''Probably the most disappointing thing about it is that you have done so much work to prepare for round one, trained so long, so hard,'' he said.
''And then two weeks before it, you go and do a stupid little thing - a brain fade, I guess - and now you are going to miss out.''
McMahon’s head-high strike on Geelong's Jordan Murdoch resulted in the 26-year olds first suspension. Before that, he’d only received a single reprimand.
''Obviously on the vision it looks pretty bad. It looks like I've just whacked him,'' he said.
''But my intention was to push off his arm, but it slipped off his arm and hit him in the chin.''
With the bad news addressed, Murnane goes on to explore McMahon’s strengths as a defender and pressed the 106-gamer on living with a low profile.
''That doesn't faze me one bit, I'd rather it be that way,'' he insists.
At one stage last year McMahon did make headlines, but it wasn’t for his feats on the field. A mystery virus kept him on the sidelines for six matches.
''Hopefully, whatever happens this year, I won't have to go through that again,'' McMahon said.
In that time, the Roos lost four of those six games and slid to 12th. When McMahon returned, the Roos won 10 of their next 12. Murnane also points out, from rounds 12 to 23, North's ranking for goals conceded per inside 50 rocketed from worst in the AFL to the top three.
''I am happy to sit in the hole and get smashed, if it means that it's going to help someone like 'Scooter' Thompson get out one time,'' he said.
''I look at how my defenders think about me, whether they can count on me, whether they trust me to do my job.''
Regarded as a backline “General” McMahon admits he’s becoming increasingly vocal.
''I probably talk too much sometimes. Around the club, I don't really say that much, but I'm a lot more confident out on the field,'' he said.
''We feel like we have to instruct and make sure everyone is in the right spot.''
Being in the right spot seems to be another of his strengths. Only twice did McMahon concede more than one goal to his direct opponent last year and he had a clean sheet on eight other occasions. Champion Data rates his ability to intercept mark as ''elite''.
Efficient also by foot, he had the highest percentage of any player for his rebound 50s resulting in goals.
There just some of the reasons why North will be eagerly anticipating his Round 2 return against Geelong at Etihad Stadium.
