“It is good. It breaks up your profession and your life and passions outside football so that has helped me a lot in the last three years in particular.”
He admits his first couple of years at the Blues,when his lack of fitness made headlines and the scrutiny he attracted when he did make it on the park – sometimes before his body was ready – had an impact on him.
“It was a tough period,yeah. I was only 24-25 at the time so quite immature in a footy sense,” McGovern said. “I really struggled with that,especially the media scrutiny. It’s hard to look away,especially during those COVID years and that was all[that was] reported on pretty much. That was pretty tough.”
He states his response to the coverage as a fact,not as a complaint about what was said or written. He understands that’s what comes with being a professional footballer,but it took him time to learn how best to handle the coverage,with the arrival of children a welcome reality check.
“I don’t have five minutes to look at any media reports or something that’s been said about me these days,” he said.
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He’s too busy preparing for a season that holds so much promise for Carlton supporters with a body that is finally reaping the benefits of a full pre-season,a stint in concussion protocols his only interruption.
“You don’t really lack confidence when you play football and you love what you are doing but[you gain] more confidence in your body,that you can push through that grind,especially now with a 24-round season,” McGovern said.
The Blues will need his aerial power too as star key defender Jacob Weitering gets going again after acalf injury that has hampered his preparation.
“‘Weits’ is a vital player in our system and our team and we love what he does but for me not a lot should change. We’re relying a lot more on each other as a unit,as a system and team defence,” McGovern said.
Zac Williams will return to strengthen a deep and increasingly settled defence that now has McGovern,Weitering,Nic Newman,Adam Saad,Alex Cincotta,Brodie Kemp,Jordan Boyd and Caleb Marchbank capable of doing their jobs. Despite forwards attracting the headlines it was this miserly part of the ground that helped Carlton to finish top four in 2023.
“We look at last year as a big stepping stone for us and a year[where we showed] of a lot of resilience as a group given the situation we were in[during] the middle of the year,” McGovern said.
That “situation” – when the Blues languished 15th on the ladder amid predictions of another internal bloodletting – has given them confidence that their method can stand up against good opposition with wins against Collingwood,Melbourne,Port Adelaide and St Kilda occurring during their wild run to finals.
“We’re not raising the ceiling as much as raising that floor,” he said. “As a group we want to get more consistent. We had that lull last year,so we are working really hard on our identity as a group and that’s pressure and that is contested footy and that is defending. I have high hopes for this year.”
McGovern enters a time of his career where the foundations for success are in place and the motivation to get to work,he jokes,is high.
“Parenting is harder than footy and you appreciate a lot more what you do with your teammates and what you are striving for. A few of the boys have a chuckle these days that I’m always here seven until five every day getting all my craft in. It’s a bit of a running gag,” McGovern said.
If this year can prove better than the year that’s just passed,the McGoverns will be rapt.
The quietly spoken but thoughtful No.11 carries a perspective wider than football,having spent part of his time growing up in Warburton,a remote Western Australian community in the Ngaanyatjarra lands.
He has watched with pride as his dad,former Docker Andrew,and brother,West Coast premiership player Jeremy,have set up the McGovern Foundation Wanderer program in their home state,which supports people who may not have someone to call on to obtain and maintain a driver’s licence,opening up employment opportunities.
The potential for the idea to branch nationally is real. McGovern’s eyes widen as the project is raised.
“It’s kicking off big time over there.[They are] giving youth and underprivileged people the ability to get driver’s lessons and hopefully their driver’s licence. It’s heavily entrenched in Perth and a few local towns,” he said.
“They’re doing such an awesome job. I’m really,really interested.”
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