Toby McLean is no stranger to adversity and it is driving him to AFL success
ADVERSITY, including losing his father at a young age, has moulded Bulldogs youngster Toby McLean into a caring kid with a flint-hard attitude on the field.
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TOBY McLean was red in the face, exhausted by hard running.
He’d just completed a 3km time trial during the Dandenong Stingrays’ pre-season.
Soon after finishing he was dragged to the side of the oval and unceremoniously cut from the squad.
McLean was red in the face again, this time with devastation and a lasting bitterness.
Talent manager Mark Wheeler said McLean’s fitness levels were “miles off ”, his defensive game was poor and the Stingrays wanted to give selection preference to Jack Lonie and Bailey Dale.
No stranger to adversity, McLean embodies the resilience that has powered the Bulldogs in September.
When McLean was 12, he and his older brother played in premierships — Toby for Mossgiel Park and Sam for Narre Warren North Foxes.
Not long after and their father, Ian McLean, died of skin cancer, aged 43.
It was a short battle with melanoma — about 12 months — and it shattered the family, as well as the local community.
Saturday, McLean, 20, will step on to the MCG for a Grand Final in just his 19th game with one wish in mind.
“If my dad was still alive, I hope he’d be proud of me,” he said.
If my dad was still alive, I hope he’d be proud of me.
Toby McLean 
The Narre Warren boy presents as a sensitive soul, a quiet achiever around Whitten Oval.
Teammate Jason Johannisen describes him as the shy kid. Junior coach Mick Stinear noted McLean has a “genuine care” for people.
But beneath the surface he’s a fighter. It might be tender Toby, but it’s also tough Toby, evidenced by his animal-like final quarter against GWS.
“It (Ian’s death) changed my life quite dramatically,” McLean said.
“You go from having two parents, happy family, and then …
“Not all of us dealt with it very well. My sister dealt with it pretty harshly, she was the youngest out of everyone, so she didn’t really know what to do.
“A bit like myself, I was only 12. But mum (Heather) was pretty good, she was quite strong.
“She’s had to do a lot of both sides of the parenting. I really look up to my mum.”
There were tears for weeks, and a holiday with Ian’s sister as the grieving family sought a distraction.
Saturday, the south-east community - which howled in disapproval at Toby’s Stingrays axing - will be thinking about McLean, the son of a local legend.
According to Ian’s obituary in the Dandenong Leader, he was a fine athlete, a good cricketer, a gun footballer, a keen golfer and a champion fellow.
His two footy clubs, Keysborough and Rythdale-Officer Cardinia, now play for the Ian McLean Memorial Shield.
Ian owned a menacing - but fair - hip-and-shoulder and, like Toby, could leap high for a mark.
“Not as high as me!” Toby quips, “but there’s a few photos I’ve seen of him taking pack marks.
“I didn’t get to watch my dad play a lot, because he died when I was quite young, but I hear from a lot of people that he was a great player.
“We’re quite different. He was a bigger man, my brother’s got more of his stature.”
Heather was a netballer with a nice jump and Toby, blessed with plenty of talent, has made a habit of standing out.
After the Dandenong rejection, he shone with 58 goals for Narre Warren.
In 2014, he asked for a go at Oakleigh Chargers, with the help of local coach Dean Irwin.
McLean rocked up to his first Chargers session in a Stingrays singlet and was promptly nicknamed ‘Stingray’.
He couldn’t help standing out, and a change of clothes wasn’t going to help.
“We quickly got him some Chargers gear, and then he stood out with his training,” Oakleigh Chargers coach Michael Stinear said.
From the first game he played for Oakleigh, where they didn’t have his number in the record, he stood out with his footy smarts.
Simon Dalrymple
“His athleticism, the way he moves and his decision-making — he was one step ahead of everyone else.”
It was a similar story when Dogs recruiter Simon Dalrymple locked eyes on the wiry teenager.
“From the first game he played for Oakleigh, where they didn’t have his number in the record, he stood out with his footy smarts,” Dalrymple said.
“He’s got the ability to win the ball in the air, at ground level and he’s got some cunning about him in the way he makes decisions and really good game sense.”
A video of McLean taking a goalline hanger went viral in 2014 and was aired on The Footy Show.
During a Chargers bye, McLean returned to the Narre seniors and slotted eight goals.
McLean’s final stage to show off was the TAC Cup Grand Final - where he won the medal for best afield.
“I guess (the medal) sort of shows the talent manager over there (Dandenong) doesn’t really know what he’s doing, does he?” McLean said.
“And I’m happy to say that. They had no belief or faith in me.”
Stinear and Wheeler agree the Dandenong cull was the spur McLean needed, and he was drafted from Oakleigh at No.26 — before any Stingray.
The Dogs can't drop Toby McLean for Lin Jong. He has been amazing in the finals. So it's Jong, Fletcher Roberts or Suckling. Am I right?
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) September 25, 2016
It was the Dogs’ first pick and it’s proved a popular one at the kennel, McLean inheriting ex-captain Ryan Griffen’s No.16.
“Elite hops” is how Johannisen describes McLean’s penchant for high marks.
“He’s going to be a pretty special player,” finals star Clay Smith says.
“He’s lightly built, but he can jump in the air and he’s just got that little bit of X-factor about him.”
Dale Morris says McLean is “a little ripper” — and much more than a flashy forward.
“He’s got super talent. He can jump on someone’s head and take a mark, but he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty and laying those hard tackles and doing the tough things.”
McLean spends two nights a week living with Morris, 33, and the veteran loves it because he gets a free babysitter.
“My eldest, Riley, wants to copy his hairstyle. He’s got this whisp thing going on, and he doesn’t want to copy his old man — he’s all over Toby.”
Riley might have cottoned on, but Smith won’t be copying McLean.
“He tends to get around in trackies and thongs. Not even thongs, like little sandal things with velcro over the top of the feet,” Smith said.
“And his taste in music isn’t the greatest. I remember him putting up a photo of a Sam Smith album on Instagram and had a good laugh.”
Both are hoping to unite their styles on Saturday night - belting out ‘Sons of the West’ and sporting some new gold bling around their necks as the Dogs chase their first flag in 62 years.
And Ian McLean would be front and centre in his son’s mind.
“I think about him after games,” McLean said.
“I get a lot of family saying he would be proud. And that means quite a bit.”
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