Is Weideman's rise Gawn-like? McDonald thinks so

Melbourne key forward Tom McDonald believes things have clicked for young teammate Sam Weideman.

Weideman was taken with pick 9 in the 2015 National Draft, before Charlie Curnow and Eric Hipwood, and is now starting to look like the player the Dees wanted when they drafted him.

“We’ve had Sam come in, he’d been in good form in the VFL and I said this before, it was a bit like Max Gawn when he started,” McDonald told SEN Breakfast.

“Gawn needed that one AFL game to click for him to have the confidence in the same way he did in the VFL.

“Gawn was dominating the VFL a couple of years before he started dominating the AFL and Sam’s been a bit the same, he’s been kicking sixes and sevens in the twos, it hasn’t quite clicked when he’s come to the next level.”

Weideman had a brilliant performance in the Elimination Final win over Geelong, kicking three goals, taking seven marks and gathering 24 disposals.

“As soon as he played that first game against West Coast, he clunked a couple in the first quarter and I thought this might be it for him, it might click in his head and he’s good enough to do it,” McDonald said.

“He hasn’t looked back since then and the weekend was probably the best game of his career by far.

“Not just marking and kicking goals, he had 24 touches as well, that’s a huge game.”

McDonald feels for fellow key forward Jesse Hogan who is set to miss the finals series with a foot injury.

“It’s horrible for Jesse that he’s missing out on this opportunity to play finals for the first time,” he said.

Hogan’s absence has made way for the rise of Weideman and he’ll get another chance to perform for the Dees on Friday night against Hawthorn in a do-or-die Semi-Final at the MCG.

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