McDonald, a handy mid-sized player with good skills and courage from the Pambula Football Club, caught the eye of talent scouts at this year’s State Zone Trials.
The 15 year-old played for the Cats in the NSW State Championships in April and has joined the Kangaroos until the end of 2012.
“I was pretty excited when it all happened, I didn’t really think it was a possibility,” McDonald said.
“When I went to the State Carnival at Riverview I was really just focused on putting in a good week of footy. When the North Melbourne staff came and spoke to me I was really surprised.”
McDonald also played with the South East Regional Academy of Sport (SERAS) team that participated in the AFL Canberra Under 18s competition.
Ben’s immediate goal in 2010 will be to make the under 16s NSW/ACT RAMS squad.
“Over the next few years, I’m just really looking forward to the experience of seeing what it takes to be an AFL footballer, learning new skills and really improving my footy.”
