The moment Jeremy McGovern first walked into the footy department at the West Coast Eagles he was something of a paradox.
Unless you were a recruiter or a student of WAFL colts football the expectation, knowing the McGovern lineage, was that a chunky on-baller would be making his way through the doors for a routine interview.
Andrew McGovern, his father, was a solidly-built midfield ball magnet who played with distinction for Claremont, Sydney and Fremantle. He stood at 177cm, was 84kg and played in the 1991 premiership team with the Tigers.
Generationally off-spring tend to be a little bigger, but ‘junior’ strode in and was 11cm and 10kg larger. He was a big unit.
A few weeks later, Jeremy McGovern’s journey at the West Coast Eagles kicked into gear when taken with pick 44 in the 2011 rookie draft.
He is now a premiership player, a four-time all-Australian and will qualify for life membership when he plays his 150th game for the Eagles against St Kilda at Optus Stadium. A great story of capitalising on an opportunity and rising to elite standards.
To suggest, however, that McGovern’s journey to the pinnacle of the game has been straight forward would be a mistruth. Indeed, his pathway has been the antithesis of the clear, smooth uninterrupted ascension to the top. There has been more twists, corrugations and dust than he saw on the dirt roads he travelled as a kid in Warburton, a remote community in WA’s Gibson Desert.
The McGovern family spent four years of his childhood there when Andrew was working for the Clontarf Foundation – an organisation driven by McGovern senior’s Claremont and Fremantle coach Gerard Neesham.
Those four years – and his teenage experiences in Albany – would play a significant role in the Jeremy McGovern we know today. Undoubtedly his innate ability to read the play is to some extent genetic. His dad was not quick, but he knew where to go to get the footy. The other remarkable trait in Jeremy, his aerial ability, was not passed down.
That was acquired playing king-of-the-pack, mainly with indigenous kids in the outback. If you couldn’t fly with those fearless, uninhibited, barefooted and sublimely skilled kids, you simply didn’t get a kick.
It was a wonderful platform for McGovern’s football development, but the experience would also mould the man; developing an affinity and connection with first Australian culture through mateship, knowledge and empathy.
His upbringing inspired him, with his father, to create the McGovern Foundation targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with the objective of providing them with the tools to transition into the work force. Arming them with the simple skills, a driving licence as an example, to make them more appealing to employers.
But that is just one string to the McGovern Foundation bow.
From the remoteness and unstructured outback life, the McGovern family moved to the ‘big smoke.’ Albany. A more stark contrast probably is not possible on this continent. In a planetary sense it was akin to Crocodile Dundee hitting New York.
From the baking heat and expansive red dust of Warburton to the chilling, Arctic wind and rain of the Great Southern. Laying his eyes on an ATM at the local bank was a new experience.
This, too, would be an important phase in rounding out the development of McGovern. Football was more structured, so was life and education. It was no small adjustment.
But it was a step that made his transition to the city less complicated when Claremont came knocking a few years later, keen to have him follow his father’s pathway to the club. Conveniently, Albany had long been the hub of Claremont’s country zone so the fact Andrew (33 matches) had not played the requisite 50 games for father-son consideration was irrelevant.
Playing colts at Claremont, McGovern drew attention from Eagles recruiters. He was raw but he had “something.” Not enough to elevate him into the national draft mix, but he was well worth a speculative pick in the rookie draft.
As he developed in the WAFL competition the Eagles were patient. He played mainly forward and in the ruck, had a few injury setbacks along the way, but there was enough to suggest that the “something” would be worth the wait.
In November 2013 he was elevated to the senior list. He celebrated the fact in the off-season; in hindsight a little too well. The next chapter in the McGovern story is well documented.
When newly-appointed coach Adam Simpson rolled up for his first media conference at McGillivray Oval later that month, the young players were there to begin pre-season. “Gov” was carrying some extra condition, was not in AFL shape and was sent away with development coach Mark Nicoski for a four week block of training.
Paraphrasing, Simmo said something like ‘one day we might be mates, but not right now.’
That rocky start was transformed when McGovern worked hard to earn back trust. Indeed, he made his debut against Carlton in round six 2014, went back to alignment club East Perth for a month, and returned to play against Hawthorn in round 12 in Launceston.
And that day, the nugget lurking beneath the surface was finally exposed. Every blinding carat.
He played forward, took 10 marks, had 15 disposals and kicked two goals on an otherwise bleak day when the Hawks posted a 44-point victory.
McGovern retained his place for the remainder of the season and has been a regular ever since.
After just over 50 games he was an all-Australian in 2016. Thrice more in succession he was named among the best of the best, before he had played 120 matches – no player in the history of the game had been a four time all-Australian with such rapidity.
He has changed the way opposition teams prepare to play the Eagles, particularly its defence. He sees the game so early, reads the cues upfield so quickly and peels off to aerially intercept those opposition forward thrusts.
They deploy decoys on him, try to manoeuvre around him and avoid long bombs inside 50. He is a unique player, albeit a contradiction to the developing forward/ruckman of his youth. He is a remarkable defender, whose journey is both unique and intriguing.
His life experiences make him an interesting personality. His teammates love him.
Oh, and he and Simmo are mates. Have been for five or six years.
