LUKE McDonald won't be among the nominees for this year's Greater Western Sydney mini-draft, all but confirming he is headed for North Melbourne as a father-son selection in next year's NAB AFL Draft.

The son of North Melbourne football chief Donald McDonald, McDonald was widely considered a strong chance of being one of the two 17-year-olds traded by GWS in the October 26 mini-draft, along with West Australians Jack Martin and Jesse Hogan, and Victorians Josh Kelly and Matt Crouch.

But AFL.com.au understands McDonald, a highly skilled 187cm utility, won't nominate by the mini-draft deadline of 2pm on Wednesday (August 1).

Although North preferred not to comment on McDonald when contacted last week, McDonald told AFL.com.au in June his manager, Paul Connors, was speaking with North about a deal that would tie him to the club his father played 155 games for between 1982-92.

At that time, McDonald could scarcely have been any plainer about his intentions.

"I definitely want to play [at North]. Obviously the mini-draft is there and I've spoken to a few people about it, but at the end of the day I've gone for North since I was a little kid," McDonald said.

"I'm a pretty passionate North Melbourne supporter so I want to do whatever I can to help bring them up. They've got a pretty young list so it's a pretty exciting time there and I'd love to be a part of it."

In May, AFL.com.au spoke with four long-term club recruiters about McDonald and all were confident North would sign him.

"North aren't going to let him slip through their hands," one recruiter said.

"There's absolutely no chance. The kid's a gun."

Since then, McDonald's appeal has grown on the back of his impressive performances for Vic Metro at the 2012 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships that earned him selection in the All Australian team as a defender.

He also co-captained his school Trinity Grammar to this year's AGSV football premiership, sealing it with a best-on-ground performance in last Friday's Grand Final win over Marcellin College.

Although eligible for this year's mini-draft, which is open to players born between January 1-April 30, 1995, McDonald cannot officially be recruited by North until the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.

However, the Kangaroos could follow the lead set by Melbourne and Essendon with respective father-son candidates Jack Viney and Joe Daniher and commit to McDonald ahead of next year's draft.

Both Viney and Daniher were eligible for last year's GWS mini-draft, but Melbourne committed to taking Viney (the son of 233-game Demon midfielder and current player development and strategy manager Todd) in this year's draft back in November 2010.

Just one month later, the Bombers committed to taking Daniher (the son of 118-game Essendon defender Anthony, who also played 115 games with the Sydney Swans).

Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick