Jump to content

Tom McDonald - How long do we wait?

Pates
Pates
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

3 hours ago, Pates said:

Going to start this by saying I think he still has the goods in him to get back to being a good power forward. Perhaps not the 50+ goal a year forward we need but still capable of 30-40+.

Having said that Tom has been poor for a while now. Like others he had injury issues coming into 2019 which made him start slow and aside from the Carlton game which he subsequently got injured, he never really played a game worth noting. Now in 2020, with a full pre-season of fitness under his belt, he has started with two poor games. The question in the title says it all: how long do we wait for him to turn it around?

This could potentially tie in with Weiderman and how he isn't being played, where if Tom's poor form continues and maybe if Sam is banging down the door, perhaps Sam takes on the full mantle of the FF role. 

I have long believed that Tom's form is massively linked to our ability to compete with the best, without a key forward target taking grabs, we look really lost as a team.

You will be waiting a long long time, Toms AFL career has mostly been underwhelming, I have very low expectations for what he will produce moving forward and I fear his trade value will be minimal at best. 

  • Quote
    • Like 1
     

    He found some form before a season ending injury in 2019. I think people are jumping off a bit prematurely. Yes Round 1 was not great but we've been bemoaning our forward entries in that game for the last 3 months so to a degree he was a victim of our ineptitude. Thought he started ok last week but Weitering got on top of him as the game progressed. The same Weitering that gave Tiger Tom Lynch a bath back in Round 1. Young man is a gun defender.

    Hopefully he gets Hooker this week & runs him ragged. Starting deep & working the 50

  • Quote
    • Like 2

    How long do we give him? Until the end of the season when we use our apparent cap space to chase a gun key forward free agent.

    Clearly has become our most pressing need now.

  • Quote
    •  
    2 hours ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

    MFC were more then happy to move him on to get May.  Goodwin has made a habit of getting rid of players that have off field issues (Watts, Hogan).  I agree with everything you have said above, the thought Tmac was the way of the future (maybe we thought Weid would come on as well) but it clearly hasn’t works over the past 1.5 years.  We need to trade in a decent forward next year to ease that pressure.

    Let's not rewrite history to suit the narrative

    Our defence badly needed fixing, defence is what wins you premierships, we went on a nice run in 2018  without Hogan but let's be honest we weren't really up there with the top 3 other sides.

    and and here are some facts

    Hogan wanted to get back to Perth, Melbourne did not move him on, but they saw an opportunity to fix our biggest deficiency.

    Watts needed to be moved and you will find a big call and say was made by the leadership group, in this. A big statement re committment by senior players was required 

    Edited by Pennant St Dee

  • Quote
    • Like 6

    yeah Tom was ordinary last year but there wasn't many who weren't.

    I think people are being a bit harsh on him calling for his head this early with a new look forward line.

    he kicked 2 goals from limited chances in R1. and he started well enough last week and got some good touches through half forward, before our ball movement slowed down then he got worked over by Weitering in the end.

    I certainly wouldn't expect him to dominate this week either with the team they've selected, but I think his main job might be to drag a key defender up the ground to give the other mid sized forwards like Hannan and Fritsch a better chance as the deeper marking forwards and also to leave space for the likes of Hunt and Kozzie to work back into. 

  • Quote
    • Like 3

    5 hours ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

    The MFC rolled the dice on Tom Mac after his 2018 form, they got rid of Hogan and replaced him with an expensive defender. That’s how confident they were in him.

    Tmac hasn’t fired a shot since 2018.  He looked as agile as cruise ship on Saturday night.  He has 1-2 matches to turn it around or he’ll be sitting next to his brother on the sidelines.

    Play him as a goal square forward with Fritta and Bennell Delivering the ball, that’s his only hope.

    Physical strength or high marking are not TMac's strengths.

    He is a tall running machine. Can't see him working as a stay at home fwd.

  • Quote
    • Like 2

     

    6 hours ago, TheKozzieExperience said:

    What we wouldn't give for a Neitz, Schwarz Lyon or Jakovich these days .

    Agree, the number of premiership flags they have between them is staggering

  • Quote
    • Haha 3
     

    He’s a good player.

    Something’s not right though (and it’s not his attitude). He was unreal in 2018 yet he’s been super ineffective ever since (but for that one game last year in which he re-discovered his form, and then got injured).

    For us to be good this year, McDonald simply needs to become more effective again. I can’t see Weideman holding down FF without some other KPP in the forward line, whereas I reckon Tom can.

    As as aside, I really like Melksham and Hunt in and around our forward line. They’re decent mid size forwards.

     

  • Quote
    • Like 3

    7 hours ago, faultydet said:

    Physical strength or high marking are not TMac's strengths.

    He is a tall running machine. Can't see him working as a stay at home fwd.

    He's not a player that plants his feet and defends a 360 degree radius of physical space like a natural fwd like Hogan did. Heck I saw more shades of Hogan in the way Fritsch wrestled and held out an admittedly weak Carlton opponent. When has TMac jostled and taken a one hander in the space he's made for the fall of the ball? 

    I think TMac and Weid are currently very straight line lead up run and jump players. Many clubs similarly dont have a natural gorilla fwd though, but have compensated by recruiting 200+cm lead up players that are aerially dominant due to height. 

    Here's hoping Tmacs bulk, clean hands and athleticism can return and give him an edge in a marking contest and he kicks 40+

    However we still might need to bring in that 200+cm marking forward though come end of the year and let go of one of Weid or TMac as I fear we just won't have any edge on the opposition when it comes to inside 50 marking contests. Unless Jackson fast tracks his physical gym development in the next 6 months and we back him in to come in and do an Aaran Naughton next year.

     

     

    Edited by John Demonic

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    4 hours ago, Half forward flank said:

    Odd comment, Would you say the same of Robbie Flower? 

    it's absurd really, like saying TMAC is currently above them all, because the future is unwritten. A brilliant player of a bygone era because they never won a premiership, couldn't make a bigger difference to a current team than a current player? Our forward line and wings in 94 or 2000 + our mids and defenders in 2020. There's our drought breaking premiership, thank you very much.

     

    Why show up on Sunday, the Bombers have recruited Premiership champion Jacob Townsend and he's better than any player we've ever had. He has the medallion to prove it. ?

    Edited by John Demonic

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    • Haha 1

    Cant help but wonder if we'd be better off with him returning to the backline and seeing if May Lever or even OMac can present with something. Nothin to lose imo

  • Quote
    22 minutes ago, Killer said:

    Cant help but wonder if we'd be better off with him returning to the backline and seeing if May Lever or even OMac can present with something. Nothin to lose imo

    Roos was the one that tried TMac fwd. I'd be highly surprised if Goodwin sprung a May or Lever up forward if we were behind and needed 3, 4 or 5 goals in the last, in the next month. The great irony is we're relying on a KPF that was discovered through a hail Mary experiment! May as well rtry another experiment, if it's not working.

    He might do it when the season is over like he did OMac. He strikes me more as a coach that needs to follow the same process, while the season is on the line. Like our inside 50 philosophy, keep doing it as much as possible until it eventually works. 

    Edited by John Demonic

  • Quote

    Put him back in defence. 
     

    I really miss the level of anxiety I got when he was in control of the ball and kicking back up the ground. 

  • Quote
    • Like 7
    • Haha 8
    • Shocked 1

    1 minute ago, TheKozzieExperience said:

    What does this even mean?

    I think he’s alluding to the fact that Tmac is a better player than all of those guys put together. 

  • Quote
    • Haha 2
    3 minutes ago, McQueen said:

    I think he’s alluding to the fact that Tmac is a better player than all of those guys put together. 

    Was a very weird comment thats for sure.

    Someone should tell him that T Mac has about 1/10th of the talent of those four guys I mentioned.   

  • Quote
    1 hour ago, Killer said:

    Cant help but wonder if we'd be better off with him returning to the backline and seeing if May Lever or even OMac can present with something. Nothin to lose imo

    May was a power full forward back in his under 18's days. 

    I remember I was watching the 2009 under 18 championships at Etithad Staduim at the time and I remember watching a 18 year Steven May absolutely dominate from full forward.

    He reminded me so much of David Neitz in his ability to crash pack and lead straight and hard.

    I'd love Goodwin to try it, but he won't.

  • Quote
    2 hours ago, Killer said:

    Cant help but wonder if we'd be better off with him returning to the backline and seeing if May Lever or even OMac can present with something. Nothin to lose imo

    He’s even worse down back than up forward.

     

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    14 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    May was a power full forward back in his under 18's days. 

    I remember I was watching the 2009 under 18 championships at Etithad Staduim at the time and I remember watching a 18 year Steven May absolutely dominate from full forward.

    He reminded me so much of David Neitz in his ability to crash pack and lead straight and hard.

    I'd love Goodwin to try it, but he won't.

    I think you've raised this before dazzle.

    These are the moves i would hope Goody would at least trial (on odd occasions) when all else isn't working.

  • Quote
    46 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    May was a power full forward back in his under 18's days. 

    I remember I was watching the 2009 under 18 championships at Etithad Staduim at the time and I remember watching a 18 year Steven May absolutely dominate from full forward.

    He reminded me so much of David Neitz in his ability to crash pack and lead straight and hard.

    I'd love Goodwin to try it, but he won't.

    Maybe it's time for the May, Weideman switch 'Daz'.

  • Quote
    1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    May was a power full forward back in his under 18's days. 

    I remember I was watching the 2009 under 18 championships at Etithad Staduim at the time and I remember watching a 18 year Steven May absolutely dominate from full forward.

    He reminded me so much of David Neitz in his ability to crash pack and lead straight and hard.

    I'd love Goodwin to try it, but he won't.

    I too wouldn’t mind seeing that, but not so keen on swapping for TMac. I just don’t think he’s got the necessary foot-speed to keep up with young gun forwards all day. 

  • Quote
    •  
    17 hours ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

    MFC were more then happy to move him on to get May.  Goodwin has made a habit of getting rid of players that have off field issues (Watts, Hogan).  I agree with everything you have said above, the thought Tmac was the way of the future (maybe we thought Weid would come on as well) but it clearly hasn’t works over the past 1.5 years.  We need to trade in a decent forward next year to ease that pressure.

    What off field issues did they have?

  • Quote
    16 minutes ago, BenF said:

    What off field issues did they have?

    Jump onto google mate, you’ll find them, I’m sure Demonland don’t want them mentioned on here.....

  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
    Reply to this topic...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 10

      The Sir Doug Nicholls Round kicks off in Darwin with a Top 4 clash between the Suns and the Hawks. On Friday night the Swans will be seeking to rebound from a challenging start to the season, while the Blues have the Top 8 in their sights after their sluggish start. Saturdays matches kick off with a blockbuster between the Collingwood and Kuwarna with the Magpies looking to maintain their strong form and the Crows aiming to make a statement on the road. The Power face a difficult task to revive their season against a resilient Cats side looking to make amends for their narrow loss last week. The Giants aim to reinforce their top-eight status, while the Dockers will be looking to break the travel hoodoo. The sole Saturday game is a critical matchup for both teams, as the Bulldogs strive to cemet their spot in the top six and the Bombers desperately want break into the 8. Sundays start with a bottom 3 clash between the Tigers and Kangaroos with both teams wanting to avoid the being in wooden spoon contention. The Round concludes with the Eagles still searching for their first win of the season, while the Saints look to keep their finals hopes alive with a crucial away victory. Who are you tipping and what are the best results for the Demons?

        • Like
      • 87 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREVIEW: Brisbane

      And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - “nam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is “every heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

        • Thumb Down
      • 9 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Hawthorn

      There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

      • 1 reply
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Footscray

      At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Brisbane

      The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

        • Sad
        • Love
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 270 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Hawthorn

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Demons loss to the Hawks. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

      • 53 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All