Player Watch #11: Luke "Two Dogs" McDonald (Part II) - Roo til end '26 - 2023/24 co captain w/ Jy

[ferball]

That is not true mate. Thomas had Bailey Smith for the majority of the game as Thomas and Sheezel were always our highest defenders at center bounces.

I went and watched all Weightman's goals via the AFL match report and he kicked one on LMac and two on TT.

 

[brooksnk]

I don't get his compulsion to seek contact with the opponent as soon as he gets his hands on it.

He will go in hard to get the ball but will make no attempt to dispose of it. It's bewildering.

He invites the tackle seemingly as an attempt to just hold it up and get a ball up.

 

[Samsquanch]

9 touches to 3qtr time today for the captain

So you are saying it could have been a lot worse then?

 

[Kanga1996]

His happy go lucky smiling captain routine just pisses me off to no end, has no business in the role.

I think it’s because he’s genuinely surprised to be playing AFL footy and captaining the club.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[tazaa]

I went and watched all Weightman's goals via the AFL match report and he kicked one on LMac and two on TT.

I went and watched the whole game from Aisle 34 on Level 1.
Thomas wasn’t his man mate he was one of 7 defenders who had to cover the turnover and that’s where Weightman found himself free on numerous occasions. He kicked goals on Corr and McKay and Logue too.

Weightman started deep forward for most of the game.
Beveridge made sure McRae and Bailey Smith were the highest half forwards so they could roll through the middle and provide the extra number at the stoppage and that’s where we had Sheezel and Thomas lined up.

 

[Psicosis]

Needs to be a good user, good lock down and good interceptor, to help us get better.

Has shown for periods of his career that he can do each of these.

Currently, he is doing none.

 

[Mav]

I went and watched the whole game from Aisle 34 on Level 1.
Thomas wasn’t his man mate he was one of 7 defenders who had to cover the turnover and that’s where Weightman found himself free on numerous occasions. He kicked goals on Corr and McKay and Logue too.

Weightman started deep forward for most of the game.
Beveridge made sure McRae and Bailey Smith were the highest half forwards so they could roll through the middle and provide the extra number at the stoppage and that’s where we had Sheezel and Thomas lined up.

Just because someone is standing a player at a center bounce doesn’t mean he’s the direct opponent when the goal is kicked. Defenders roll and swap all the time. Twice TT was directly responsible for CW and allowed him to score.

 

[nelroo]

Short term he must have a spell in the twos!!! Must. Longer term .. **** I don’t know what we do with him

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Just because someone is standing a player at a center bounce doesn’t mean he’s the direct opponent when the goal is kicked. Defenders roll and swap all the time. Twice TT was directly responsible for CW and allowed him to score.

Two of them were kicked on Logue, but that’s because Logue was trying to cover Lmac’s piss poor positioning.

 

[DocSholl]

I went and watched all Weightman's goals via the AFL match report and he kicked one on LMac and two on TT.

It's a bit of a poor reflection on Luke then if we are putting Thomas on their most dangerous forward.

 

[Mav]

Two of them were kicked on Logue, but that’s because Logue was trying to cover Lmac’s piss poor positioning.

The hanger over Logue was cause TT didn’t block his run.

 

[tazaa]

It's a bit of a poor reflection on Luke then if we are putting Thomas on their most dangerous forward.

The fact that we’re asking if Ratten really told Thomas to go play for the first time in his career in defence and for good measure he could line up on Cody Weightman for shits and gigs. It’s madness.
And I’m sure Ratts gave him the licence to run off him as well and leave the most dangerous small all alone.

It didn’t happen.

Maybe just maybe if you didn’t go to the ground tonight take the L and move the f*** on.

 

[nelroo]

Lock down role is /was his only asset. And he is not providing that. So basically he offers nothing at the moment. Never thought he’d turn into such a limited player

 

[ferball]

It's a bit of a poor reflection on Luke then if we are putting Thomas on their most dangerous forward.

Players rarely play man on man, except in the moment and then its ad hoc not pre planned. As Mav said twice Thomas was directly responsible for him and he kicked goals. Once was a bit unlucky, the other he got away from him on a lead and thomas had no idea what was going on. But he shouldn't be playing down back again ... well hopefully.

 

[ferball]

The fact that we’re asking if Ratten really told Thomas to go play for the first time in his career in defence and for good measure he could line up on Cody Weightman for shits and gigs. It’s madness.
And I’m sure Ratts gave him the licence to run off him as well and leave the most dangerous small all alone.

It didn’t happen.

Maybe just maybe if you didn’t go to the ground tonight take the L and move the f*** on.

Twice Weightman beat TT to kick goals after they lined up on each other as the ball came in. It happened once on McDonald. So don't call me a liar and tell me its just not true that happened then give me some shit about not being at at the ground cos i live 1000 miles away.

 

[amaz199]

What was Thomas doing on Weightman? At one point Curtis was running back inside defensive 50 on him too?

Upon reflection, I am not as convinced the backline as a whole functioned well today. We were a bit lucky that the Dogs were wayward early before the game opened up.

Maybe we can't fix Lmac's limitations, but we can fix what is around him. If we put guys that are young, good users and have footy IQ, Luke can take the step back and do his job. If we're playing a backline like Corr, McKay, JZ, Logue, Lmac and then whoever else, it doesn't look flash at all. Luke's output goes up when there are players around him that are sharper and better overall footballers. Since we've gone back to senior-heavy, we haven't been as good.

If we're going to give Lmac a role, then we need to cover the other things properly rather than have everything all over the place. I am a very surprised we haven't at least trialled Dawson. He has wheels, is tall and although his kicking seemed to be a knock, wasn't actually an issue last season with the only issue being his positioning in marking contests.

If we don't get our backline mix right, we won't win games of footy. It's not just about clearances as that's just half the picture. If we can't transition the ball quickly and catch the opposition napping, we got no hope. It was telling that even a Dogs side as well-drilled as they are, got caught loose when we had a 50 paid into the middle of the ground with our players sprinting to find a loose option inside 50.

We just cannot afford to kick down-the-line over and over again with the same senior players coughing it up when they don't do that. Some leadership and direction to change the play or be more adventurous is required here. From Lmac, Jy and every other senior leader. Stop doing the same shit.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

I don't get his compulsion to seek contact with the opponent as soon as he gets his hands on it.

He will go in hard to get the ball but will make no attempt to dispose of it. It's bewildering.

He invites the tackle seemingly as an attempt to just hold it up and get a ball up.

Yeah, he's fast becoming the rich man's Kayne Turner. Take possession and then seek to be tackled to force the stoppage. This is the tactic of low IQ footballers.

Newsflash, Luke, we don't need a stoppage 12m from the opposition goal, we need you to find a teammate by hand or foot to enable us to clear the area.

It won't always be easy, but it will never happen if you haven't worked out what you're going to do with the ball once you have won it.

 

[tazaa]

Twice Weightman beat TT to kick goals after they lined up on each other as the ball came in. It happened once on McDonald. So don't call me a liar and tell me its just not true that happened then give me some s**t about not being at at the ground cos i live 1000 miles away.

Tagged you in a post in the autopsy thread.

Thomas may have lined up on Weightman for bounces but for the most part he was up the ground and running with Bailey Smith.

This may be one for the coaches to explain

 

[zoomba23]

So I went back and had a look at Weightman's day out and LMac's role in it:

One goal was a fast transition that resulted in Paul Curtis of all people at full back. Clearly Paul was in Weightman's vicinity when the transition began.

One goal was from a hanger taken over Logue where TT was Weightman's direct opponent.

One goal was the result of a freakish Bont handball that no one's doing anything about.

One goal was from a mark on the boundary where we had numbers inside defensive 50 and failed to pick him up. The only glaringly preventable goal of the six imo.

One goal came from fast transition where Logue was the only one within cooee, and it was a play that no team is stopping. Looked like a textbook turnover, slingshot, mark, goal play.

One goal was the result of a fully outstretched mark from a JUH pass. LMac was with Weightman but couldn't get a hand on it. Good mark and a better kick.

It's pretty clear watching it back that today we generally did away with defined direct opponents. It looks like the coaches want all the back six to be able to defend based on the situation, not based on a specific player. LMac only had 1 one percenter, which is shit, but is not to blame for most of those goals. If you're gonna make the 'yeah but why did Weightman have so much space inside 50 argument,' you have to apply it also to whatever North players were in the vicinity when the attack started. Or whatever North player turned the ball over that allowed the attack to start, with our entire defence now out of position.

LMac deserves shit for his play with ball in hand, but too many on here have latched onto the idea of fixed direct opponents and aren't giving enough credit to Weightman's own intelligence/skill and that of his teammates.

 

[the big lebowski]

So I went back and had a look at Weightman's day out and LMac's role in it:

One goal was a fast transition that resulted in Paul Curtis of all people at full back. Clearly Paul was in Weightman's vicinity when the transition began.

One goal was from a hanger taken over Logue where TT was Weightman's direct opponent.

One goal was the result of a freakish Bont handball that no one's doing anything about.

One goal was from a mark on the boundary where we had numbers inside defensive 50 and failed to pick him up. The only glaringly preventable goal of the six imo.

One goal came from fast transition where Logue was the only one within cooee, and it was a play that no team is stopping. Looked like a textbook turnover, slingshot, mark, goal play.

One goal was the result of a fully outstretched mark from a JUH pass. LMac was with Weightman but couldn't get a hand on it. Good mark and a better kick.

It's pretty clear watching it back that today we generally did away with defined direct opponents. It looks like the coaches want all the back six to be able to defend based on the situation, not based on a specific player. LMac only had 1 one percenter, which is s**t, but is not to blame for most of those goals. If you're gonna make the 'yeah but why did Weightman have so much space inside 50 argument,' you have to apply it also to whatever North players were in the vicinity when the attack started. Or whatever North player turned the ball over that allowed the attack to start, with our entire defence now out of position.

LMac deserves s**t for his play with ball in hand, but too many on here have latched onto the idea of fixed direct opponents and aren't giving enough credit to Weightman's own intelligence/skill and that of his teammates.

We are 17th on the ladder.

McDonald is not in future plans but is critical now. Has his limitations but the reality is those limitations are less than anyone playing in the twos.

Went back with the flight, crashed in 100% all day. Stuffed up numerous times as all his mates did. Struggled to contain a dangerous forward line that had almost 100 inside 50’s.

Run in the twos lol

 

[ferball]

Tagged you in a post in the autopsy thread.

Thomas may have lined up on Weightman for bounces but for the most part he was up the ground and running with Bailey Smith.

This may be one for the coaches to explain

They have all of Weightmans six goals on the match report.

The first of those two goals he kicked was because Thomas let him get away on the lead the second cos he lost him in traffic in front of goal.

McDonald might have been on him for other goals and completely lost him but I think it seemed more that the backline structure just broke down generally.

Thomas shouldn't be a defender, if he plays down back he should move there off the wing and McDonal should never play on someone like Weightman. He's four inches taller and no where near mobile enough. Weightman should flog him every time based on that alone.

If you watch Weightman's goal against Curtis he is a player who needs a small agile defender within a foot of him at all times. Genuinely could have put Turner on him this week I reckon and he wouldn't have been as effective ... might have only kicked three... Marley Williams could have stopped him. If Spicer had a bit of mongrel he'd be perfect, but that's a pipe dream. I thought Spicer was good three games ago but he's shown very little since and probably won't get another game.

 

[Psychic Roo]

Needs to be a good user, good lock down and good interceptor, to help us get better.

Has shown for periods of his career that he can do each of these.

Currently, he is doing none.

Not sure he was ever good user. Its the offensive weaknesses and decision making costing us the most. Thats not new.

 

[Mav]

Tagged you in a post in the autopsy thread.

Thomas may have lined up on Weightman for bounces but for the most part he was up the ground and running with Bailey Smith.

This may be one for the coaches to explain

When you say you were on level 1, were you right up on the fence? Cause you seem to be changing your tune on whether or not Thomas lined up on Weightman. Maybe you just need to take the L and move on.

 

[Psychic Roo]

They have all of Weightmans six goals on the match report.

The first of those two goals he kicked was because Thomas let him get away on the lead the second cos he lost him in traffic in front of goal.

McDonald might have been on him for other goals and completely lost him but I think it seemed more that the backline structure just broke down generally.

Thomas shouldn't be a defender, if he plays down back he should move there off the wing and McDonal should never play on someone like Weightman. He's four inches taller and no where near mobile enough. Weightman should flog him every time based on that alone.

If you watch Weightman's goal against Curtis he is a player who needs a small agile defender within a foot of him at all times. Genuinely could have put Turner on him this week I reckon and he wouldn't have been as effective ... might have only kicked three... Marley Williams could have stopped him. If Spicer had a bit of mongrel he'd be perfect, but that's a pipe dream. I thought Spicer was good three games ago but he's shown very little since and probably won't get another game.

Its TTs first game there - im ok with it being trailled. But give him time. Its a big change. He did well taking possession deep - something most of the other panic merchants currently down there don't. Its one of our key weaknesses - panic, turnover or slow play take a stoppage. Kills transition and then when we turn it over, killed the other way. The good teams move off HB with purpose. We slow it down and turn it over. Its the biggest need - safe, smart ball use from the back. Curent mix dont and wont ever do it so try something else. Corr and Lmac dont work.

 

[Roosurgence]

Not sure he was ever good user. Its the offensive weaknesses and decision making costing us the most. Thats not new.

It’s just so tiresome watching the endless loop of him running past for a possession and then constantly bombing to the out number.

If you were an opposition coach you would be encouraging your team to let McDonald get the ball as much as he can in the back 50, because you know it’s coming back in.

He is just so dumb or just stubborn.

I get he loves the club and gets around the boys on the track, but FMD we need onfield leaders and he just doesn’t provide it.