Fast start sees Mcdonald hold on

A DOMINANT first half of 2024 helped Tooleybuc-Manangatang ruckman Connor Mcdonald to win his first Jack Betts Medal on Sunday night, with the Saints’ big man tying with Cohuna’s Joel Helman and the Mallee Eagles’ Harry Allen for the award.

It was an impressive first half of the season from Mcdonald, who polled an incredible 22 of a possible 27 votes by round 10 to lead the votes count by 11 from Helman.

From the 10th round onwards it was a nervous wait for Mcdonald, who missed three games after the mid-season break after jetting overseas, with the ruckman polling a final two votes in the penultimate round to move one vote ahead of Helman and two votes clear of Allen.

In the final games, the pair secured the required votes to create a three-way tie.

It’s the first league medal of any description for Mcdonald, who was immensely proud of his achievement the next morning.

“It’s the first one I’ve won, but I think I’m pretty lucky to have still been in contention after missing the end of the season,” Mcdonald said.

“There’s some great names and some great players who have won the award before and it’s a real honour to be among them now.

“I haven’t played against Harry (Allen) yet as he missed the first game against us and I missed the second, but Joel (Helman) is an amazing player, so to even be mentioned in the same breath as them is very humbling.”

Having spent last summer plying his trade with PINTs in the Northern Territory Football League, Mcdonald was still weighing up where his future lay after his win, with a potential return up north for the summer on the cards.

“I’m still tossing up whether to go up to Darwin in the next couple of months to play – that’s a decision on my mind and probably the first decision I need to make before next year comes around, really,” Mcdonald said.

“I thought I was playing some good footy coming off a Darwin season up north at the start of the year.

“It always helps running straight into another season like that, I find.

“It also made it a bit easier when we were playing good footy as a team at the start of the season too.

“‘Bones’ (Brad Morris) was incredible in that regard this year.

“He’s done a great job of getting the footy club back to being in a good spot.

“He did well with recruiting and had a good game plan and got the local boys back on track.

“It was a huge effort from him.”

Tooleybuc-Manangatang president Rick Plant was similarly pleased with Mcdonald’s season leading up to the vote count, with the Saints’ ruckman also winning the senior football most valuable player award and being named as first ruck in the Central Murray’s team of the year.

“We’re obviously really happy with his year,” Plant said.

“He’s really taken on the responsibility of being the number one ruckman all year and took his game to another level this season.

“He was our captain as well and is a really good person to have around the club.

“He was working in Swan Hill at the start of the year and training at the club up until he went overseas.

“He led by example and never missed a training session and takes it upon himself to help our young players.

“He’s a very good leader around the club.

“He’s not a quiet guy.

“He’s very good at driving standards and wants the club to improve, has a good background and comes with plenty of experience from other clubs, which shone through.

“It’s surprising how often he gets his hands on the ball.

“To be honest, you don’t realise how big an impact he actually has on the game at times.

“A lot of people have commented that he plays a lot like ‘Sully’ (Ryan O’Sullivan).

“He’s a little bit shorter but plays very similar in that he’s athletic and brings his teammates into the game.”