Tom McDonald is one of the comeback stories of the season, and it could end in premiership glory. Photo: AFL MEDIA
Few players are mounting substantial challenges to journeyman Tom Hickey’s claims to being the AFL’s feelgood story of the season.
Hickey, now at his fourth club in a fourth separate state after stints at Gold Coast, St Kilda and West Coast, has exceeded all expectations since being targeted by Sydney to fill a hole in its ruck department.
But a pair of spearheads south of the border in Victoria are making decent cases by reviving their own careers in 2021.
And with every goal that sails between the big sticks from the boots of Tom McDonald and Josh Bruce, they push their respective clubs’ premiership cases.
As McDonald rose high above a pack to clunk a strong mark that led to his match-winning fourth goal against Sydney on Saturday night, there was an irony that wasn’t lost on those who braved the cold and wet conditions at the MCG.
There stood a versatile key position player that Melbourne didn’t even want on its list a few months ago.
His form had dipped dramatically in two seasons since a career-best 53 goals in 2018 led the Demons to a preliminary final and saw McDonald rewarded with a new four-year contract.
Melbourne, which tried to offload McDonald during the trade period, had former first-round draft pick Sam Weideman seemingly poised and ready to take the reins in attack this year, and brought in Ben Brown via the trade period.
Brown was quite possibly undervalued and underappreciated after following up three consecutive years of 60-plus goals for North Melbourne with a poor showing during the coronavirus-affected 2020 campaign.
Brown, who has overcome a knee injury setback, kicked two goals on his Demons debut against his old side in round seven and was an ever-present threat against Sydney on Saturday night with another three majors.
But it was McDonald who was clearly best on ground with four majors and two goal assists from 18 disposals as Weideman watched from the sidelines, biding his time in the VFL despite strong form for Casey.
Without McDonald’s input, the ladder-leading Dees would not have resisted the Swans’ challenge. Their unbeaten record would have gone up in smoke and critics would rightly be questioning whether Simon Goodwin’s men are in fact the real deal.
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There was a chance last week McDonald would be forced back into his previous role as a key defender to cover the loss of injured teammate Adam Tomlinson, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
He did it out of necessity for a short period when Tomlinson went down during the North Melbourne game.
But the emergence of Harrison Petty and Goodwin’s faith in the inexperienced backman allowed the coach last week to leave McDonald forward, where he said the 28-year-old has been “pivotal” to the Dees’ success so far this season.
Luke Beveridge could say the same about Bruce, who has delighted and frustrated Bulldogs fans at various stages since his high-profile switch from St Kilda at the end of 2019.
Bruce managed just 14 goals from 17 games last year, with half a dozen of those coming in an easy win over North Melbourne. That outlier aside, he only managed a goal every second outing.
This year it’s been a vastly different story. Bruce’s 25 goals in eight games still include an outlier against his bunnies the Kangaroos – a bag of 10 majors in round three – but the rest of his tally has still come at an average of better than two goals a game.
He’s kicked multiple majors on five occasions, including a match-winning haul of five in the win over Carlton in round eight, and sits third on the Coleman Medal leaderboard.
“He’s been tremendous,” Beveridge said post-match, going on to praise Bruce’s outstanding aerial contest work, set shot conversion and ability to pinch-hit in the ruck while continuing to hit the scoreboard.
“He’s got great work ethic and commitment to the team.”
Like all key forwards, McDonald and Bruce have both benefited from new rules aimed at encouraging attacking football, faster ball movement and one-on-one contests.
But they’re taking their chances, and deserve all credit for turning their careers around.
They’ll line up at opposite ends of Marvel Stadium later this month when the Dogs and Dees meet in a crunch clash, with both sides likely still jostling for spots in the top four.
Maybe one of them will also climb the dais in September to collect a premiership medal.
