The emerging Demon was one of the club’s best stories of 2012, playing all but two matches to finish third in Melbourne’s best and fairest award.
And after finishing equal first with Daniel Nicholson in the club’s three km time trial at Princes Park in the first week of pre-season, McDonald said he was clear about his goals over the pre-season.
“I was pretty happy with the [three km] time. It was the same time as what I ran in February last year at the end of pre-season. So it shows I’m starting where I finished, which is pretty good,” he said.
“I want to build on that a little bit more, but the goal for me is to improve defensively, but also put some strength on my body.
“I don’t want to break down by going too hard or stupid, but I definitely want to get a bit stronger.”
At the moment, McDonald is 96 kg, but wants to be 98 kg for the start of the 2013 season.
Melbourne is now into its third week of pre-season and McDonald said the ante had been upped significantly compared to this time last year.
“The first week was pretty low key and there wasn’t a lot of physical stuff, but last week was very solid and it ramped up a bit from last year. It’s been a bit of a step-up in work-rate so far, which has been good,” he said.
“The running we’re doing now is the running we weren’t able to do at the start of last pre-season. We had to play catch-up to get to a base fitness. But we were able to do that running straight away this year.
“With the weights, we know what [strength and conditioning manager] Rob Jackson’s like in the gym and he’s now able to put in a few more newer and challenging exercises for us as well.”
McDonald said he felt confident entering this pre-season, given he had played all but two matches and had become a regular in 2012.
“I know that I’m in the backline group this year, rather than the forward line. So I know what I’m working towards now,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to having a better year, myself again and the team as well, and I’m really looking forward to training with the guys I played next to last season.”
Although McDonald was pleased to finish third in Melbourne’s best and fairest award in just his second AFL season, he said it would’ve meant more had he gained that placing in a successful team.
“It doesn’t really worry me that much where I finish in the best and fairest, but when your team is in the bottom three on the ladder - it’d be a bigger achievement if it was gained when the team finishes in the Grand Final,” he said.
“I’m still hoping to prove a lot and get better, so I’m really looking forward to having a crack next year.”
Meanwhile, McDonald said Melbourne’s recruits had settled in quickly.
“David Rodan is really easy to talk to and he’s a great guy. He’s willing to chat to you and tell you what he sees from his perspective,” he said.
“Cam [Pedersen] is a little bit quieter, but he’s really working hard and has a real go at training, so they’ve both been pretty impressive so far.
“Shannon Byrnes has been there a couple of days and he’s been training really well too, so the new guys have all been impressive with the way they’ve trained, and they’ve fitted in straight away. They get on with everyone.”
