TOM McDonald’s impressive start to the season has been given the big tick by his backline coach Jade Rawlings.

Rawlings said McDonald had added to his game this season and has started the season in fine form against some key forwards.

“It’s been a good start to the year. He had a good game against Gold Coast playing on [Daniel] Gorringe and [Zac] Smith predominantly,” he said.

“He had a good battle on [Jeremy] Cameron [in round two], against pretty trying circumstances, especially that second half and then he had a good battle with [Taylor] Walker, so he’s used to getting the best forward.

“He likes those challenges and he’s starting to add a bit more to his game, so it’s been a good start for Tom.”

Rawlings said his backline players had been “solid” so far this year.

“They’ve been OK,” he said.

“[Against] the Suns, they defended really well and against the Giants it was a mixed bag.

“On the weekend, I thought we genuinely did a pretty good job, but we were disappointed with a few of the contests late in the game, when the game was on the line and we were a bit tired.

“I think the group’s really gelled and they’ve played together for a while now, but [Christian] Salem and [Heritier] Lumumba have come down and joined in quite well. So there is good chemistry and they’ve been reasonable over the first three weeks.”