MELBOURNE player/coach performance manager Brendan McCartney provides an update on all 45 players in the lead-up to the 2017 season. Be sure to check back each day for most of January, as we present this year’s squad …

Tom McDonald

Tom was in rehab pre-Christmas, so it’s given us a great opportunity for him to spend a lot time around some young players in rehab and get to know them, which is not always easy, when you’re an older guy. It’s been good for him that way. It’s also been good for him to work on some basics and fundamentals of the game, which he’s identified that he wants to be better at. He’s maturing into a really good club person.

Pat McKenna

Pat’s just come into the club, but it looks like he’s been here all of his life. He’s always smiling and is friendly. He knows what to do. He owns his own day. He comes to work and gets things done. We’re noticing him more and more in training drills, where he’s picking up on how we do things. He’s bobbing up with the ball in dangerous spots and using it very well.

Jake Melksham

He’s trained really well – right through the slow start, when we were being conservative with him, after a year out of the game. We managed his training for a while, but since we’ve let him go – he’s shown he’s a quality AFL player. He’s probably got some attributes that will really add to us.