Late on Saturday night, Cath McDonald called MePACs personal alarm service to let them know her mother was staying with them at their Victorian home near the South Australian border.
“Welcome to MePACs, you’re speaking with Skye, how can I help you?” the call began.
That’s when Cath’s husband Paul jumped in.
“G’day Skye … we won the f***in’ premiership!”
Cue waves of laughter: Relieved, breathless, euphoric laughter.
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“Oh Skye, Skye, excuse my husband,” Cath began after a brief moment to compose herself.
“My Mum has just exited the bedroom, she is Kath Atwell, the grandmother of Tom McDonald, who has just won the grand final in Western Australia.”
Like many Demons supporters, Paul was intoxicated on much more than alcohol that night.
He’d just watched their eldest son Tom be part of the Melbourne Demons AFL team that won the 57-year-long drought-breaking premiership.
Tom will forever be remembered as the player that kicked the match’s final goal after the siren, securing the final margin of 74 points, the Demons’ biggest win ever in a grand final.
It marked the highpoint in an emotional rollercoaster of a year for the McDonalds of Edenhope, characterised by lockdowns, border closures, good neighbours and fresh starts.
Try and script it
Tom was drafted in November 2010, debuting late the following year. It was a tough time to be associated with the grand old flag.
“There was one year there where they won two or three games,” Paul said. “They’d go into the rooms and get spat on and called ugly names, and that was the lowest I can remember Tom.
“To see this … she’s worth it.”
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Kath remembers Tom “couldn’t stop smiling” when he called them after the game. “It was just beautiful,” she said.
Melbourne told Tom to “seek other options” at the end of 2020. Two weekends ago, they re-signed him for three years.
Tom’s story is now one of many that people are reflecting on how the club turned it around in less than 12 months.
“He said to us he never thought he’d play in a grand final,” Cath said. “We thought we might see him one day, but yeah, this was a nice reward.”
“Better than nice,” Paul said.
“I thought they were going to make it all the way from halfway through the year. They showed signs of elite-ness (sic), players like [Luke] Jackson came of age.”
Tom’s younger brother Oscar plays for Carlton, after Melbourne did delist him last year.
“That was really a bittersweet moment,” Paul said. “When both [Tom and Oscar] were drafted, we were in the same room and Oscar had his mates around and it was just ecstatic. For him to be delisted — I walked in and the TV was on and heard it had happened — I was in tears.”
Oscar played the first round as the AFL’s first ever medical sub, kicking two goals after coming on after half time.
A third child, Sasha, plays with the Casey Demons netball side, a training partner of the Melbourne Vixens. Cath is confident one day she’ll make it to the next level.
‘It helped us through’
Edenhope has a population 950 people and is 40 kilometres away from the South Australian border.
Like dozens of other border towns like it, COVID restrictions have disrupted even the most basic daily tasks like crossing the state line for community sport, education, grocery shopping and vet services, just to name a few.
The McDonalds, who farm crops and sheep southeast of the town, have not been immune to the disruption. They’ve missed a few fishing trips to Port MacDonnell.
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Cath joined the local netball side Edenhope-Apsley — where Tom played his junior football before heading to Ballarat — at the start of this year to get out of the house more.
But further border closures conspired to starve the team of players, and eventually the local netball season was cancelled for a second straight year.
It meant the family was able to follow Tom’s exploits over TV across an entire season — all the way to the highest achievement. It’s made a big difference to their mood this year.
For Kath, the Demons’ mighty season turbocharged her gradual transition to a footy tragic that began when Tom was drafted.
Facebook: Cath McDonald
)“I grew up hating it because my family were passionate football followers for different teams. There were so many arguments and I didn’t get involved,” she said.
“[Now] I absolutely live from week to week for the football — I love it. I think it’s been good for people my age to have something to look forward to.”
Forever red and blue
Outside, nearing harvest season, the canola fields are yellow and green.
Inside, you can’t keep your eyes off the red and the blue.
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A giant Melbourne-scarf-wearing teddy bear greets you on entry to the McDonald house.
Earlier this week, Paul dressed up some rams he just bought from nearby Kaniva in Demons hats and scarves.
The day after the grand final, he invited Reg Burgess — a local who played for Essendon in the 1959 grand final — around for a few tins.
Why not? Anything goes after you’ve been waiting 57 years to celebrate.
The piece de resistance is a painting of Tom’s two children Bella, one-year-old, and Leo, three months, with the words “Go dad” painted by their neighbours, the Fergusons.
Tom has previously lamented to the ABC he hasn’t been around for more than half of his son’s life due to matches being relocated from Melbourne during the pandemic.
Cath says he and the family are grateful for the shows of support, and for the premiership.
“It was a fitting end to what has been a lot of ups and downs,” she said.
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
