Luke McDonald would love to play on Essendon veteran Paul Chapman again in Saturday night’s AFL elimination final at the MCG.

The North Melbourne youngster jokes that he reignited Chapman’s career when the two teams last played in round one.

Five minutes into the opening quarter, Chapman cut off McDonald’s first AFL kick and put through the opening goal of the game.

Chapman, who was making his Essendon debut that night after an illustrious career at Geelong, finished with four goals and Essendon won by 39 points.

“He was almost best on ground that night, so you don’t forget those things,” McDonald said.

“It would be good to play on him again this weekend.”

But the turnover was nothing more than a momentary false start to McDonald’s AFL career.

He has played 20 games and was third in the Rising Star voting.

The father-son selection – his Dad, Donald, remains a Kangaroos official – has justified all the hype that surrounded McDonald in junior grades.

He quickly put the Chapman blunder behind him, showing he has maturity as well as skill.

“I’m not someone who dwells on those sorts of things,” he said.

“When you make mistakes, you have to move on and think about your next contest.

“That’s something that came with me growing up.

“All the defenders got around me – I didn’t even think about it until after the game, when I was getting messages, everyone telling me how good Chappy was and stitching me up.”

As the AFL finals beckon, McDonald says he can’t wipe the smile from his face.

It’s a huge match for the two teams, who have had poor finals records for the last decade.

Apart from being fierce neighbouring rivals, North and Essendon also have been notorious for their inconsistency and Saturday’s game is tough to pick.

McDonald grew up loving North Melbourne, so needs no reminding from his old man that this is a must-win game.

But past North greats such as Glenn Archer spent time with the team on Monday, impressing on them the need to dominate again in September.

“It’s time for us to make our own history and knock them off,” McDonald said.

“I’m tipping if we do that, a lot of the past greats will be very happy with us.

“Obviously, it’s easier said than done.”