GWS Giants veteran James McDonald can accept a two-week suspension for his high hit on Swan Luke Parker on Saturday night. McDonald on Monday became the first GWS player to be cited by the match review panel after he appeared to run past the ball to flatten the Sydney midfielder. McDonald was charged with rough conduct and AFL media spokesman Patrick Keane revealed on twitter the match review panel ruled the bump was negligent conduct, high impact and high contact. In an unprecedented scenario, McDonald came under scrutiny from the judiciary panel he was a member of just six months ago. McDonald quit the panel at the end of the season to join the Giants playing and coaching staff. McDonald, 35, set the tone for a rugged first half when he appeared to run past the ball to shirt-front Parker, 19. Parker was motionless for several minutes and was still sore yesterday morning. Forced out of Melbourne at the end of 2010 after 251 games and three seasons as captain, McDonald played in the Victorian Amateur Football Association and worked with GWS's Melbourne-based players in a development role last year while serving on the MRP.
I think we all saw it coming, a couple of weeks isnt too bad IMO. What are people going to do with him however? Do you keep him knowing he will miss a couple straight away aswell as get rested not too long after returning and rested throughout the remainder of the year as Sheeds implied, or do you sit tight and wait for him to finally moo? Interesting to get peoples thoughts. Personally i will be keeping him
Not too bothered, he can warm the bench for a while and may be handy as a cash cow that ripens 2-3 weeks later than others. People can jump on him now but will be a trade and 100pts down on those who have him. Only problem is if you have Shiel and he keeps getting subbed. That could equate to some pretty shaky bench coverage in your midfield.
You little ripper I really missed the boat with him, but now I don't have to worry about him and can nearly downgrade to him.
Of course you should keep him, it's only two weeks. Those who picked him still are a trade better than those who haven't got him and want him.
Don't see anyone complaining about the points he scored. But Nick is right, depends on who you have him paired with and for many that would be Shiel. Then if one of your remaining mid rookies is, say, Magner, and he gets the vest, then you have some short-term concerns.
I really don't see why there's concern for JMac getting the vest. Especially now he gets another 3 week break. His body will be so much more able to handle footy this year than the kids. He won't play every game but he'll play all of those he participates in.
Muppets that may increase the likelihood of a vest for the farmer. It's a week to the next games plus two weeks. Three weeks is enough time to lose some match conditioning.
Maybe, but I reckon as a 250-gamer he knows exactly how to get his body right. More than the kids. Much less chance of the vest for mine. I swapped him for Shiel at the last minute.
who ever said your 100 points up and a trade if you have mcdonald is dreaming. those that didnt have him might have bugg, mohr or kennedy instead, so not much difference. further more atm they still have a full team to pick from, more than likely scoring more points over next 2 rnds. then if they do a correction trade for mcdonald in rnd 5 that will be roughly a 200k gain. 100k from the player they trade and the 100k mcdonald makes in his price rise week. so atm if you have him the best you could be is a few points down when he comes back and 200k down on those that didnt have him. worst case is a few hundred points, 2 trades down (trading him out and back in) and 200k down you are far better of not having him from the start and relying on shiel, neal or magner not getting the vest