McDonald was aiming to play last week before suffering a minor setback but he said the original plan was to return in 12 weeks which would put him on the cusp of selection for next Friday night’s qualifying final against the Sydney Swans at the MCG.
However,with the double chance the Demons might choose to give him more time despite his obvious importance to their forward structure and the VFL team having a week’s break before their preliminary final.
The veteran Demon said he was relaxed about what the selectors tried to do because playing at this time of the year was a bonus.
“I had no expectation to even get back and play footy,so it is a win to play,” McDonald said. “I’d love to play in the AFL side and I think the AFL team is good enough to go back-to-back so I want to be part of that but to be honest it’s a win just to be able to play footy again.”