STRENGTHS: Vertical leap, contested marking, strength
IMPROVEMENTS: Agility, endurance

SUMMARY: The former AFL Academy member and Sandringham Dragons skipper put in a solid debut season in the VFL, snaring the Zebra's best first year player award for his efforts. McLean really came into his own towards the end of the year, playing a good hand in the ruck despite a slight size disadvantage, while still plying his usual trade up forward. His biggest asset is his contested marking, utilising an impressive vertical leap, 93kg frame and surprising pace off the mark to get up for some big grabs. His strength in the ruck and ability to contend with AFL-listed rucks has also been impressive, tallying over 25 hitouts twice in his last three games. McLean's agility and endurance are areas that he has worked on improving since his draft year, and while he looks to have bettered his previous scores at this year's Rookie Me combine, he can still get caught out when he isn't streamlining directly at the ball. He has improved on his goalkicking too, putting in a more accurate return in front of goal with 9.3 from his 13 VFL games compared to his 2017 TAC Cup haul of 14.17. With the recent trend of mature-age talls being preferred over those coming directly out of Under 18 competitions, McLean is one of the better options this year having proved himself against mature bodies and built on his tank.