TOM McDonald experiences a range of emotions playing alongside his brother, Oscar.

There’s pride, anxiousness and, he admits, some protectiveness.

Now that the two key defensive pillars have signed a fresh two-year contract extension to lock them into Melbourne’s next chapter under coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin, McDonald wants to share something else with Oscar, soon, too.

And that’s the pure exhilarating joy of finals success.

“It would be an amazing thing to share with him,” McDonald said.

“We know we are bloody lucky to be in this position together and Melbourne weren’t even expecting to draft him before the night, but they gave him a chance and now we just want to make the most of our opportunity together.

“We live together and we spend a lot of time together, maybe even too much (laughing).

“But I do feel very protective of him. He’s had a few ankle injuries this year and you feel sick in your guts if you see him hobbling off, because I feel responsible to mum and dad that I’m supposed to be looking after him out there.

“But I have been staggered by how well Oscar has come on this season.”

media_camera Defenders Oscar and Tom McDonald have signed two-year contract extensions with Melbourne. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Despite a protracted contract negotiation, which has tied the McDonald brothers to the Demons until the end of 2018, Tom McDonald, 23, said he never considered leaving.

“People are always asking you about it and that makes you think about it and you probably think ‘why is this dragging on?’” he said.

“But even though it hasn’t been the brightest start to my career in terms of wins, I have loved every minute at Melbourne and I love the guys we play with.

“Hopefully you’ve seen a bit of progress this year, probably none more so than what we did (in the win over Hawthorn) at the weekend.”

The 101-gamer is considered one of the league’s premier key backmen, at 194cm, and could soon be joined by banned Bomber Michael Hibberd next season.

Oscar, 20, is two centimetres taller, at 196cm, and has leapfrogged some of Melbourne’s veteran defenders this season, playing 12 games in 2016.

Tom McDonald said Melbourne has grown enormously as a football club in recent seasons and was setting up for September success.

“I think the talent is undeniable now, there are a lot of talented guys all over the field for us,” he said.

“Just thinking about where we were three or four years ago and how different the club is now, the way we do things — there is a plan and a goal in place.

“We just used to roll along from week to week, maybe in a negative way.

“Whereas, now there is a clear focus on what needs to be done to be able to hopefully play finals football soon and hopefully go on to top-four and ultimately a premiership eventually.”

McDonald said Goodwin was “absolutely ready” to take charge from Paul Roos at season’s end.

“He (Goodwin) has done an amazing job and he already does a lot behind the scenes at Melbourne at he moment,” he said.

“All the boys love him and his attitude and his zest for it. He will do a fantastic job and I have got no doubt about that.”