Overlooked by everyone, but now McVee takes the Round 18 AFL Rising Star nomination

Young Demon Judd McVee is the Round 18 Rising Star nominee after a fine performance playing on Lions gun Charlie Cameron last Friday evening. This continues his excellent debut season where he has played every match.

McVee joined three other East Fremantle products (Trent Rivers, Luke Jackson and Taj Woewodin) when the Dees called his name at #16 in the rookie draft of 2021.

He’d played across half back and a wing in the Colts, and expectations would not have been particularly high given his starting point. He spent 2022 adapting to life as a professional footballer at Casey, playing the whole season there and being a part of their premiership win.

Over the course of the season, he impressed with his composure, ability to win contests despite still being very lean, and neat disposal when rebounding from defence.

As the 2023 season came closer, and with Christian Salem set to miss the openers due to a thyroid issue, the whispers started coming out of Melbourne from players and coaches that the still rookie listed McVee was putting in a power of work. He had set himself to play round one and was noticeably stronger having added a few kilos to his slender frame and was playing with greater confidence in match simulation.

Judd McVee. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

And so it came to pass that McVee debuted in round one and hasn’t looked back since. His coaches are happy to give him the big jobs, as per last week on Charlie Cameron, and he is tight checking as well as able to rebound efficiently.

His straight line speed isn’t necessarily something that stands out, but his ability to keep his feet and stay balanced means that he often has a step or two advantage on his opponents. Also, without ball in hand, he is an excellent spoiler, reading the ball in flight well and being unafraid to engage both in the air and physically with his opponents.

McVee has played every game so far this season, and his defence-first mindset has meant players like Christian Salem (now returned from his thyroid issue) are able to take a more offensive stand. Alongside players like Salem, as well as Lever and May, he certainly has some excellent role models as well as team first players who are willing to peel off their own opponents and help him out of a bind.

There is always a query over anyone who gets selected late in the draft, or in the rookie draft, and it confounds that the biggest knock on McVee – that he doesn’t win enough of the footy – was so compelling that every club overlooked him multiple times. Whilst not even 70kgs when he was drafted, he does not lack for courage, is a good kick and excellent in contested situations.

Chances of winning the Rising Star
Half the judges wouldn’t even know his name!

Plays Like
A low possession defender who has carved out a great career down the highway is Geelong’s Jed Bews, and I think it’s a pretty good comparison.

Ceiling
This is one of the more difficult appraisals I’ve made. On the one hand, defenders who rarely lower their colours whilst also being able to use the ball effectively are valuable. But on the other, McVee doesn’t win much of the ball and this may mean that he could be overtaken by a similar type who gets more of the ball or creates more rebound. I love how he goes about it though, and as long as he keeps winning contests then he will keep his spot.