DEMONS’ SMART MCDONALD PLAY CAN NOW REAP REWARDS

COLLINGWOOD wasn’t the only club desperately trying to clear cap space last year as Melbourne tried to find Tom McDonald a new home anywhere across the AFL.

McDonald’s lucrative contract signed midway through his 53-goal season in 2018 was the single impediment to him finding a new home.

He was footy’s greatest enigma, a 194cm key forward with a massive tank who in two years had gone from AFL star to playing scratch matches in the back blocks of Brisbane during COVID.

Yet while Collingwood burnt bridges with the stars it jettisoned, the aborted trade never torched the relationship between Melbourne and McDonald.

Now with Sam Weideman and Ben Brown sidelined with medium-term injuries, Melbourne has never needed McDonald more. But the mature manner in which Melbourne and McDonald approached that deal — making a plan for the 2021 season — at least provides hope that he can reclaim his mantle as an AFL power forward.

During an AFL season in which McDonald made only nine appearances for a miserable seven goals one, he just never stopped training.

He hired a personal trainer, ran every second day, and returned to the playing weight that made him one of the AFL’s best power runners.

His manager, Alex McDonald, told the Herald Sun that McDonald and Melbourne found a way to explore a trade without weeks of back-stabbing and intrigue.

“Full credit to Tommy but also Melbourne,” Alex McDonald said.

“The two parties worked together and worked through his future. There wasn’t really any fallout.

“The club was really open with Tommy that as the list evolved there wasn’t a spot there.

“That reflected in his selection. They were very good in saying if a trade doesn’t work out, we will welcome you back with open arms.”

As it turned out, his significant wage meant clubs such as Essendon — which was mentioned as a potential suitor — never made more than cursory inquiries.

McDonald’s pre-season had been so exemplary that he had been training on a wing in anticipation of a new role, but Demons best-and-fairest winner David Schwarz says he must play forward.

“I see him in that endurance, gutrunning, Nick Riewoldt-type of role,” Schwarz said.

“He will never be Nick Riewoldt but you can work your arse off up the ground and make it uncomfortable for key defenders and push up and then outwork them on the way back.

“He isn’t going to stand and outwrestle defenders like Jon Brown, he’s got the tank and he needs to use it.

“He isn’t a high-flying player, he isn’t Jason Dunstall on the lead, but he has to have many good weapons instead of having two or three great weapons.

“He kicks it well and anywhere between 30 to 60 goals should be his go-zone.”