“I’ve always been interested in gridiron and going over to play and I just applied online and happened to get into a college,” he said immediately after the Tigers grabbed top spot with a five-point win over Yarrawonga.

“I head over to the (United) States at the end of July, start of August, so it will be good.

“Albury is trying to think of a solution, maybe coming back for the finals, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

“The college window over there is very small, you’ve only got the four years and obviously I’m coming from a long way behind compared to everyone else, so I’ll have to put in a lot of hard work to catch up.”

McDonald started on Yarrawonga’s gun midfielder Mark Whiley, but after his blistering start was moved to defence, where he produced one of his best games.

“I was told to play my natural game and back my instincts,” he said.

“I had to just win the one-on-one and use the ball well, provide plenty of run.”

McDonald cleaned up a number of dangerous situations, particularly in the first half, when the Tigers were under siege as Yarrawonga looked to take advantage of its height.

The fact Albury was able to sustain the early onslaught and then win the game will worry every opponent, especially considering the three-time premiers have at least six automatic selections to return, including Dean Polo, Brayden O’Hara and John Mitchell, who impressed in his season debut in the reserves.

Albury hosts Myrtleford on Saturday, which will be desperate to build on one of its biggest wins in the league against Corowa-Rutherglen after an inconsistent start.