MELBOURNE has locked in another important part of its future with defender Tom McDonald re-signing for another two seasons.

McDonald, who has established himself as one of the competition’s most promising up-and-coming key position players, said it was an easy decision to commit to the club.

“Honestly now I can say that I can see that we’re going in a good, positive path [and] this time last year I probably couldn’t have said that,” McDonald told Dee TV.

“There was a lot of negativity around the club and we’d struggled [but] even though we’re not winning a lot of games this year I can really see the path we’re going on.

“It gives me hope for the future and even hope for the immediate future that we can keep building and have a good finish to the year in the last seven rounds.”

Originally drafted as a third-round selection in 2010, McDonald has completed a solid apprenticeship during his four years at the club, reaching the 50-game mark earlier this year.

Having settled into a key defensive position, the 21-year-old will now work towards positioning himself as one of the team’s leaders moving forward.

 “I want to be known as one of the best defenders in the competition, I’d love to be an All-Australian in the future and that’s all part of my personal goals,” McDonald said.

“But as a team, the most important part is seeing the team go forward and hopefully playing finals sooner rather than later.”

With backline stalwart Lynden Dunn already committed to the Dees until the end of 2017, McDonald’s signing is yet another step in developing a solid defensive group.

“I think there’s not many left to sign up for this year and hopefully we’ll get Frawley over the line, I would love him to be part of the club going forward,” McDonald said.

“It’s good to have all these guys that hopefully stick together for the next four or five years at least and really push towards finals and that sort of thing.”