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

Remove this Banner Ad

Status
Not open for further replies.
School of hard knocks. Was immature, he's growing, the penny dropped & he's just begun to realise his potential. I reckon he won't be our best, but he will always lead from the front & I've got a feeling in a year or two, he should be primed to take over.

Standing up after the career he's had, after the season we've had, stands him in very good stead.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

I had written him off and boy did he stick it right up me in 2020. Awesome result. When our middle age is in such a questionable state, to have Luke have such a great year is really positive for stability over the coming years.

He’s going to be such an important cog throughout this rebuild.

The Corr acquisition helps him more then anyone imo. Corr plays lockdown, McDonald plays attacking HBF.
 
Rapt for Luke. A very worthy Syd winner for us in this otherwise poxy year.
 
Just about the biggest transformation I've seen from a North player. Well deserved.

His lockdown role was basically moulding him into a different player from his draft year and he just needed to, well, remember what he was doing when he was drafted!

I am quite cross with the way he was treated under Scott. Yes, he can play a lockdown role really well. Yes, he is reliable 1v1. Yes, we had 'better' players in those other positions. But to basically limit his output until 2017 (4 years since he was drafted!) and move him into a different role in the stoppages or on the wing, then proceed to drop him back in the backline, I can see why his form was 'all over the place'.

Shaw gave him the license to tag, lockdown, intercept and play off half-back as the designated user. When you are the designated user, that means the coach trusts that you are going to do something good with the ball. He did that remarkably well.

I wish we had that sort of confidence in him when we drafted him.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Shermanator said:
Click to expand...


Syd Barker would be rolling in his grave, he got cheap possessions in the backline because the ball was down there 90% of the time. Didn't think our season could have got much lower, sums up what these now ex coaches must have been thinking. Time to get back under the doona and wake up in 2021. Bring it on.
 
An absolute highlight this year was Luke. Busted a gut every week & so reliable down back.

Luke just kept giving as his belief in his ability grew. At the games you could see Luke was gutted when the team fell away.

I remember that video that showed his dance of delight with the team when he was officially drafted. It means the world to Luke & all the awards and accolades are richly deserved.
 
kangatime said:
What? Impressive that’s it’s just another account that got suspended because you’re rude and obnoxious?
Click to expand...

I'd have queried the Nostradamus aspect of it.

Luke was on the radar for 2-3 years leading into his recruitment. I remember a North podcast asking Donald about comparisons to Pavlich (he laughed) etc. Luke went to Utah as a 16yo with the group and was a top 10 pick. Played a really good VFL finals series in his draft year.

Not trying to ridicule anyone who supported him but picking Luke as a potential talent wasn't exactly needle in a haystack territory.
 
King Corey said:
I'd have queried the Nostradamus aspect of it.

Luke was on the radar for 2-3 years leading into his recruitment. I remember a North podcast asking Donald about comparisons to Pavlich (he laughed) etc. Luke went to Utah as a 16yo with the group and was a top 10 pick. Played a really good VFL finals series in his draft year.

Not trying to ridicule anyone who supported him but picking Luke as a potential talent wasn't exactly needle in a haystack territory.
Click to expand...

Of course not, he was a highly decorated kid, but that doesn't excuse the flip side of that coin, which is the blatant ignorance of his critics.

Luke didn't get enough kicks today = the sky is blue level stuff. These people have no fundamental feel for the sport. They basically consist of a mentality where a player hasn't reached their preconceived notions of where he should be relative to draft selection, and is therefore a fail. It's incredibly unsophisticated, myopic stuff.

It's the same with Ben McKay. Young North KPF has played bugger all AFL in 3 years and similar aged player XXX from club XXX is playing AFL and going well, therefore Ben McKay is a bust. It's kindergarten level football analysis.
 
step up said:
Syd Barker would be rolling in his grave, he got cheap possessions in the backline because the ball was down there 90% of the time. Didn't think our season could have got much lower, sums up what these now ex coaches must have been thinking. Time to get back under the doona and wake up in 2021. Bring it on.
Click to expand...

You're averaging 1.5 posts a year and you have used this years quota to come up with this stinking pile of dogshit.
 
step up said:
Syd Barker would be rolling in his grave, he got cheap possessions in the backline because the ball was down there 90% of the time. Didn't think our season could have got much lower, sums up what these now ex coaches must have been thinking. Time to get back under the doona and wake up in 2021. Bring it on.
Click to expand...

Changing lanes, what do you make of the draft prospects this year?
 
Was just on SEN and spoke very well. Was extremely positive for next year.
 
I like how in the Syd Barker voting system lots of players get lots of points if the team plays well and hardly any points are given in bad games. It means the overall winner has to - as Luke did - show up when the team is playing poorly, not just when the team is up and running.

Of course the ball was at the defenders' end of the ground more this year than usual. He still had to attack the game, the ball and his opponents, mark with courage, and use the ball with skill and intelligence, to pick up votes and win the medal. I think it's more meritorious if anything that he did all that and elevated his game in a season when no-one else could deliver any of that consistently.
 
step up said:
Syd Barker would be rolling in his grave, he got cheap possessions in the backline because the ball was down there 90% of the time. Didn't think our season could have got much lower, sums up what these now ex coaches must have been thinking. Time to get back under the doona and wake up in 2021. Bring it on.
Click to expand...

 
Did Luke win everything except young player of the year?

Clubman, Shinboner, Syd Barker.

From the outside it seems he may very well have been the glue holding what it could together.

If that's the case I actually think there is a decent prospect of him having the (C) next year.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

lockheed
Roo supporters in Canberra?
Replies
17
Views
384
lockheed
lockheed
amaz199
Autopsy Tale of two halves vs. Freo
16 17 18 19 20
Replies
493
Views
16K
tazaa
tazaa
Gasometer
Roast Bye bye Roo Mascots
Replies
4
Views
169
Gasometer
Gasometer
giantroo
News Roos' 2024 player goal songs
2 3 4 5
Replies
108
Views
3K
koshari
koshari
Liam Boy
AFLW #9: Emma Kearney - Shinboner #1 - 8 times AA from 8 seasons - Our Captain
2
Replies
45
Views
3K
Horace
Horace
Gasometer
Game Day Practice Game 2024 - Roos v Saints - Moorabin- 2pm ish
47 48 49 50 51
Replies
1K
Views
32K
Engimal v3
Engimal v3
Chief
Win Prizes Roos Tipping 2024 - Now Open - 🔥 - Reply IN when you join
Replies
11
Views
844
MRoos
MRoos

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top