Alec MacDonald (born 27 October 2001) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL).

Background

MacDonald was born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and moved to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

when he was nine-years old. He played his junior rugby league for the Easts Springwood Tigers and Ormeau Shearers, and attended Chisholm Catholic College, Cornubia. In 2021, he played three games for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

in the

2021 Queensland Cup The 2021 Queensland Cup season was the 26th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The 2021 season saw the return of the competition, after it was cancelled after just one round i ...

, while winning the club's under-21s player of the year in the 2021 Hastings Deering Colts season. He was a member of the Wynnum Manly team that won the 2021 Hasting Deering Colts Grand Final 17–16 against

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

. MacDonald then received a train and trial contract with the

after being scouted by former Storm player

Tim Glasby Tim Glasby (born 27 April 1989) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer. He played for the Melbourne Storm, with whom he won the 2017 NRL Grand Final and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League (NRL). He also represen ...

Playing career

MacDonald signed with Melbourne on a train and trial contract ahead of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, earning a full-time contract to stay with the club for the

2022 Melbourne Storm season The 2022 Melbourne Storm season was the 25th in the club's history, competing in the 2022 NRL season. The team was coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching the club for his 20th consecutive season and for the second straight season, Melbourne had co- ...

. He made his debut in round 1 of the

for

against

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

(player cap 221). While with Melbourne, MacDonald also played for Storm feeder club

Brisbane Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

, making his first appearance for the Tigers on 24 April 2022 during the

2022 Queensland Cup The 2022 Queensland Cup season was the 27th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Hostplus Cup due to sponsorship, featured 14 teams playing a 24-wee ...

season. In round 17, MacDonald scored his first

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

try, scoring a late consolation try for Melbourne against

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

. While playing with the Brisbane Tigers in the 2023 Queensland Cup, MacDonald won the Paul Green Memorial Day medal for his efforts in the Tigers final round win over

MacDonald played 12 games for Melbourne in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

as the club finished third on the table. In July 2024, MacDonald signed a contract extension with the Storm, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2028 season.

References

External links

Storm profile18th Man Profile
2001 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players Melbourne Storm players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Eastern Suburbs Tigers players {{NewZealand-rugbyleague-bio-stub