Farewell Oscar McDonald

[Graeme Yeats' Mullet 6,778]

2 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

My 2 favourite Oscar moments.  1 - gets shunted aside by Jack Stevens in the goal square who goes on to kick the sealer.

2. Darwin v Crows. Marks the ball at half back, no Crows within 80 metres of him.He just stands there clueless until nearby Dees supporters start screaming at him to run. After what seems like an eternity a light bulb comes on & he runs off & kicks it.

Brilliant back-head falcon spoil to drive the last nail into the Geelong coffin in FW1 2018

 

[DubDee 25,915]

Tough break O Mac. Would have been a borderline call.  I reckon the saints or another team will snap you up

[Undeeterred 3,124]

4 hours ago, Dr.D said:

Thank God. He was a liability for so many years. And it just goes to show how blinded and biased some demonlanders are. For people, including the mfc, to expect to get a trade for OMac highlights just how misguided and biased their opinions are. He was the Jack Watts of the backline. And was gifted most of his games.

Well that’s a pretty dumb statement, given we got a trade for Watts.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

He was never as bad as many of us (myself included) felt when he played poor games.

Ultimately he was a solid but flawed footballer who didn't improve enough to press beyond those 81 games.

No shame in that, but IMO the right call for our list moving forward.

[nosoupforme 3,085]

Oscar was not born with the natural ability however he did apply himself and held his head high against some very good forwards.

I feel for a person that played 81 games and gave his best at times in a struggling side. 

Good luck Oscar and hope that you find a new home. Some team might be able to use you in some capacity. I am sure l am not alone in wishing you the very best of luck. 

 

[spirit of norm smith 16,477]

50 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

He was never as bad as many of us (myself included) felt when he played poor games.

Ultimately he was a solid but flawed footballer who didn't improve enough to press beyond those 81 games.

No shame in that, but IMO the right call for our list moving forward.

Nailed it .  But Georgiades and Mcinerney as rookies destroyed him and that was the final belated nail. 

[Elegt 872]

52 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Sure.

What was "constructive" about your comment that 70 of his 81 games were "gifted"?

That he needs to play with more intensity. He seemed like he was playing in slow motion 

[Pennant St Dee 13,240]

Thanks for your service Omac in the red and blue, had a patch in 2017 where you really showed confidence and inroads but alas it wasn't to be. 80 odd games more than I ever played, good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Some of you posters really need to have a look at yourself. Total lack of class by some and please don't use "this is a fan forum" as a pathetic excuse

[No10 461]

3 hours ago, mcduff said:

Was very sick,  on iv antibiotics  for severe infection  that game, and was played anyway! You never know the full story, one very tough young man actually 

Tough and also very well liked by teammates it seemed.

At only 24 with 80 games I hope he’ll be picked up. Geelong could be a good match, with Taylor gone, Henderson nearing the end.

@frankie_d That QB Watts goal might just be my favourite ever Dees moment.

[58er 6,460]

4 hours ago, No10 said:

Tough and also very well liked by teammates it seemed.

At only 24 with 80 games I hope he’ll be picked up. Geelong could be a good match, with Taylor gone, Henderson nearing the end.

@frankie_d That QB Watts goal might just be my favourite ever Dees moment.

Certainly one I (we) we will never forget 

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

The right call.

Could mean that Harrision Petty has his body right too, which would be exciting.

[58er 6,460]

5 hours ago, No10 said:

Tough and also very well liked by teammates it seemed.

At only 24 with 80 games I hope he’ll be picked up. Geelong could be a good match, with Taylor gone, Henderson nearing the end.

@frankie_d That QB Watts goal might just be my favourite ever Dees moment.

thank you Oscar 

Unfairly blamed for midfield errors and lack of backline skill.

As goalkeeper your stats would be far better than people imagine especially your disposal which was in AFL standards quit ok.

Good luck in your career and life and be proud of what you achieved  Fir our mighty Demons. 

 

[BDA 22,759]

Why were some so triggered by OMac? Of all the players to attract the ire of the supporter base he seems such an unlikely candidate to me. Limited player I agree but I always felt the effort was there.  

I think its best for him to be delisted and hopefully be picked up elsewhere. Give him a chance to play his footy and rebuild his career without us jumping all over him everytime he makes a mistake.

[Melbournepotter 381]

7 hours ago, Elegt said:

That he needs to play with more intensity. He seemed like he was playing in slow motion 

To me, that sums up Oscar in the main. When he played with intensity and aggresion I thought he looked ok but those games were few and far between. His first game back after being dropped, I thought he was good, but he then reverted back to appear to be just going  through the motions in further games.  

[titan_uranus 25,020]

8 hours ago, Elegt said:

That he needs to play with more intensity. He seemed like he was playing in slow motion 

Well why didn't you say that?

You don't get to hide behind the "it's constructive criticism" line when all you post is "about 70 of those [games] were gifted". 

[Pates 9,660]

8 hours ago, Dr.D said:

Melbourne has spoken and every other afl team has said that they wouldn't give anything up for him. So that's his value, 0.  A big lesson for everyone to not overrate our own players. 

Or they knew he would likely be delisted and decided to wait to pick him up for nothing. 

As a random aside, the club must have known a little while ago that he wasn’t going to be retained for next year. Why didn’t they just delist him prior to the trade period, did we actually think we’d potentially get something of trade value for him?

I wish people would actually show him a little bloody respect, it’s like him being on the list has somehow been offensive. He wore the red and blue, played some good games in 2018 (our happiest year for a while); thanks for the service and good luck. 

[binman 43,129]

A sad announcement.

I have been following the dees passionately for forty odd years (defined by regular attendance at games) and in all sincerity Omac is one of my all time favorite MFC players.

My favorite demon players over my time of watching them are not necessarily among the best players in their respective team, indeed of my favorites probably only Robbie  was the best in the teams he played with. 

My favorite players are generally those whose effort and work ethic are perhaps greater attributes than their talent. Talent is overrated. Perhaps some might describe them as journeymen, a phrase I've never understood being used as a pejorative. 

Some of my favorites include:

• Ray Biffen (thanks Ray for signing my dees club song fable single) 
• Russel 'Rhino' Richardson (thanks Rhino for that game you won us at Princess Park after Leigh Matthews assaulted Steve Smith)
• Peter Giles (thanks Pete for taking on bigger opponents  week i week our - and your hair, of course) 
• Garry baker (what more needs to be said),
• Spud Dullard (best name in footy and thanks for rucking against the monsters of the 70s)
• Sugar Healy (thanks for being captain at tight time and unlike your brother remaining true)
• Jack Watts (thanks for your class - oh and you brilliant 2017 season which ensured PD had to use you avatar for a time)

All made terrific contributions to the club I have long loved, a club i could only dream of representing.  

And most important of all everyone them seem to be really great people. Respect.

And much respect Omac. Thanks for your contribution and joy you brought me. I really hope you continue your AFL journey. If not, no biggie, someone so smart and hard working will do great things.

And how many people get to play near on 100 games of football or play consecutive finals at a packed MCG heaving with delirious dees fans. Well played sir.  

One thing though. As i posted some time ago I tricked my family of naming our dog Oscar. But as my wife is German, unbeknownst to me, she registered his name as Oskar, which is the name on his dog tag. Apologies for that oversight Oscar. But I do wonder if its is fated and Oskar Baker will become one my favorites too. 

 

[drysdale demon 4,837]

14 hours ago, Elegt said:

Yes they were. To think not is just naive 

You are just bagging for the sake of bagging him, that's all.

[poita 3,902]

Really disappointed with this decision. I like Oscar as a player and think he has been harshly treated by the coaching staff over the past two years.

Both Frost and McDonald are now gone from the defence that took us to a preliminary final, and the star replacements have, far from improving us, actually made us worse.

We are now critically light on for genuine key defenders and are now only an injury to May away from having Lever and Smith / Hore in the key defensive posts. That is a huge concern to me, particularly when you consider what the twin towers at Geelong, Richmond or West Coast could do against such feeble opposition.

I wish Oscar well, and hope that he can find a new club as a delisted free agent. I suspect there are plenty of clubs out there looking for a ready made defender on the cheap.

[drdrake 3,178]

I think Oscar will get another opportunity at AFL level, someone will pick him up as a Delisted Free agent

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Oscar's not in our best 22, but he has been a loyal MFC player and (in my observation, at least) is a quality person.

In this context, it's not without a touch of irony that one reads some of the slander here about him, given that:

- he is apparently one of the more intellectually gifted players in the AFL; and

- outside of football, he has done very well academically and has excellent career prospects.

He just also so happened to play 80 plus games for the Melbourne Football Club.

That, to me, is a successful person every day of the week. He ought feel very proud of himself, as I'm sure his family does.

Good luck to the bloke.

 

[Cranky Franky 2,065]

2 hours ago, binman said:

A sad announcement.

I have been following the dees passionately for forty odd years (defined by regular attendance at games) and in all sincerity Omac is one of my all time favorite MFC players.

My favorite demon players over my time of watching them are not necessarily among the best players in their respective team, indeed of my favorites probably only Robbie  was the best in the teams he played with. 

My favorite players are generally those whose effort and work ethic are perhaps greater attributes than their talent. Talent is overrated. Perhaps some might describe them as journeymen, a phrase I've never understood being used as a pejorative. 

Some of my favorites include:

• Ray Biffen (thanks Ray for signing my dees club song fable single) 
• Russel 'Rhino' Richardson (thanks Rhino for that game you won us at Princess Park after Leigh Matthews assaulted Steve Smith)
• Peter Giles (thanks Pete for taking on bigger opponents  week i week our - and your hair, of course) 
• Garry baker (what more needs to be said),
• Spud Dullard (best name in footy and thanks for rucking against the monsters of the 70s)
• Sugar Healy (thanks for being captain at tight time and unlike your brother remaining true)
• Jack Watts (thanks for your class - oh and you brilliant 2017 season which ensured PD had to use you avatar for a time)

All made terrific contributions to the club I have long loved, a club i could only dream of representing.  

And most important of all everyone them seem to be really great people. Respect.

And much respect Omac. Thanks for your contribution and joy you brought me. I really hope you continue your AFL journey. If not, no biggie, someone so smart and hard working will do great things.

And how many people get to play near on 100 games of football or play consecutive finals at a packed MCG heaving with delirious dees fans. Well played sir.  

One thing though. As i posted some time ago I tricked my family of naming our dog Oscar. But as my wife is German, unbeknownst to me, she registered his name as Oskar, which is the name on his dog tag. Apologies for that oversight Oscar. But I do wonder if its is fated and Oskar Baker will become one my favorites too. 

 

If you like them so much show some respect & spell their names correctly

- Its Ray Biffin not Biffen and Rhino Richards not Richardson

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

9 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

The right call.

Could mean that Harrision Petty has his body right too, which would be exciting.

Petty is more suited as a medium mobile forward imv.

I would say the FD is banking on Hore coming back in to cover as he can play on a 3rd tall alongside May/Lever and offers a very good rebound prospect alongside the likes of Hibb and Rivers.

If he can clean up his disposal skills (and yes it's a big if) he will be a great asset down back but this might be his achilles.  Time will tell.  Outside of his disposal skills his numbers in 2019 were mostly at an elite level.

Good luck to Oscar from here.  My biggest concern is why / how it took the FD (including Goody) so long to work out that he just wasn't up to it and why they decided (Macca &/or Goody!?), very early on in his career, that he was a better bet than Dunn going forward.

While i am speculating and could be wrong, from the outside it appeared some within the FD was/were playing favourites.  And this method rarely turns out for the best in professional team sports i would think. Just play the best you have available.

When all is said and done the player's long term ability to perform and their ability to sustain a winning competitive mind set /edge (when placed in a non-discriminatory, albeit fair but tough, match selection system) should likely result in a more favourable 'team' biased outcome that in theory should produce more wins/success in general over all time periods.

Trying to pick and choose winners so early on in a colt's career is surely a high risk venture that is likely to come unstuck on occasions.

Edited November 18, 2020 by Rusty Nails

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,859]

I humbly admit I was wrong. 

For 47 years I thought Melbourne supporters were different to those of other clubs. Although we have been, in the main, inept for those years, I thought we had the capacity to show some dignity, respect and, for most of us at least, unconditional love for the institution and by implication, its players.

But I was in denial and delusional. 

What I have learnt from this thread is that many are just as egotistical, righteous, ignorant, envious and insecure bully(boys) as other clubs' supporters and those in the broader community. Oscar is not the enemy, just the mirror. It would serve some to cease projecting their own inner demons (pun not intended) on a soul who gave his best and take a deep look inside their hearts and take stock of their own defects of character. The MFC would be better served, and by implication, the broader society, if we appreciated people like Oscar who's been nothing but a demonstration of grace, decency and commitment.

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,859]

1 minute ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

I humbly admit I was wrong. 

For 47 years I thought Melbourne supporters were different to those of other clubs. Although we have been, in the main, inept for those years, I thought we had the capacity to show some dignity, respect, and for most of us at least, unconditional love for the institution and by implication, its players.

But I was delusional. 

What I have learnt from this thread is that many are just as egotistical, righteous, ignorant, envious and insecure bully(boys) as other clubs' supporters and those in the broader community. Oscar is not the enemy, just the mirror. It would serve some to cease projecting their own inner demons (pun not intended) on a soul who gave his best. Maybe some should look inside their own hearts and take stock of their own defects of character before attacking, in a very personal way on occasions, a decent man. The MFC would be better served, and by implication, the broader society, if we appreciated people like Oscar who's been nothing but a demonstration of grace, decency and commitment.

I for one hope he finds a home elsewhere and makes it to 100 games. It would be great credit to his commitment, determination and willingness to success in an endeavour where he is not, by any means, as naturally gifted as most of his peers. Go Oscar.