Melbourne youngster Oscar McDonald earns Round 21 Rising Star nomination

MELBOURNE youngster Oscar McDonald has been named the Round 21 NAB Rising Star. The Demons have now pocketed six of the past 36 nominees.

AFL: Round 1 Melbourne v Giants Oscar McDonald Picture:Wayne Ludbey

OSCAR McDonald feared he was in for a spray.

As Melbourne coach Paul Roos began Monday’s review of the win against Port Adelaide, a distracted McDonald was sprung chatting with Bernie Vince.

“And so while I was talking Roosy goes, ‘Oi, you right there, Oscar?’” the Demons defender recalled.

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“I’ve gone, ‘Oh, sorry, sorry, I’ll concentrate’ and he goes, ‘By the way, congratulations. You’re the rising star for this week’.

“So I thought I was going to get in a bit of trouble and then he’s backed up with that.”

It was official — McDonald had scooped Melbourne’s fourth NAB Rising Star nomination for the season — but the youngster still wasn’t certain it was true.

Oscar McDonald celebrating his first win as a Demon. Picture: Colleen Petch.

“I thought that he was joking, and then after about five seconds he continued on with the review, doing all our trademark sort of stuff.

“So I’ve thought, ‘Hang on. He’s not actually joking’. It was a surprise but I’ll take it.

“I was in the wrong, but I didn’t get in too much trouble. It was pretty funny.”

But what was so important about the Vince chat which simply couldn’t wait?

“We were organising a game of golf for (Tuesday),” McDonald said.

The Demons have now pocketed six of the past 36 Rising Stars, triple their fair share.

The defender — who last week re-signed for another two seasons along with older brother and teammate Tom — said the Demons were refusing to talk finals internally.

TAB rates Melbourne a $8 chance of pinching eighth place from North Melbourne after winning three consecutive games for the first time since 2010.

Oscar McDonald gets a clearing kick for Melbourne against Port Adelaide. Picture: Getty Images.

To jump the Roos the Demons must beat Carlton and Geelong, rely on the Kangas dropping games against the two Sydney clubs and bridge a small percentage gap.

But McDonald said the Demons were only focused on Sunday’s duel against the battling Blues.

He said the most pleasing aspect of the win against the Power was backing up last week’s boilover against Hawthorn.

Melbourne now boasts six of the past 36 Rising Stars. Four this year.

A Brayshaw
J Hogan🏆
C Oliver
J Harmes
C Petracca
..and now O McDonald

— Sam Landsberger (@SamLandsberger) August 15, 2016

“It’d be pretty easy, as has happened in the past, to let go of a good performance with a bad one,” he said.

“With a young group you can easily get complacent and back off your preparation for the next week and think it’s just going to happen.

“That’s happened before in the past and I think that’s a step in the right direction for our maturity and the growth of the club.

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“We really grinded it out.”

The McDonald brothers were drafted at the same pick and have now both won Rising Star nominations in their second season, with Tom beating Oscar to the gong by two matches.

McDonald said incoming coach Simon Godowin had brought flair and structure to the offence this season and was very relatable.

“He’s a bit younger. He acts like he’s 20 with his dress sense and music sense,” McDonald joked.

“But Roosy’s done a fantastic job for three years and off to Hawaii he goes and in Goody comes.”

Originally published as Melbourne youngster Oscar McDonald earns Round 21 Rising Star nomination