Late bloomer McGovern settles into major role
He has been hailed as West Coast’s next big thing, but Jeremy McGovern still has no idea what he is capable of.
On the basis of his career trajectory so far, the answer could be ‘anything’.
McGovern has already been a key defender and a key forward in just 18 AFL matches. He has even been thrown on to the ball as a pinch-hitting ruckman.
Against Gold Coast in just his third AFL game last year, the 23-year-old was swung from either end of the ground and showed he could win a match off his own boot with three goals.
And so far this season he has been the rock down back that has kept West Coast’s season alive, leading the AFL for intercept possessions after five rounds.
But speak to the self-confessed “simple guy” from country roots in North Albany and he will say he still doesn’t know what type of footballer he will be.
“I was always playing for my spot, which I think is a good thing,” McGovern said. “That’s probably the way I still think about it now.”
McGovern was always destined to be a late bloomer.
He was naturally drawn towards football watching his father — former Sydney and Fremantle defender Andrew McGovern — battle it out against a dominant West Coast in the Dockers’ formative years.
A competitive streak was fuelled by private battles with younger brother and Adelaide draftee Mitchell playing basketball in the backyard of their Albany home.
But McGovern was a latecomer to the 195cm frame that is now one of his biggest assets. He was so small in his early teens that he was tried everywhere from the midfield to the forward and back pockets.
“I grew pretty late,” he said.
“I only really shot up when I was around 20-21. Since I’ve been at the club I’ve probably grown six or seven centimetres.
“My old man always said I was going to be a late bloomer and it’s probably why it took me a little bit longer.”
The quiet country upbringing was turned on its head by an invitation in 2010 to play colts football for WAFL club Claremont.
McGovern found the move to Perth daunting.
“I was pretty much as raw as it comes as a country footballer,” he said.
“I came from the country straight into a WAFL colts pre-season. I played not even a year of colts — 15 games — and I injured my hand.
“I guess I showed a bit to get picked up on the rookie list by West Coast and I was thrown straight into an AFL system.”
McGovern was drafted with West Coast’s No.44 rookie selection that year.
But if his elevation to AFL ranks came quickly, his progression over the next three seasons would feel like wading through treacle.
Considered a project player, McGovern was given time to develop as a tall forward in the WAFL, but a series of injuries including a fractured leg stifled his progress.
The Eagles had a decision at the end of 2013 after the maximum three seasons on the rookie list — axe McGovern or promote him. They chose the latter.
“I was worried for a bit,” he said.
“It’s one thing not playing well, but if you’re injured and you can’t get the opportunity to try and perform it makes it a little bit harder. So most of the games that I did play I tried to make sure I was showing enough.”
McGovern had hip surgery after the 2013 season. When he returned to meet new coach Adam Simpson, his skinfold levels were abnormally high and he trailed the field in the 1km time trials.
It was an inauspicious start as a senior player and it led to his banishment from the main group.
“I’d never had surgery before,” McGovern said.
“I wasn’t by all means going out and not caring at all. It was the fact that I had to do so much more than what I was doing coming back from injury.”
By the time McGovern returned to full fitness, Simpson had cooked up a new role for his young tall.
With champion defender Darren Glass on the verge of retirement, McGovern started 2014 playing as a key back man for East Perth.
The successful switch led to his debut in round six against Carlton to replace the injured Eagles skipper.
“My old man has said from day one he always thought I was a back man,” McGovern said.
“Simmo came in one day and said ‘I’m going to flirt with the idea of you going down back’.
“At first it felt a bit weird, but now it feels natural.”
McGovern returned to the line-up in round 12 against Hawthorn as a power forward, but the seeds had been sown for his emergence as one of the competition’s most reliable defenders.
Necessity through season-ending injuries to Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown have forced him to start this season back in defence and Champion Data statistics show just how dominant he has become.
McGovern has amassed 50 intercept possessions. Only 2014 All-Australian Cale Hooker comes close, with 48.
It is an innate ability that has led to McGovern being dubbed the “Interceptor” inside the club’s four walls.
“It’s just the way I naturally play,” he said.
“I don’t know if I see the game differently to everyone else, but I judge my game massively on reading the play.
“My old man always used to say I was really good at reading the play. Now it probably goes hand in hand with being a bit taller as a key position. You can read the ball a bit more for those contests.”
Such is McGovern’s importance that a knee injury sustained in the round-three western derby as he was chasing Matt Taberner sent a massive scare through the West Coast camp and initially appeared a fatal blow to the club’s finals hopes.
But McGovern has reassured fans, saying the minor hiccup will not stop him this season.
“It gave me a little bit of a scare,” he said. “It’s a pain I’ve never felt before.
“It was just a bit of bruising and fluid in the joint, but it’s nothing major.”
With fellow 2010 draftees and close friends Andrew Gaff and Jack Darling closing in on their 100-game milestones, McGovern could be jealous.
He’s not. He is quietly confident the best is to come.
“There’s one thing that you have to learn as a young footballer coming in, that everyone has different journeys,” he said.
“I just want to play the role for my team as much as I can to help us get better and help us win a premiership.”
