24 months on from a severe syndesmosis ankle sprain, Logan McDonald ended the 2026 season in career-best form, culminating in the Sydney Swans forward being awarded the Paul Roos Award as the Sydney Swans' Best Player of the Finals at the 2026 Sydney Swans AFL Awards night. 

McDonald was sidelined for the entirety of the 2025 season after an injury that was sustained the year prior, in the 2024 Preliminary Final against Port Adelaide, triggered a domino effect of setbacks, heartbreak and frustration for the former No. 4 draft pick in the 2020 AFL National Draft. 

“I think looking back on last year, it seems a long way away,” McDonald said. 

“Obviously, the last game before this year was the 2024 Grand Final and having a couple of surgeries post that, a few setbacks, seeing a lot of specialists about ways to approach my injury, but to come out on the other side and find some consistency in my own footy is something I'm pretty proud about. 

“You want to go into some weird places in rehab. Even to start this year, I wasn't putting pretty high expectations on myself, and I didn't start the year how I wanted to,” McDonald added. 

“I think all the hard work I'd sort of been putting in just sort of started to click and started to get some belief again and was able to just contribute a bit more and relish a bit more in the back half of the year.” 

The 24-year-old ended the season in blistering form, leading the team with nine goals throughout the finals, including six against the would-be three-in-a-row Premiers Brisbane.  

“The qualifying final win was pretty big [and] something I'm pretty proud of," McDonald said. 

“The enormity of that win, especially since Brisbane went on to win a third premiership in a row. What we were able to do to them on our home deck in a final with a pretty inexperienced group.  

“[It] shouldn't really be forgotten. I know we ended on such a sour note, but yeah, that week after was enormous.” 

Throughout the 2026 season, McDonald averaged 2.2 goals and 10.9 disposals per game and ended the season with a 68% goal accuracy.  Numbers all above his previous end-of-season best.  

Despite the 2026 season ending prematurely and without a chance to compete for an 11th premiership title, McDonald is already setting his sights on the 2027 campaign, and he feels the lesson and experience of 2026 can significantly improve the squad for a stronger and sustained push come the new year.  

“Obviously [we] had some challenges towards the back end of the year and the way we were able to galvanise and make something of it, I'm super proud, and I think it's going to hold us in good stead going forward,” McDonald said. 

“[It was] so good to see some of the young kids get an opportunity and really step up, and I think they'll be even hungrier next year. 

"I think we've got a really strong blueprint about what's important in our game and how we're going to get results going into 2027. I'm super excited about where the club's at and going.” 

Listen to the entire 2026 Season in Review Podcast below.