Phantom draft profiles:38. North Melbourne – Matthew McDonough
Height: 180cm, Weight: 85kg
Recruited from: Woodville-West Torrens
McDonough is a solid small forward who kicks plenty of goals. He had a very strong championships for SA kicking 17 goals across the 5 games, including two hauls of six and with a strong body should be pushing for senior selection from next season.
http://oneeyed-richmond.com/forum/index.php?topic=16888.msg339777#msg339777#81 Adelaide - Matthew McDonough (SA - Fwd)
Height: 180cm, Weight: 85g, DOB: 26/01/1994
Recruited from: Woodville West Torrens
Style:
Player comparison: Jason Porplyzia
Range: 30-rookie
Profile: Forward who is physically very strongly built and ready to produce. Has already shown that he can kick big goal hauls and his production throughout his career up to this stage has been sensational. Just knows where the goals are and has a real uncanny knack of finding ways to hit the scoreboard. I really like his kicking, very duel sided, hits his targets either foot and has that great goal sense and some nice penetration. Good finisher around goal and excellent from set shot attempts. The real highlight in McDonough’s game is his marking ability, very strong contested mark, 1v1 mark and on the lead. Doesn’t get much off the ground but even in the air is strong and has good body control. Despite his primary feature being his marking game McDonough is also very good at ground level and is very capable as a crumber, getting to the right positions for the bigs to bring to ground and to his advantage. Where McDonough falls short is his lack of athleticism. Speed not great and endurance a long way off where it needs to get to but he has shown promise through the midfield this season showing himself as a capable stoppage player and clearance specialist. Stands up in tackles and has wonderful strength. As a forward also needs to work on his tackling game but with his lack of pace I doubt it will ever be a feature of his game. Might be an interesting potential late draft bargain if he slides because he certainly has the proven production to back up his case. I’d look to draft him into an inside midfielder who can rotate forward and have an influence at times. He won’t be able to monster players physically at the next level with his size advantage he has in the u18s but with his marking ability, kicking ability on both sides and his strong ability 1v1 and improving inside game I think there is plenty to work with.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/knightmares-2012-mock-draft.956129/# 77 Geelong
Matthew McDonough
WWT
180cm / 85kg / ‘94
Where this kid lands is what sort of scope clubs will think he has. Is he just your medium fwd type who is really clever around the goals and has some crumbing ability as well as some 1:1 ability or does he have the ability to also push into the middle like Johnson / ROK type. He lacks a yard but ROK isn’t quick either and he has the same strong body and nothing wrong with his ball winning. I was a bit in the former camp until I went back and watched some of his games again and I have come to conclusion he has some serious AFL smarts and is just a really good reader of the play. I just cant help but make a comparison to Hender though in terms of his draft prospects. Ultimately I think he has more positional scope though. Banfield, Ashby, Baldasso or Patrick Wilson are others around here that I think could fit the types they tend to go for.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/snoop-dogs-2012-mock-national-draft.980620/57. Gold Coast
McDonough does not fit the profile for a Clayton pick in the slightest but they could honestly do a lot worse here. GC need some goal kicking help and McDonough can give them that working off of some of the guys they will have up forward.
Matthew McDonough
DOB: 24/1/94 Ht: 180 Wt: 84
McDonough is one guy it would be easy to see fall in this draft because he is a forward who is a bit short, a bit chunky and not particularly athletic. He reminds me a lot of Tom Rockliff in his draft year. Rockliff played primarily as a forward and did it exceptionally well including starring with Sidebottom in the TAC GF but his non-traditional body shape and athleticism counted against him and he was overlooked in the ND. It is not out of the question that this could happen again with McDonough although I think someone is likely to take a punt on him.
McDonough lead SA in goals at the Champs both this year and last. After Menzel went down this year McDonough was very impressive averaging 18.4 disposals and 3.4 goals per game. The fact that he was not as prolific in the SANFL reserves and under 18s probably won’t help him. He did play a variety of positions in the SANFL competitions but he was still mostly up forward. He had 9 games in each of the reserves and under 18s. He averaged only 11.1 disposals per game in the under 18s but despite the low numbers was named in the best 6 times in his 9 games (as well as once in the ressies.
At the start of his career I expect McDonough to continue to play in a forward pocket. He is a very smart footballer and whilst I think it might take him a while to compensate for the increased size, strength and pace of AFL defenders I think he will get there. He is not a one trick pony up forward and can mix it up between leading, body on body contests and crumbing depending on what is going to work. He might struggle to be effective on the lead at AFL level as he is not particularly quick and is not able to get much separation even at junior level. He is nippy off the mark but not really anything more than that and the closing speed of most defenders will trouble him.
At the moment McDonough does tend to use his body quite a lot to create marking opportunities. He has a pretty powerful build which he used well at junior level to hold his position and protect the drop zone. He judges the ball very nicely in the air and has a nice set of hands. He does perhaps use his strength a bit much but if it is effective I can understand him wanting to continue to use it. His crumbing work is usually first class. He works to get the classic front and centre position when the big guys fly and he gets himself low to collect. He has really clean hands with the ball on the deck and is a pretty good snap of the ball getting foot to ball pretty quick. His goal sense is very good.
Kicking is a strength of McDonough and with his clean hands are the primary reasons why many people, myself included, see his future at AFL level probably lying up the ground. He is good off either foot and is an elite deliverer of the ball into 50. He is capable of punching it in there when needed but he also weights it nicely into space to draw the man onto it. On his non-preferred he is also a pretty good field kick and is reasonably accurate snap with his left as well. He tends to wave the ball around a bit on his approach to his set shot but he is an accurate kick and is good from 50 (probably not much more than that).
McDonough has played a bit through the midfield and down back this year and has shown some proficiency in the middle of the ground. He needs to get a lot fitter to make a permanent move into the middle of the ground but I could very much see that happening after a couple of preseasons spent building his engine. He could be a Chapman or Rockliff type who are pretty solid guys who are very effective in the middle of the ground and dangerous when they are resting up front. He can win clearances and works in traffic well. Quite a bit of work would need to be put into his positioning around the ground as well as the defensive aspects of playing through the midfield (as well as up forward now that I think it) but there could be a significant pay off.
Overall if a team picked McDonough that would be getting a very smart footballer who falls a little outside the mould of what a footballer should be in the current game. Notwithstanding that I do think he has a good chance to be effective if someone takes a punt on him.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/quigleys-2012-mock.980920/28. GWS - Matthew McDonough (180cm forward - Woodville)
Once Troy Menzel went down injured in the U18 Championships, someone really needed to step up for SA - and without a doubt, that person was Matt McDonough. Despite only being 180cm, he dominated up forward and kicked multiple goals in every game. And he has continued that trend back home in the SANFL. He isn't the tallest player going around, but he is strong. And he uses that to his advantage up forward. He is a very hard player to move in marking contests, his strength often seems to create a mismatch as he is lined up on smaller opponents. McDonough is also a very good kick, so has a lot of strings to his bow as a medium forward. Coming into the season, I wondered whether he could make the move to full time midfielder - and this season, he has proved to have that ability. While he didn't get to show for SA, he has been able to for Woodville West Torrens. He has played everywhere from a forward flank to a back flank, and also as a genuine midfielders. And he is a very handy player to have in the centre square, as he can use that strength of his to stand up in the contests and get the clearances. He'll probably always rotate between midfield and forward, but he should be dangerous in either position. AFL Comparison: Paul Chapman.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/young-talent-time-a-2012-mock-draft.956131/45. Sydney - Matthew McDonough (Forward)
Height: 180cm
Weight: 85kg
Club: Woodville West Torrens
Range: 30-late
Description: Nuggety small forward in the Porplyzia mould. Very strong kid for someone of his height and proved to be a very difficult match up at the champs kicking two bags of 6 goals and 3 in the final game. Not convinced his type will be the most highly sought after but I think he can continue to be a difficult match up at AFL level. Would like to see him play more midfield to finish off the year as everyone knows he is a more than capable forward and some versatility wouldn't go astray.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/tigs-first-ever-mock-draft.960168/
