suffered a facial fracture?

yeah and one of OUR BOYS would have got 6 weeks

He's not one of our boys any more.

Not one of our boys any more?

Oh ...

In that case I reckon he was lucky not to get rubbed out for three or four.

Roos, Sheahan and Healy all agreed earlier tonight (on On The Couch) that the MFC's decision to cut McDonald was the wrong one - entirely misconceived and premature. He would've contributed significantly last year, and potentially also this year.

Make of this what you will. I make of it that some of you are massively incorrect in your analysis on this issue.

Macca was good at racking up 30 nothing possessions .

There .... I said it .

Blame Cameron Bruce. We would have kept him if we knew he was booting off.

Bruce may not have left if we didn't cut McDonald though. Chicken and egg situation.

Query. Was James McDonald ever suspended by the MRP/Tribunal when he played with Melbourne?

Bruce may not have left if we didn't cut McDonald though. Chicken and egg situation.

My understanding was that Juniors treatment was one of the beefs to why Bruce left. I can understand the logic to why the club had to cull one senior player. Junior is not your average footballer. A rare breed that can play beyond the age of 34. And injuries were staring to impact on his game. Hindsight has shown that he may have deserved unique consideration but his delisting is totally logical given that most footballers never reach longevity like he has.

Edited March 26, 201213 yr by Jackie

I think the "mishandling" as Bailey later said was the timing. Junior should have been told earlier in the year that this was his last year and not left it until near the end of the season.

We can argue the merits of whether we think he would have added value for another year but at the end of the day lots of footballers get the tap on the shoulder - its just how you go about doing it.

come on.. if it didn't happen to be a rare occurence of a new side entering the comp he would have remained retired. Goes down as one of the all time great demons in my experience of following the club, but would be of little value for where we are currently at

Junior could just be a bit of an enforcer for GWS. That hit seemed quite calculated. I would imagine they're not too fazed having him slide back into a more conventional coaching role for a couple of weeks, then come back and serve it up to someone else.

Query. Was James McDonald ever suspended by the MRP/Tribunal when he played with Melbourne?

Never and I personally can't recall him being ever being reported.

Never and I personally can't recall him being ever being reported.

Thanks for the answer. Which raises the question...why now? Unlikely to be frustration caused by the game having "passed him by" as I understand he played quite well. Unlikely to be a lack of knowledge of the rules, given his experience on the MRP last year. So maybe it was just "one of those things" that happens (otherwise known as "being in the wrong place at the wrong time"), which shows that it could happen to anyone.

Thanks for the answer. Which raises the question...why now? Unlikely to be frustration caused by the game having "passed him by" as I understand he played quite well. Unlikely to be a lack of knowledge of the rules, given his experience on the MRP last year. So maybe it was just "one of those things" that happens (otherwise known as "being in the wrong place at the wrong time"), which shows that it could happen to anyone.

Or he was given instructions by Sheedy to set the tone. As a leader he went in and showed that they wouldn't be physically dominated and did his best to intimidate right from the start.

Never and I personally can't recall him being ever being reported.

Was reported in what I can find was early May in 2010.

"James McDonald (MELB), striking North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow: assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point), equaling five activation points, a Level Two offense, 125 demerits, and a one game suspension. His five year good record reduces the penalty 25% to 93.75 demerits. He accepted, reducing the penalty a further 25% to 70.31 demerits. As a result, he comes away with a reprimand with the demerits held over toward his future record."

Two weeks for that??!

They must have forgotten he ain't a Demon any more.

Two weeks for that??!

They must have forgotten he ain't a Demon any more.

And what would you have been saying if it was a Dees player he had cleaned up and left with a fractured jaw?

He probably would have gotten off scott free if that was the case hardtack.

Ahh I'm bitter.

Was reported in what I can find was early May in 2010.

"James McDonald (MELB), striking North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow: assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point), equaling five activation points, a Level Two offense, 125 demerits, and a one game suspension. His five year good record reduces the penalty 25% to 93.75 demerits. He accepted, reducing the penalty a further 25% to 70.31 demerits. As a result, he comes away with a reprimand with the demerits held over toward his future record."

Do demerit points carry over when a player moves to a new club?

Do demerit points carry over when a player moves to a new club?

I would imagine so. And the fact that he had last year away from AFL would mean that they are "put on hold" if he were ever to return, which he did.

Why are we talking about him, he doesn't play for us, and to top it off, he plays for "them".