Thrilled for Oscar. 

Conflicted in my rage that Hunt missed out again 

Hunt next week , well done Oscar

On 5/31/2016 at 8:39 AM, Clint Bizkit said:

I don't understand how other teams like Hawthorn can develop players like Sicily in their VFL team for years but we are in such a rush to develop Oscar McDonald in the AFL team when for the first time we don't need to.

 

Because he's a total fringe player whereas OMac is seen as integral to our future defence. Totally different

A Melbourne player wins the weekly Rising Star, but I feel flat. 

Well done, but imo the wrong player got the nod. 

5 minutes ago, ProDee said:

A Melbourne player wins the weekly Rising Star, but I feel flat. 

Well done, but imo the wrong player got the nod. 

Quite possibly so, but I get the feeling that they know Hunt will play well next week and the week after, he's been very consistent in getting better each week.

 

 

17 minutes ago, ProDee said:

A Melbourne player wins the weekly Rising Star, but I feel flat. 

Well done, but imo the wrong player got the nod. 

a good example why rising star of the round should allow for multiple nominations......or for that matter, none.......depending just on the performances that round

Thanks for the egg on the face of most on here Oscar... me included..

 

Not sure about the egg on face calls... 

I think it's fair to say there have been many players who have received rising star noms who haven't gone on to be great players let alone 'stars'.

Oscar has battled away admirably this year thanks to Dunn and Garland losing their starting spots.

I wouldn't say Oscar has starred in the role. He has definitely settled into it though over the last month and I'm seeing less mistakes which is a positive.

Hopefully he has a big year in the gym and brings some new found aggression next year but his speed of foot and mind still worry me.

 

 

Ones thing for sure,Hunt will win the sprint on grand final day.

11 minutes ago, doc roet said:

Ones thing for sure,Hunt will win the sprint on grand final day.

I don't think they'll let him run...they'll want him to be able to run out the full four quarters of the grand final.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/melbourne-youngster-oscar-mcdonald-earns-round-21-rising-star-nomination/news-story/bd0a5a57457556909a611e69ded76a66

A delightful exchange between Oscar and Roos:

As Melbourne coach Paul Roos began Monday’s review of the win against Port Adelaide, a distracted McDonald was sprung chatting with Bernie Vince.

R: “...‘Oi, you right there, Oscar?’"

O:  “I’ve gone, ‘Oh, sorry, sorry, I’ll concentrate’ and he goes":

R:  ‘By the way, congratulations. You’re the rising star for this week’.

O: “So I thought I was going to get in a bit of trouble and then he’s backed up with that.”

“I thought that he was joking, and then after about five seconds he continued on with the review, doing all our trademark sort of stuff...“So I’ve thought, ‘Hang on. He’s not actually joking’. It was a surprise but I’ll take it.

But what was so important about the Vince chat which simply couldn’t wait? “We were organising a game of golf for (Tuesday),” McDonald said.

i thought t mac got his in his 13th overall, but o mac got his in his 13th in 2016 (and 15th overall)?

7 minutes ago, DemonAndrew said:

i thought t mac got his in his 13th overall, but o mac got his in his 13th in 2016 (and 15th overall)?

Quite right DA, my bad.  I misread the Media Release.  Have edited my post.

11 hours ago, Roost It said:

Because he's a total fringe player whereas OMac is seen as integral to our future defence. Totally different

I think that Omac and to a lesser extent Frost are a case of staying strong to the game plan whether or not the players are quite ready. I think that Omac has a long way to go however he shows the attributes that is valued by the coaching staff. I think that the coaching staff are willing to live with Frost's turnovers or running into trouble because he is always wanting to take the game on.

IMO Dunn and Garland are probably more reliable than either of the two mentioned however both Dunn and Garland's major flaw is they are not play on and move the ball on at all costs footballers. Tmac, Omac and Frost are the future and the way we want to play. Even if they all do not make it long term I think the coaching staff has made it clear what sort of key position defenders the club wants. Key position defenders that can defend but most importantly, can also attack.

9 hours ago, hardtack said:

I don't think they'll let him run...they'll want him to be able to run out the full four quarters of the grand final.

It is only 8.45am hardtack but you have my vote for comment of the day.

Winner!

9 hours ago, hardtack said:

I don't think they'll let him run...they'll want him to be able to run out the full four quarters of the grand final.

Great call haha. Well done to McDonald, he deserved it. Hunt was a bit stiff, but there can only be one. 

On 23 May 2016 at 7:49 AM, H_T said:

I was impressed with his pre-season form. He's obviously well liked within the club, and I dare say has the right character traits and belief that will establish himself as a regular over time. He's raw, green and is as keen as mustard to improve - much the same as his brother Tom came on after a few years in the system.

The premature calls for his head are ridiculous.

Good call HT.

Oscar's a single figure golfer,too.

A really modest guy with heaps of talent.

1 hour ago, McQueen said:

Good call HT.

Congrats to Oscar for his nomination. And well ell done to the FD in their development of Oscar to date. He is coming on as expected at AFL level and has a few strings to his bow.

Oscars speed is not that a bigger issue for me. To me his reading the play and ability to spoil, intercept mark are improving each outing. 

His strength, endurance and agility are on the rise. 

Great pickup IMO.

 

 

10 minutes ago, H_T said:

Congrats to Oscar for his nomination. And well ell done to the FD in their development of Oscar to date. He is coming on as expected at AFL level and has a few strings to his bow.

Oscars speed is not that a bigger issue for me. To me his reading the play and ability to spoil, intercept mark are improving each outing. 

His strength, endurance and agility are on the rise. 

Great pickup IMO.

 

 

Agree on all fronts HT but particularly his improved reading of the play. 

I think his confidence is on the rise as well (which often a natural by product of coaches showing confidence in a player).  He is a good kick i reckon and is stating to use that skill. One bit of play from Saturday night comes to mind. He had the ball inside their 50 or thereabouts) and had a player on his own on the wing. Instead he elected to kick toward the corridor to a player (forget who) that had Port players in the vicinity. A much more difficult kick (he had to kick slightly across his body) and certainly much riskier as a turnover would have almost certainly resulted in Port have a scoring opportunity. He nailed the kick and i'm pretty sure we took it up the end and scored a goal.

A gutsy play that fitted perfetly with our attacking game plan of whenever possible getting the ball thought the middle channel. I have no doubt the coaches encourage him and others (Frost post match said as much) to take this sort of risk. Good coaching and again reflects the importance of getting game time into layers like OMac

19 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Not sure about the egg on face calls... 

I think it's fair to say there have been many players who have received rising star noms who haven't gone on to be great players let alone 'stars'.

Oscar has battled away admirably this year thanks to Dunn and Garland losing their starting spots.

I wouldn't say Oscar has starred in the role. He has definitely settled into it though over the last month and I'm seeing less mistakes which is a positive.

Hopefully he has a big year in the gym and brings some new found aggression next year but his speed of foot and mind still worry me.

 

 

nicely summed up

I was/am certainly among those that considered his best path was more time in the magoos. Lucks a fortune, on all counts it seems.  You do have to congratulate those that seize opportunity when it present s and make the most of it.

Well done Oscar

I think there would have been plenty of times through the year the football department could've taken the easy option (and the option a lot on the forum were calling for) and drop him to bring in some experience. But they stuck fat with him, and his second half to the year has been much improved. 

Well done Oscar and well done footy department. 

Never in doubt.

Dunn and Garland were dropped because they couldn't or wouldn't play the game plan that the FD required.  The conventional wisdom in this thread in favour of dropping Oscar was that he should go back to the VFL to learn his craft.  Who from - Dunn and Garland?  

As others have posted, back line cohesion is a key factor and the only way to get that is by playing together.  Oscar showed at AFL level that he is prepared to play the way the FD required and despite his need for physical development that's why the FD has persisted with him and now that Tom, Sam and Oscar have played together for a period it's bearing fruit.

Posters would benefit from a bit of patience and taking the longer view.

I think there are differences between back line and forward line play and that's why the FD have persisted with Weed and Hulett at Casey where they can work on the individual development.

9 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

I think there are differences between back line and forward line play and that's why the FD have persisted with Weed and Hulett at Casey where they can work on the individual development.

That's a good point. I doubt anyone would argue that we have not really improved our player development in the last 3 years. More and more getting McCartney to the club seems and inspired move, and Jennings for that matter.

From a development perspective the club obviously believe OMac's development is bets served by playing senior footy and as you say Weed and Hullet playing VFL. in Hullet's case he is bigger and stronger than OMac so is suspect he could handle the rigors of AFL but that's not the point.