AFLW 2023: Geelong captain Meg McDonald on reaching 50 game milestone after being cut from Western Bulldogs

Meg McDonald has come a long way to get to game 50. The Cats skipper and her coach open up on journey.

Meg McDonald's rise ahead of her 50th game.

Geelong captain Meg McDonald takes pride in her significant improvement across her career, turning into an inspirational leader and two-time All-Australian from the AFLW scrap heap.

McDonald snuck onto the Western Bulldogs list as a key forward for the inaugural season in 2017 but was delisted after four games.

A stint with Darebin in the VFLW saw her catch the eye of the Cats ahead of the 2019 season and she hasn’t looked back, winning the club’s best-and-fairest award that year and earning captaincy honours in 2021.

As she prepares to play game 50 against Port Adelaide on Saturday, McDonald said she feels lucky to have a part of the AFLW at its inception – even if she wasn’t a mainstay back then.

McDonald, 32, said that leading and helping the next generation grow has been the most satisfying part of her journey.

Meg McDonald will play game 50 this weekend. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

McDonald in action for the Bulldogs in 207. Picture:Wayne Ludbey

“The game itself has come an awfully long way since 2017, I consider myself very lucky to have been there at the beginning, if not an influential player at the beginning,” McDonald said.

“To grow in that influence and to try to lead as the competition has developed and to now play with players who I know will play 150 games is really special.

“That is probably the most fulfilling part of it all is to grow together with a cohort of players who I think we can build some good success this year and build a really strong team and a great football team going forward.

Coach Dan Lowther said McDonald’s exceptional leadership has been a major help for him as a first-time coach and is proud of her reaching the achievement.

He believes having McDonald in the back six is helping the Cats’ emerging defenders like Abby McDonald, Melissa Bragg and Rachel Kearns grow.

“I think it is that leadership too, certainly from my space walking into this program a few years ago straight away you could see a cultural shift in the way standards are measured and the way Meg leads those from the front and then is inspiring our next up and coming group of young players to follow lead,” Lowther said.

“It’s certainly made my job easier as a first time coach at this level to have her support and also to see her grow as well in that space over the last four seasons has been, yeah, a great story.

“Meg’s had a ripping start to the season and so has our defence. To have players like Meg’s stability, experience back there, leadership, clearly as our captain it helps us grow.

“And we have some emerging players coming through our defence which will support our future going forward and Meg is a big part of that too.”

Originally published as AFLW 2023: Geelong captain Meg McDonald on reaching 50 game milestone after being cut from Western Bulldogs