Luke McDonald’s outstanding season has gained recognition from his teammates, with the 25-year-old nominated for the AFL Players’ MVP.

Todd Goldstein and Jy Simpkin joined McDonald as the Roos’ nominees for the award.

For McDonald, it’s been a career-best year; he’s averaged 20 disposals a game, an impressive feat when you consider he spent much of the early part of the season in a tagging role.

The number 11 shut down the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Toby Greene and Dylan Shiel, before returning to a familiar role in defence and taking his game to a new level.

Goldstein has returned to his best form in 2020, averaging 15 possessions, to go with 28 hit-outs.

The North big man has often played the role as a fourth midfielder, gathering over five clearances a game, ranking him amongst the league’s best for the stat.

At just 22, Simpkin is one of the Roos’ most exciting up-and-comers.

The gutsy midfielder has averaged 20 disposals, four clearances and four tackles in a breakout year.

North tough-nut Jed Anderson was nominated for the ‘Most Courageous Player’, while youngster Jack Mahony has capped off an impressive debut year, in the running for ‘Best First Year Player’.

The nomination for the MVP Award is a two-stage process. The first involves players nominating three teammates for the award, before three nominees from every club are presented to the wider playing group for a vote to decide the winner. Players cannot vote for their own teammates in stage two of the process.