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

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shimaburnsgrieg

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We all hope that Luke will fulfill his potential - god knows we need some players under 24 to do so on our current list.

The problem is that Luke is a hbf'er and I don't buy into him being able to progress to midfield status. That is wishful thinking (just like those thinking JZ can become a permanent forward.)

Luke is a hbf'er who is one paced and one sided. No one doubts his courage, his shinboner spirit and his effort - but at 23 and 70 odd games we should have seen a development in his game like others of his year have shown.

I haven't given up on him completely - Luke can still be a valuable member of the side - however the idea that Luke will be an elite player in the AFL - the type of player we all expected 5 years ago - is now looking like a reach.
How was LMac picked in front of a half a dozen players in the VFL - hasn't looked like it on the field and his indiscretion should have meant he missed senior play.

Perhaps BS 'backed him in' to come good on the night - hmmm...LMac needs to be dropped for a period of time and work out for himself if he wants an AFL career or not.
 
Head is too far up his own ass. Been hanging around McMillan for too long.

Doesn’t work hard enough on the track and it’s reflective in the fact that he was blowing half way through the 2nd quarter.

How the **** is his fitness not up to standard yet when he has been in the system for 4 years?
Would luv to see some data on his running patterns and repeat efforts because I can’t work out if he is the unfittest player in the AFL or the hardest working.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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LOL

You all built monuments to the bloke over summer and now you're pissing and moaning about him because he didn't star in torrential rain.

This board gets worse by the year.
 

Lavy_Panther

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Like it or not, if you * up like he did in the pre-season and turn in a round one performance like that you don't deserve to have excuses made for you.

I'm not saying having a few beers a couple of weeks back affected his performance tonight, but if you don't give yourself the best opportunity and run at it ahead of a season you operate under strict liability. Deserves to be called out.
 
Dec 27, 2017
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Head is too far up his own ass. Been hanging around McMillan for too long.

Doesn’t work hard enough on the track and it’s reflective in the fact that he was blowing half way through the 2nd quarter.

How the **** is his fitness not up to standard yet when he has been in the system for 4 years?

Where did you get that from? If he doesn’t work hard enough then none of them do
 

naturally north

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The club thought Luke was only worthy of a second rd selection, a bloody shame our hand got forced at the draft. Not his fault and yeah I wouldn't have been up for much in conditions the guys copped last night. A farce.

He'll be good footballer for us and have moments of brilliance along the way.
 
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This troll account still up and running?
Check how far back this account goes
I was here doing what I could during the dark days a decade ago
That club is gone
It is as if Scott came to the club to destroy everything it ever stood for and ment to those of us that had supported it since we were kids
 

Psychic Roo

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The club thought Luke was only worthy of a second rd selection, a bloody shame our hand got forced at the draft. Not his fault and yeah I wouldn't have been up for much in conditions the guys copped last night. A farce.

He'll be good footballer for us and have moments of brilliance along the way.
Wasnt great in jpt 1 either. Needs a rocket
 
LOL

You all built monuments to the bloke over summer and now you're pissing and moaning about him because he didn't star in torrential rain.

This board gets worse by the year.

Like it or not, if you **** up like he did in the pre-season and turn in a round one performance like that you don't deserve to have excuses made for you.

I'm not saying having a few beers a couple of weeks back affected his performance tonight, but if you don't give yourself the best opportunity and run at it ahead of a season you operate under strict liability. Deserves to be called out.

Both these points are valid.

I thought he was pretty average last night but who wasn't? I yelled at the telly because of him a few times but its hard to make accurate calls on a player in those conditions. He did seem noticeably out of sorts and I thought he didn't go when he should have at least twice but I've played in conditions like that and sometimes its just hard to move and get momentum forward - it could just be down to that.

He also got tripped running out of one tackle and done for HTB, ****ed a few kicks up (unlike every other player on the field) but contested hard in difficult conditions.

At the same time when the game needed winning he wasn't providing the leadership we needed. Not alone on that either.
 

arden station

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McDonald has his strengths - he is courageous and usually defends well in the air and on the ground. But he is one dimensional with his kicking and that technique is flawed.

He automatically wants to get his hips facing at least 45 degrees left of the target and wants at least a 5 or 6 pace run up every time he kicks the ball. It's the main reason he takes so much time to get the ball onto his boot after he decides to kick it - if his hips are facing straight or to the right, it takes him forever when you add the steps in. It is so predictable and he has no feigning skills to buy himself time. The opposition are all over it and it's why he gets caught and will get hammered from the blind side and his kicking is so predictable down field because he can't access the 180 degrees in front of him without a lot of risk.

He needs to develop alternate kicks where his hips are pointing straight, he's kicking from a couple of steps with combinations of the two. If he can do that, he'll be able to feign left and then step right and kick with straight hips, buying himself the time you need at AFL level and being able to quickly access the 180 degrees ahead of him without high risk that he'll mis kick it. Simpkin and Rioli take those skills to the extreme but most AFL players do this pretty well. It's so important from the backline to be able to do this against zones. Birchall, Enright and others make/made sure their hips aren't/weren't closed off like McDonald's are.

This is a player development issue. Coaches should have spent hours every week developing his techniques. Either way, he currently is limited in this area and will cause us frustration.
 

Johnny99

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On Friday night, did anyone else see LMac going back in a marking contest, only to pull out when he heard the calvary coming towards him ?

Wasn't that courageous that time.

That sort of sh1t is what got Bastinac shipped off to Brisbane.
 
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McDonald has his strengths - he is courageous and usually defends well in the air and on the ground. But he is one dimensional with his kicking and that technique is flawed.

He automatically wants to get his hips facing at least 45 degrees left of the target and wants at least a 5 or 6 pace run up every time he kicks the ball. It's the main reason he takes so much time to get the ball onto his boot after he decides to kick it - if his hips are facing straight or to the right, it takes him forever when you add the steps in. It is so predictable and he has no feigning skills to buy himself time. The opposition are all over it and it's why he gets caught and will get hammered from the blind side and his kicking is so predictable down field because he can't access the 180 degrees in front of him without a lot of risk.

He needs to develop alternate kicks where his hips are pointing straight, he's kicking from a couple of steps with combinations of the two. If he can do that, he'll be able to feign left and then step right and kick with straight hips, buying himself the time you need at AFL level and being able to quickly access the 180 degrees ahead of him without high risk that he'll mis kick it. Simpkin and Rioli take those skills to the extreme but most AFL players do this pretty well. It's so important from the backline to be able to do this against zones. Birchall, Enright and others make/made sure their hips aren't/weren't closed off like McDonald's are.

This is a player development issue. Coaches should have spent hours every week developing his techniques. Either way, he currently is limited in this area and will cause us frustration.

Interesting you bring up his kicking action. I think it was the last qrt where he had a free kick on the HBF pressed up against the boundary. His kick was smothered and the camera went to Brad Scott who angrily mouthed something along the lines of "he ******* does that all the time".

Hopefully we have the coaches in place to develop that part of Luke's game
 
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