McDonald the hero as Sharks open accountWednesday, May 1, 2024 - 10:00 PM - by Chris Pike

ALREADY a premiership star, Jackson McDonald became a game winning East Fremantle hero last Sunday showing nerves of steel after the siren and he hopes the Sharks can now build momentum off that.

McDonald didn’t let himself think about the stakes in the moment, but he took the mark just inside 50 seconds before the siren on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval with the Sharks still behind Swan Districts.

They had already stormed home from a 22-point deficit to be within four and not only were they still behind, but facing the real prospect of remaining without any points after the opening five rounds of their premiership defence given the negative four start to 2024.

McDonald blocked all of that out and couldn’t have struck his shot from right inside 50 better to see it sail through for East Fremantle to steal the win and kickstart their premiership defence.

Staying cool in the clutch moment

What the 26-year-old premiership star midfielder did was try to block everything out to focus on the kick in front of him before enjoying the celebrations afterwards.

"The adrenaline was definitely pumping, but I just tried to block it all out. I guess I was kinda calm, though, when I was kicking it and I didn’t really think about how big the moment was at the time," McDonald said.

"It was only when I reflect on it afterwards was when I realised how big it was. So I just focused on my routing and kicking it like I usually do and then to kick it, and have all the boys get around me was pretty surreal."

Despite what was on the line not only in the game with McDonald's kick but also what it meant in the context of East Fremantle's season, he was actually surprised with how calm he felt in the moment.

The supporting words from a premiership teammate might have helped.

"It was a funny one and I think back to other shots where I was a bit more nervous, but because of the moment, as soon as I marked it I was looking to handball it to someone just in the heat of the moment," he said.

"But then I walked back and I actually thought the siren was going to go, and Kyle Baskerville told me he would love me no matter what happens, which was nice.

"Then I just went back, did my routine and I did have a bit of confidence to tell myself I was going to kick it. Then I flushed it luckily enough and saw it go through, and next thing I knew I was mobbed by all the boys."

Crucial win in the context of the season

Not only was it a big moment for McDonald to live out every footballer's dream of kicking the winning goal after the siren in his 38th game for the Sharks since crossing from Victoria in 2022, but it's huge in the context of the season.

East Fremantle has now won two of four games in 2024, but have just the four premiership points to their name but it's fair to say being without a point after five rounds would have been quite the mountain to climb.

To have been down 22 points in the last quarter and still by 17 at the 22-minute mark, it's the sort of win McDonald feels can be built off now for the Sharks.

"I think that game in the last quarter in general had a lot of big moments from a lot of our players just to come back from that," McDonald said.

"It was probably the biggest comeback I've played in and now reflecting on it, it was a pretty pivotal moment in our season.

"Hopefully we can just build on that now and keep the wins coming, and hopefully it can be a turning point for us but I think we've been playing decent footy. It's not quite at the level we were last year or want to be, but we're working towards it."

Always confident despite being down

East Fremantle found themselves 22 points down early in the last quarter and still by 17 heading into time-on and the very real prospect of being without a premiership point after five rounds was staring them in the face.

However, McDonald had the sense that his teammates were still going to give themselves a chance with a big finish, and he sensed the lift beginning with goals to Brynn Teakle and Jarrad Jansen to give them a chance before he sealed the deal after siren.

"I think the leaders stepped up, but it was a grind all day and I don’t think we were ever going to back down and accept the game was gone," he said.

"So we just kept grinding away and once you kick one then the belief just starts to grow and they were big moments those goals that came before mine as well.

"That got the boys up and about, and once you get a sniff it was almost what we needed to get our game style going. We started to take it on a bit more and once we got a bit of momentum we became pretty hard to stop."

Still getting back to full strength

While East Fremantle's premiership defence is still gathering steam, they are also still working their way to being at full strength even with Cam Eardley and Ben McGuire returning in Sunday's game against Swan Districts.

There are still the likes of Jono Marsh, Harry Marsh, Dillon O'Reilly, Blaine Boekhorst and Alex Montauban who have been sidelined and are still to return, but McDonald is confident they can build on the way they won the game on Sunday.

"We do still have some key players out but we do pride ourselves on running pretty deep and it is a big win for us," McDonald said.

"There was starting to be a bit of external noise, so I think internally it's good for us to just show that we can win ugly sometimes or dig deep and show we're never out of a game.

"It's a pretty strong competition so you do have to be on every week but I think we've definitely got the group for it, and after a bit of a slow start from where we'd like to be, I think we'll only keep getting stronger from here."

What has been the most impressive aspect of what East Fremantle has done over the last two years firstly to get to a preliminary final in 2022 and then win the premiership in 2023 is to do it despite having plenty of obstacles thrown in their way.

Whether it's been a rough run of injury, dealing with not have a home base to train at or then without a home ground to play at, the Sharks have overcome plenty which is something McDonald and his teammates take great pride in.

"We thrive on being able to deal with whatever we have to and we know it's not going to be easy, and some weeks we don’t know where we'll be training," he said.

"But we just kind of block everything out and get on with it, and enjoy what comes our way. I think it's a great quality of our group that we can do it tough and come out the other side playing good footy as a team."

Finding a home in WA with Sharks

Before McDonald joined East Fremantle in 2022 and made the move west, McDonald played his underage football at the Calder Cannons before playing in the VFL at Coburg along with at Glenroy in the Essendon Districts Football League.

He also played in a premiership with the Port Douglas Crocs in the Cairns AFL, but by the end of 2021, he was up for a new challenge in life and with his football.

Joining East Fremantle continues to be the best decision he's ever made.

"I definitely love living over here and feel nice and settled, but I wouldn’t say I'm necessarily settled in our team," McDonald said.

"We've got some good players in the team now and more to come in so there's always pressure on for spots, but with such quality players I think I've found my role in the team.

"It's not to have 30 touches a game, it's to do my job so the likes of Milan and our other gun on-ballers can go and play their footy. I love it and love playing in this team, and what it does for me so it's been great the home that I've found here."