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

[SpiderBurton22]

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I agree

 

[Snake_Baker]

His "defensive" work has been pretty good in a defence that's been under immense pressure.

His "offensive" work rightly deserves some criticism.

 

[Only Forwards]

His "defensive" work has been pretty good in a defence that's been under immense pressure.

His "offensive" work rightly deserves some criticism.

Bites off more than he can chew.

Needs to be more first option footy. However in our handball happy backline it's a minefield.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Bites off more than he can chew.

Needs to be more first option footy. However in our handball happy backline it's a minefield.

He's been coached to look for best options and his heavy one sidedness puts him under pressure. Teams put work in to Luke in order to close down his left side.

 

[Dan]

Are we though?

You may want it to be, but Luke is odds on to play more games than he misses this year.

Perhaps in a year that's already f***ed we look to see what other value we can get out of him.

I get this won't fit a hating on him narrative.

I don't hate him.

I'm just the only one that's willing to call out the nonchalant bullshit that comes with the clangers and this thinking that he thinks he can break all tackles that are laid on him.

I'd rather he hit targets on this so-called elite left foot and know his limitations as to when to try to break tackles. But there's more negative than there is good whenever Luke plays and criticism is fair.

With the exception of 18....the number 11 is probably the most sacred number a player can wear at NMFC and they let this guy wear it.

Most that dislike my criticism are probably the same individuals that posted all that father-son gun hype for years prior to the draft. Well...you ****ing got that s**t wrong. Yet how dare I critique a player who should have been a gun in reality is lucky to be in the 22.

 

[Arthur Cloke]

Re: Luke McDonald-Future Father Son

His nickname is Two Dogs. Already decided.

No straying from this. Kid is a gun.

Oh dear.

 

[blackshadow]

Re: Luke McDonald-Future Father Son Kid is a gun.

 

[kaboom kid]

I don't hate him.

I'm just the only one that's willing to call out the nonchalant bullshit that comes with the clangers and this thinking that he thinks he can break all tackles that are laid on him.

I'd rather he hit targets on this so-called elite left foot and know his limitations as to when to try to break tackles. But there's more negative than there is good whenever Luke plays and criticism is fair.

With the exception of 18....the number 11 is probably the most sacred number a player can wear at NMFC and they let this guy wear it.

Most that dislike my criticism are probably the same individuals that posted all that father-son gun hype for years prior to the draft. Well...you ****ing got that s**t wrong. Yet how dare I critique a player who should have been a gun in reality is lucky to be in the 22.

Yeah, this is spot on.... not sure Luke was ever really elite as a junior. Most neutrals at the time thought that 8 was a bit of a surprise /reach and our hand was forced by West Coast. That didn't stop a massive circle jerk on here about what a gun we had drafted. Now that's used as a stick to beat him with. Doubt there would be half the angst if he got drafted at 49. You can see why he had a promising junior career. He's wholehearted and courageous and can win the ball. But that's not enough at AFL level. He tries hard and defends well but his kicking makes him a liability on half back. He's just a mediocre AFL player, he doesn't have the talent to become elite. He'll get forced out if our list improves but history will show he had an OK career and played 150 games or so. Tom Murphy will get his spot thus year I reckon. Luke will be OK depth when we have injuries. When he finishes up I'll be grateful for his efforts , he tries hard and puts his body on the line.

 

[king rising]

How the * does this bloke still get a gig.... what a flawed system. Complete dud

 

[Mr north man]

How the **** does this bloke still get a gig.... what a flawed system. Complete dud

His Dad

 

[Horizons_00]

I reckon put him in the guts and get him to tag one of the crouch brothers

We got nothing to lose. We didn’t even know Jacobs could tag until Crocker made the call years ago

I don’t have the stats but he’s done some great defensive/shutdown jobs on players in the past

Try something different ffs

 

[Harris 10]

Mcdonald has tagged Sloane out of the game on two occasions I can remember, one in Hobart which was probably his best game for the club.

The criticism of Luke is over the top his competitiveness and defence has been reasonably good.
Needs to tidy up his decision making and disposal which has been poor.

 

[Friday Night Lights]

Mcdonald has tagged Sloane out of the game on two occasions I can remember, one in Hobart which was probably his best game for the club.

The criticism of Luke is over the top his competitiveness and defence has been reasonably good.
Needs to tidy up his decision making and disposal which has been poor.

Pretty sure Sam Gibson tagged Sloane in Hobart.

 

[Harris 10]

Pretty sure Sam Gibson tagged Sloane in Hobart.

He did as well.

 

[benbanjo]

Mcdonald has tagged Sloane out of the game on two occasions I can remember, one in Hobart which was probably his best game for the club.

The criticism of Luke is over the top his competitiveness and defence has been reasonably good.
Needs to tidy up his decision making and disposal which has been poor.

It would be over the top if it was only a few games, Luke has been serving up well below par performances for a long time now.
He needs to be dropped, so do a few others.

 

[Long Live the King]

Sending a player back to the magoos is not about questioning ability or loyalty its about confidence

 

[Marstermind]

Luke McDonald – 100 games​

The 128th player to play 100 games for the North Melbourne Football Club ​

Played: 99 Won: 51 Drawn: 0 Lost: 48​

Game 1 – Round 1, 2014 v Essendon (Docklands). Essendon 15.9-99 d. North Melbourne 9.6-60
Game 50 – Round 13, 2016 v Hawthorn (Docklands). Hawthorn 14.9-93 d. North Melbourne 11.18-84

Disposals
Game High: 34 (Round 11, 2018 v Brisbane Lions)
Season High: 463 (2017)

Kicks
Game High: 21 (Round 15, 2017 v Gold Coast, Round 23, 2017 v Brisbane Lions)
Season High: 276 (2017)

Handballs
Game High: 16 (Round 11, 2018 v Brisbane Lions)
Season High: 187 (2017)

Marks
Game High: 9 (Round 4, 2016 v Fremantle, Round 17, 2017 v Port Adelaide, Round 23, 2017 v Brisbane Lions)
Season High: 95 (2018)

Goals: 15 Behinds: 24​

Brownlow Medal Games
Nil*

* = Joins Ross Henshaw, Shannon Watt, Daryl O’Brien, Scott McMahon, Phil Ryan and John Reeves as NMFC players with 100 games and zero Brownlow Medal votes

Finals:
2014 Elimination Final v Essendon
2014 Semi Final v Geelong
2014 Preliminary Final v Sydney
2015 Semi Final v Sydney
2016 Elimination Final v Adelaide

Most Consecutive Games: 49 (Round 23, 2016 v Sydney to now)
Has played 99 of 120 games since debut

Honours
Rising Star Nomination (Round 4, 2014 v Sydney)

 

[ferball]

Ross Henshaw hey. Not the worst company on earth...

 

[andana]

Sending a player back to the magoos is not about questioning ability or loyalty its about confidence

Didn't hurt Cunners and Spitta to go back for a while.

 

[Tas]

Was he playing on Breust last week?

 

[Dirty_11]

We're past that.

I wouldn't have thought so.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[giantroo]

Was he playing on Breust last week?

Poppy.

 

[gokangas]

Luke is an interesting bloke. I think by now most of us expected more than he has shown. His stupid smile when he fuggs things up can be exasperating. His poor choices and questionable disposals can be infuriating. But when you have a set on someone everything looks worse than it is. Time to take a deep breath and have a better look at how he is progressing. I don't think he looks like reaching the lofty levels many of us hoped for but he is a serviceable player in general. Let's hope he can take that next step. I don't think so - maybe what we see now is it. But there is hope still.

 

[Tas]

Luke is an interesting bloke. I think by now most of us expected more than he has shown. His stupid smile when he fuggs things up can be exasperating. His poor choices and questionable disposals can be infuriating. But when you have a set on someone everything looks worse than it is. Time to take a deep breath and have a better look at how he is progressing. I don't think he looks like reaching the lofty levels many of us hoped for but he is a serviceable player in general. Let's hope he can take that next step. I don't think so - maybe what we see now is it. But there is hope still.

Barely serviceable isn't a great result from a top 10 pick. If his name was Clarke and he was a 2nd or 3rd round pick would he be playing 100 games or still be at the club?

 

[King Corey]

Congratulations to Luke for 100 games.

If I was predicting the future after quite a positive finish to 2013 on and off field I'm not sure this is how I'd have seen Luke's career or the team trajectory panning out.

Nonetheless he's done well to front up and put in for the last 6 seasons.