Season in short
After going down with a hamstring injury against Geelong in round 19, Macrae feared his season could be over.
Instead, the midfielder returned ahead of schedule, averaging 30 possessions in the finals series, including 39 against Hawthorn in the Semi Final, (his 23 handballs was a career high) and a 33 touch, five mark performance in the Grand Final ensured he was one of the best on the ground.
Up until that point, the ever-reliable Macrae was a key cog in the Bulldogs’ midfield rotation, his improved ball use was a feature - his disposal effectiveness rose by six per cent on last season and the 22-year-old’s turnover rate was reduced by one per game.
Was one of five Bulldogs to be named in the AFLPA’s 22under22 squad.
The stat that mattered
Macrae’s 27.6 disposals per game was a career high.
What they said
“Injury aside I was pretty happy with my year.
“Obviously being a premiership player at the end of the year, you’re going to be happy no matter what. I’ve ticked off a few boxes that I wanted to tick off and there’s still a lot of room for growth individually but also as a team, which is exciting.
“Coming into this year I wanted to continue to work on my inside and contested ball work, which I think I did this year, and the defensive side of my game, I thought that really grew as well.
"So coming into next year… probably a bit more forward play and just continue on my strengths, my opposite foot skills and my general skills are couple of the main areas I’ll look to improve over the preseason."
Gram of the year
Simple, yet effective.
