FIRST-year defender Oscar McDonald says he’s quickly settled into life at Melbourne.

Moving to the club from Ballarat, McDonald said older brother Tom had helped with the transition to a professional football environment.

“I’ve been away from him for a fair while, it’s always good to catch up and now I’m living with him, so it worked out perfectly,” McDonald told melbournefc.com.au.

“He’s one of the more professional blokes at the club so it’s great to learn things off him.

“It helps me transition to the club better and I can learn a lot of things off him.”

McDonald said the step up to an AFL environment had been an eye-opening experience, with some lifestyle tweaks along the way.

“My diet was the main thing that needed to be changed and has been changed in a big way, so that’s definitely improved,” he said.

“Just [focusing on] your work ethic around the club[and doing] those little things that all add up to something in the end.

“So whether it be extra stretching, massage, ice baths, things like that – just following along with that.”

Drafted at pick No. 53 in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft, McDonald made his name in the TAC Cup as a tall defender for North Ballarat Rebels.

But with a solid group of key defenders at the club in 2015, he said he expected to spend the year developing at VFL level.

“I pretty much [want] to learn and develop as much as I can,” McDonald said.

“I probably won’t get much game time, if any, this year but I’ll play in the Casey team and see how we go.

“I just want to learn as much as I can, develop a bit in my size and then see how we go.”