During the pre-season, Luke McDonald from the North Melbourne Kangaroos came down to the YJFL Summer Development Program to join the session and give some time for questions.
Luke was a junior player for Kew Comets and played in many YJFL representative squads. He then got selected for the Oakleigh Chargers. In 2013 he was selected to North Melbourne via the Father-son rule in the Nation Draft at No.8.
What do you eat for breakfast? We’re pretty luck at North as we have a chef and we can just rock in each morning to a feed. At the moment I’ve been on the acai bowls, I’ve heard they’re pretty good for you, so that’s what I’ve been eating.
How many junior Grand Finals did you win? I think I won four grand finals as a junior. I played with Jack Billings and Jack Sinclair, who are now at the Saints, and also Jay Kennedy Harris who played at the Demons. I was pretty lucky to play with a lot of good players who carried me through.
What would you say your best skill is? That’s a tough one, probably my long kicking which has been a big focus of mine.
What was your furthest kick? One time we played down in Tasmania and I got the ball on the wing and kicked it with the wind and kicked a goal.
What did you get in the beep test? I usually got around 14.
Did your dad influence you to play football? I suppose growing up I wanted to be like my dad and play football. And play for North Melbourne. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I used to watch heaps of footy, when it was on tv I’d be watching it. I really enjoyed watching the good players and then being like them in the backyard.
What was your most embarrassing moment? Last year I played against Essendon and broke my ankle. I was playing on Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and he kicked four goals on me. So it was a bit embarrassing him kicking four on me and then breaking my ankle.
What’s your best moment? I’d have to say playing on the MCG in the finals. That’s the most fun you can have when there’s 90,000 people there and it’s absolutely crazy.
Have you ever trash talked a player? As a defender you can’t do much trash talking because your opponent can turn around and kick five goals on you. So, I don’t really do too much.
What’s the team you’re most afraid of? No one, not afraid of anyone.
Have you ever had a spray from your coach? I’ve had a lot of sprays from my coaches. It’s all part of the game. When they use to have the red vests, I wore that a couple times after making mistakes.
What’s your best save of a goal? One time I ran down Cyril Rioli when he was kicking for goal. But then I ended tearing my hamstring and missed six weeks.
Luke finished his Q&A with a few words of wisdom for the Summer Development Group. “At training you want to make it known you’re the better player and that shows by how hard you train and work. When you’re training make sure you really crack in and then after or before training you can have you fun where you kick goals from the boundary. But when you’re on the track get the most out of it you can.”
A post shared by Yarra Junior Football League (@yjfl_au) on Feb 26, 2020 at 9:30pm PST
