Player Watch #11: Luke "Two Dogs" McDonald - Roo til end '26

[Gasometer]

Can we change up the title?

Did the crime paid the time and thst

 

[Twinkletoes]

Can we change up the title?

Did the crime paid the time and thst

Done. Lesson learnt apparently.

 

[King Hansen]

*! Even Dom ******* Sheed is playing better footy than this guy..

 

[Snake_Baker]

****! Even Dom ******* Sheed is playing better footy than this guy..

Career best ranking

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I don’t quite understand why we have chucked him back into defence, it has stifled his development in the past, so why persist with it.

 

[WesternRoo]

I don’t quite understand why we have chucked him back into defence, it has stifled his development in the past, so why persist with it.

Completely agree with this. You can tell he hates it and is terrible at it.

He is slow off the mark (despite being quite quick after the first 5-10) which just allows his man too much room.

He honestly looks like an amateurs player who has got home at 1am and smashed some maccas the night before a game

 

[Yoko and me]

Why have we got an opposition supporter derailing the Luke McDonald thread bagging our club?

Agree. No time for albatross utensil-knuckles.

Go and get some help mate. You are far from your best self.
Stop watching north if it hurts. Put a record on and

 

[tazaa]

Garlett picked his pocket and it senses to me not all is well.

All preseason he is touted as moving into the middle.
Stuffs up by having a drink in Tasmania.
Gets suspended for JLT 2.
Starts year off disgustingly in Gold Coast and stays in defence for the next two rounds after being promised midfield time.

Me thinks he doesn’t have the tank to go into the middle or he’s being punished by being stationed in defence.
Considering he blows up by the second quarter I can see why he’s in the backline but I wonder if there is more to it.

Not enjoying his football at all.

 

[the big lebowski]

Garlett picked his pocket and it senses to me not all is well.

All preseason he is touted as moving into the middle.
Stuffs up by having a drink in Tasmania.
Gets suspended for JLT 2.
Starts year off disgustingly in Gold Coast and stays in defence for the next two rounds after being promised midfield time.

Me thinks he doesn’t have the tank to go into the middle or he’s being punished by being stationed in defence.
Considering he blows up by the second quarter I can see why he’s in the backline but I wonder if there is more to it.

Not enjoying his football at all.

I hope you're wrong, and I think you are. I do agree that he remains not up to the level expected fitness wise. But I think he's building into the season.

He's played 2 out of 3 good games IMO. Certainly not great games which is disappointing.

 

[roojor]

Actually thought he was OK on Saturday we have a lack of genuine backmen and when Sam wright is available McMillan or luke will be moved onto the wing. Melbourne played a small forward line as well Hogan played up the ground our backline looked pretty shaky especially as we were smashed out of the middle in the second half

 

[roos_fanatic08]

I don’t quite understand why we have chucked him back into defence, it has stifled his development in the past, so why persist with it.

Especially when we have such a huge midfield void

 

[Passmore]

I'm sure most players want to play in the middle. Unfortunately not everyone can play where they fancy.

Either as a wingman or attacking half back, he's still going to need to defend.

If we move him, Macmillan and Clarke out of defence, who plays there?

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[Snake_Baker]

I'm sure most players want to play in the middle. Unfortunately not everyone can play where they fancy.

Either as a wingman or attacking half back, he's still going to need to defend.

If we move him, Macmillan and Clarke out of defence, who plays there?

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This is the thing. People think there are solutions to the midfield shortage currently playing in other positions and the VFL. There aren't.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

I'm sure most players want to play in the middle. Unfortunately not everyone can play where they fancy.

Either as a wingman or attacking half back, he's still going to need to defend.

If we move him, Macmillan and Clarke out of defence, who plays there?

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Murphy, Nielson, Ahern, Mountford, Wright.

Take your pick!

McMillan, Clarke and McDonald are going to be better served being involved in midfield rotations

 

[Passmore]

Murphy, Nielson, Ahern, Mountford, Wright.

Take your pick!

McMillan, Clarke and McDonald are going to be better served being involved in midfield rotations

When Wright is ready yes. I get the impression from Scott's comments that Ahern is a way off. Anyway doesn't he fall into the same category as Luke etc..

Murphy may force hus way in at some point. Nielson doesn't help with the rebound we require off hb.

We need hb who can create and set up attack. Luke can do that.

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[Val Keating]

I'm sure most players want to play in the middle. Unfortunately not everyone can play where they fancy.

Either as a wingman or attacking half back, he's still going to need to defend.

If we move him, Macmillan and Clarke out of defence, who plays there?

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Understand that, but it doesn’t make sense to spend the whole summer training him as a midfielder only to play him as a defender.

 

[The Nostradamus]

play him as a genuine mid for the rest of the year

backline should be
Marley Thompson Daw
Clarke Tarrant EVW

 

[Passmore]

Understand that, but it doesn’t make sense to spend the whole summer training him as a midfielder only to play him as a defender.

Players need to be adaptable. He's spent enough time in defence to be comfortable there.

He should be our set up man across hb. Pushing forward when he can. If he's not that he's a defensive wingman.

Hartung is our offensive winger. That's no changing anytime soon.

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[king rising]

Pathetic start to the year.

 

[Groin guru]

Pathetic start to the year.

I think he needs to acknowledge that he is unable to stop on his own, the recovery process can begin after that.

 

[GreatBradScott]

Hasn't been great, but as mentioned earlier, a victim of a personnel shortage down back.

 

[Ischenko]

Actually don't think he was to bad on the weekend, he attacked the footy ferociously, tried to create and took the game on. Certainly an improvement on the first two rounds. As above, I think he needs to accept that his ideal place in the side is as a defensive winger, who can do a bit of good work in congestion when required and still drift forward and bang some long goals. I wonder if complacency might be a bit of an issue for him considering his somewhat unique path to the elite level...

 

[Heaps of fun]

Took some of the strongest grabs he ever has at AFL level. Slowly building into the season.

 

[Val Keating]

Actually don't think he was to bad on the weekend, he attacked the footy ferociously, tried to create and took the game on. Certainly an improvement on the first two rounds. As above, I think he needs to accept that his ideal place in the side is as a defensive winger, who can do a bit of good work in congestion when required and still drift forward and bang some long goals. I wonder if complacency might be a bit of an issue for him considering his somewhat unique path to the elite level...

Agree he wasn’t that bad. He was named in our best five in most write ups.

 

[Billy Not Really]

I reckon he plays better footy the closer forward he is, so him being full back just doesn't work out. He's better off half-back and near midfield.