Tom McDonald Biography

Tom McDonald is facing months on the sidelines after scans confirmed a serious foot injury that will require surgery.

"Tom unfortunately was unable to train fully following the main training session last week and, following further scans, it was discovered that Tom had sustained a low-grade Lisfranc injury," Melbourne's performance manager Selwyn Griffith said.

"Unfortunately for Tom, due to the instability of the Lisfranc joint, we consulted with multiple surgeons around the best course of action.

"Tom and the medical team have decided to go with a small plate across the joint to stabilise the joint, which gives him the opportunity to play towards the back-end of this season."

On the eve of playing in the 2021 Grand Final with Melbourne, Tom McDonald reveals how his exit interview with Simon Goodwin set up his 2021 campaign.

McDonald and the Demons agreed to part ways at the end of last season despite the forward still having a year to go on his contract. The 29-year-old had been in hot demand on the open market two years earlier after booting 53 goals in 2018, and he was optimistic there would still be some interest floating about.

Those hopes were quickly dashed, and McDonald had little option but to continue on with the Dees. Instead of dwelling on his bad fortune, McDonald vowed to do everything he could to rekindle his AFL career at Melbourne.

"To be in that position was disappointing. You think, 'gees could this be it after this year?' If I cut my salary 90 per cent I might have got a gig somewhere, But I wouldn't be able to live on that wage at the moment," McDonald said.

"A couple of years before that I would have been welcomed at a lot of other clubs, but doors get closed pretty quick. I was lucky that I was still contracted to Melbourne, so I knew I could at least come back and try to prove myself."

Tom McDonald won't play again in 2019 after scans revealed a torn meniscus suffered during the Demon's narrow victory over Carlton at the MCG.

"The good news is I haven't done an ACL or anything too severe, but I've got a little meniscus tear. I'll see a surgeon, but it probably will require some surgery," McDonald said.

"It might be tough to be back playing this year, but it could be a lot worse."

Tom McDonald was lauded as one of the most accurate set-shot goalkickers in the AFL earlier in the season, but his radar has been slightly adrift of late.

McDonald has booted 2.5 in games against Gold Coast and Sydney in the past two weeks.

According to stats from Champion Data, McDonald is ranked equal-17th in the AFL for set-shot scoring accuracy (70 per cent) for players with 10 or more goals this season.

However, that figure has dipped to 28.6 per cent in the past fortnight.

"It's a bit like basketball and missing free throws or missing putts at golf. You miss one or two and you start to doubt yourself a little bit with your technique," McDonald said.

Tom McDonald signs a new four-year deal with Melbourne to remain at the club until the end of 2022.

"It was a big decision, because it's probably the first time that it's been a long-term deal to sign with the club and it's probably the biggest decision in terms of my professional career that I've made," McDonald said.

"In the end, I really wanted to play for Melbourne. We've negotiated a deal we think is fair for both sides and we've come out really happy, and I get to play for the footy club for another four years at least and hopefully longer."

Tom McDonald is ruled out for up to two months with a foot injury.

McDonald developed some soreness in his toe following the club's first JLT Communirty Series game against North Melbourne and hadn't responded to treatment as quickly as was hoped.

Tom Mcdonald believes a permanent move to the forward line in 2018 will allow him to play with newfound freedom.

"Sometimes as a defender I was so worried about making mistakes. The pressure that comes with being a full back or centre-half back can be overwhelming at times, and I tend to get overly frustrated with myself and it costs me," he said.

Melbourne has elevates Jack Viney to co-captain alongside Nathan Jones for the 2017 season.

Former Hawk Jordan Lewis has been voted straight into the Demons' six-man leadership group.

Veteran Colin Garland has made way, while Tom McDonald, Max Gawn and Bernie Vince make up the rest of the group.

Jack Viney and Tom McDonald will not be in full training with the Demons until after Christmas, following operations at the end of the season.

Viney has had an operation on his hip, while McDonald went under the knife to fix a shoulder problem that he carried through much of the 2016 season.

Tom McDonald says he has kept his new contract to two years to give himself a chance to reassess how the Demons are sitting when it comes to negotiating his next deal.

The 23-year-old will have played for eight years when his deal ends, meaning he will be a restricted free agent if in the top 25 per cent of player salaries at the Demons in 2018.

"When you're dealing with longer contracts of four to five years, it's tougher to negotiate, because you're speculating on: my form, how the club's going to be looking, coaches at that time, players and recruiting," McDonald said.

"It's a long way to forecast what the club's going to look like.

"Short-term makes it a little bit less risky for the club. The player can feel a little bit more comfortable about what they're worth in that time. There are a number of factors."

Oscar McDonald picks up the round 21 Rising Star nomination after gathering a career-high 23 disposals against the Power.

Oscar says living with brother and Melbourne teammate Tom McDonald has been of great benefit.

"At the start he was there to help me with things like the schedule, but now it's about on-field things," Oscar said.

"He helps me a lot with technique and contest stuff. (Defensive coach) Jade Rawlings, Tom and I do a lot of work with our marking and spoiling craft.

"We work together a fair bit in training to try to get better at those things and he's been a big help to me."

Oscar has made massive strides throughout the season and is getting better with every game he plays.

"It's been a lot to do with confidence and working out when to come off your man and attack and when to hold back and maintain your shape behind the ball," McDonald said.

"I remember in the pre-season I didn't think I was on anyone's radar at the club. I was hoping to get a NAB Challenge look in and just try to prove to everyone I could be an asset to the team.

"After playing in round one (against Greater Western Sydney) I gained confidence in myself that I could play at the level, and I think the coaches had that faith in me all along but it was just about marrying those things up."

Melbourne has secured the prized signatures of brothers Tom and Oscar McDonald, with the pair extending their time at the club until the end of 2018.

"Both of these signings are very important components for the structure of our team in future years," Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney said.

"We have been negotiating throughout the year with [their manager] Alex McDonald to get both of these deals done and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to come to an agreement on Oscar and Tom."

Melbourne coach Paul Roos says he expects out-of-contract defender Tom McDonald to re-sign with the club.

"I'd be staggered to think he didn't sign with the club. He's in our leadership group, he seems really committed, he seems to enjoy coming in every single day," Roos said.

"So I would be staggered if that doesn't get sorted out sooner rather than later."

Out of contract Tom McDonald expects to remain a Demon beyond 2016 but says he is in no rush to sign a new deal.

"It's definitely moving on, but not anywhere near finalised just yet," McDonald said.

"My manager and the club are always talking. He gives me a call every now and then.

"They just take time, because we don't always like catching up on emails or phone calls.

"It will happen. It's slowly coming on, so I'm not too fazed."

Melbourne has overhauled its leadership group with captain Nathan Jones the only survivor from last year.

Vice-captain Lynden Dunn, former co-captain Jack Grimes, key forward Chris Dawes and Heritier Lumumba have all been axed from the 2015 group, while Daniel Cross has already retired.

The new group features reigning best and fairest winner Bernie Vince, veteran Colin Garland, defender Tom McDonald and emerging stars Jack Viney and Max Gawn.

Tom McDonald says he has made up with Jack Viney following their heated exchange at training that was the result of an aggressive tackle by Viney on McDonald.

"We try not to hurt each other at training and I had a bit of a sore shoulder, so I didn't want to jeopardise the start of the season by hurting it [seriously]," McDonald said.

"I was just a bit frustrated with Jack, but I don't want him to lose the way he plays his footy.

"It's a fine line – we want guys to go hard but we don't want them to hurt each other."

Jack Viney and Tom McDonald engage in a push and shove and an exchange of words in a spirited training session for the Demons at Gosch's Paddock.

The session, which included an hour of match simulation, ran at a high intensity and the players were charged up throughout, emphasised by the incident between Viney and McDonald.

McDonald took umbrage at Viney's dumping tackle during an earlier drill and the pair had to be separated after things became heated.

Bernie Vince has ended Nathan Jones' three-year best and fairest streak, claiming his maiden Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy at Crown Palladium on Friday night.

Vince, who polled 328 votes, edged out emerging onballer Jack Viney by just one vote in a thrilling count, to add to the best and fairest award he won at Adelaide in 2009.

Tom McDonald's outstanding start to the season, which saw him feature in the All Australian discussion, was enough to steer the key defender (300 votes) into third place.

Vince, 29, made special mention of coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin, who will take the reins in 2017, revealing he was the one who first taught him the standards he needed to abide by during their time at the Crows.

"Since I first set foot inside the Adelaide Football Club I always looked up to him but he didn't always look on me that well for the first couple of years," Vince said.

"He took me under his wing in 2007 and he taught me how to train and taught me how to play at the elite level and I never thought I was an elite level player until he told me that.

"I thank him so much for this year – he's been fantastic for me."

Tom McDonald hopes he can use his expedition to the forward line as a way of breaking out of the funk he has found himself in in the past month.

The 22-year-old has hit a flat patch since conceding seven goals to Collingwood's Travis Cloke in round 10.

But kicking two first-half goals in the Demons' 24-point win over the Brisbane after starting the game in the forward line has been beneficial for his confidence.

"Roosy (Melbourne coach Paul Roos) texted me during the week and said 'Get ready to start forward,'" McDonald said.

"It was really exciting. I hadn't done it (play forward) since under-16s or under-17s. I'm not sure if it's a permanent thing – it probably won't be, but maybe in the future it comes in handy every now and then."

Demons coach Paul Roos says he has been impressed with Tom McDonald this season.

"His two-way stuff has improved. He's running forward. He's kicking goals and that's been a really big focus for us," Roos said.

"He's got a really good balance between defence and attack and it's something we're really trying to push across to all of our defenders."

Tom McDonald says Sam Frost, recruited by the Demons after a trade with GWS, is possibly the best athlete he has ever seen in the AFL system.

"He's got incredible speed and strength and he's very strong for someone who's only 21," McDonald said.

"He's definitely got a lot of talent and I think we'll work really well together."

Tom McDonald says he would love to live with his brother Oscar is he gets drafted by a Melbourne club.

"I was away in boarding school in year 12 and then he was away at school so we have not spent much time together in the last three or four years," Tom said.

"I'd love for him to come and live with me for a year and sort of learn what it was about for a year if the other club was all right with that. I assume they would not have too much of an issue with that."

Tom McDonald has re-signed with Melbourne for two seasons tying him to the Demons until the end of 2016.

After being suspended for head-butting Melbourne defender Tom McDonald in round six last year, Jarrad Waite hopes to avoid any further suspensions in 2014.

"I let my teammates down; it's something I have to control," Waite said.

"It's one of those things I'm not happy about. You just can't do anything these days without repercussions and that's fair enough.

"I know it won't happen again."

Jarrad Waite is offered a one-match suspension for making contact with his head to Melbourne defender Tom McDonald, an act which Carlton coach Mick Malthouse says the forward can be forgiven for.

"There are ways and means of doing it I guess and he has fallen foul of the law," Malthouse said.

"I still think that Jarrad is the type of player when his energy levels are up he does help us and we have to be very careful about being too critical."

Melbourne has locked down three young players with Colin Garland, Jordie McKenzie and Tom McDonald signing new deals.

Demons defender Tom McDonald will be driven home from Brisbane to Melbourne after suffering bleeding on the lung.

Tom McDonald looks set to miss several weeks after suffering what appeared to be a lung injury against Brisbane at the Gabba.

McDonald was seen coughing up blood five minutes into the match after a heavy collision with Lions foward Daniel Merrett.

Emerging Melbourne Demons defender Tom McDonald is this week's NAB Rising Star nominee after a strong effort against GWS with 26 possessions, four marks and three tackles.

"He is getting the rewards for having outstanding pre-season. We have exposed him to a number of different types of forwards this year and he is improving each week," Demons coach Mark Neeld said.

Tom McDonald makes his AFL debut for Melbourne at the MCG with 18 disposals (11 kicks and 7 handballs), 6 marks and 4 tackles in a 30-point win over Gold Coast.