DON'T believe what the team sheet tells you – that's the takeaway from Tom McDonald after the Melbourne utility was named on the wing ahead of Saturday's twilight game against the Western Bulldogs.
After missing the first five rounds of this season with a toe injury, McDonald has returned to the Demons' senior side and booted a career-high 30 goals from 10 games, but his contribution to a continually improving Melbourne outfit has come not solely as a forward.
Coach Simon Goodwin hasn't been reluctant to experiment with his side, meaning several Demons players, McDonald included, have played out of position.
While the defender-turned-forward has had exposure to all parts of the ground, McDonald has learned to take his coach's Thursday night team positions with a grain of salt.
"Don't worry about the team sheet, they're not very accurate," McDonald said prior to training on Friday morning.
"I might spend a bit of time on the wing but I've been named at full-back, starting at full-forward. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the team sheet, 'Goody' just whacks names on the board."
The most notable change to the Demons' structure this year have been the roles of Jesse Hogan and McDonald, who have played in tandem on a wing, or as the main target inside 50.
What first began as a trial has worked to great success for Goodwin, with the Demon duo pushing further up the ground to create space inside the attacking arc. Melbourne is ranked first for both inside 50s and goals scored.
But over the past three weeks, the Demons have come under both internal and external pressure for failing to capitalise on their inside-50 dominance. They were plus-30 vs Port Adelaide (lost by 10), plus-12 vs St Kilda (lost by two) and plus-50 vs Fremantle (won by 54).
The Demons (9-6) sit sixth on the ladder, and McDonald said if Melbourne wanted to make the eight after missing the finals in agonising circumstances last year, its forward structure needed tinkering.
"Our ability to turn inside 50s into scores hasn't been great," McDonald admitted.
"The midfield and the backline are doing their job and getting the ball (inside 50), but us forwards probably ought to do a better job of giving ourselves more one-on-ones and making more space because it's very crowded when it gets kicked in.
"Jesse (Hogan), Max (Gawn) and I have been working on not all jumping for the same ball so we're not having five or six guys in a pack."
Following its encounter against the Dogs, Melbourne faces Geelong (GMBHA Stadium) and Adelaide (Adelaide Oval) in games that could have a large bearing on the top eight.
"It's interesting, because we can go from top two down to 10th or 11th in a couple of games," McDonald said.
"It's [becoming] pretty important to win every game that you're in … noticing how important other teams' [results] are in terms of where you sit on the ladder.
"A result like last night (when Adelaide beat Geelong) changes the ladder significantly, which could affect us at the end of the year."
Both Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have been struck by injury in the lead-up to Saturday's twilight fixture.
Demon Billy Stretch (toe) has been ruled out for the rest of the season, while young gun Marcus Bontempelli will miss the next two to three weeks for the Dogs after having his appendix removed mid-week.
Melbourne has named veteran Bernie Vince for the first time since his round 15 omission, and McDonald was excited for the former Crow to return.
"I'm really happy for Bernie," McDonald said.
"He's a very calm head, he's a much better leader on the field than some people recognise off the field.
"He's smart, he's got good ball use, he's actually a really good one-on-one defender … if he brings those attributes and plays with some confidence he's going to be a very good player for us."
After his standout performance for Casey in the VFL last weekend, Jay Kennedy-Harris will return to play his first game since round 19, 2017.
"In horrific weather in the VFL last week … Jay was the one who stood out with his class in the wet and kicked three goals out of five for the game for both teams," McDonald said.
"He deserves his spot, he's been working really hard and I'm really happy for him."
