McGovern Press Conference 07.03.24

J how do you feel after the weekend big game in Adela travel all that sort of stuff how's the feeling how's the body and how's the squad um yeah I feel great it's good to be back into it having having a hit out um at's only short trip for us so it wasn't too bad but um yeah we got a lot out of the game as well um as a group but um now it's good to get it get a hit out of it against some quality opposition how the groins up yeah no they're all good yeah it was just a bit of precautionary obviously last couple years I haven't uh played as enough footy that I would have liked so we were just taking it easy and making sure I'm ready for round one so um and felt really comfortable in the weekend did you after that I think there was two periods of match Sim um were you getting sore during the second period or did you were you only planning to play two and then you pulled up a bit sore what was uh yeah I was only planning probably to play three of the four quarters and um yeah we just made a call at halim just to sett it down as quickly as we can and rather than push through and uh get ready for ad l in and round one so that was the main focus as round one do you guys read much into the way the game unfolded or you just uh take it as you know happy for the Run uh bit of both like you obviously definitely look into it and and look into areas of what we've worked on over the preseason and um how adade played and how we finished the game there's but there's a lot of other factors obviously in a preseason game that's not as normal as um the in season games with rotations and fresh players coming on and Personnel rested so um we look at it probably more as a holistic uh game style and um mainly probably the first half of footy me when you went overseas to you know the doctor over there in Guitar did you learn anything there that helped you with that soreness you had a couple of weeks ago or how did that sort of go for you yeah yeah we um we've sort of implemented a few things around the footy Club from that camp that we went on myself yoy and um Harry Edwards so um yeah that helped me uh ease some soreness in it for sure but um yeah I think it's helped a lot of the boys with some issues and stuff that we've had previously so um yeah we've learned a few different little things but a lot of it's very similar to here like we've got pretty high-end guys here and um it's just more reiterating different techniques and ways to do things so um yeah was definitely worthwhile trip the last few years Gabby I mean I think the last four of being sort of pretty pretty hit hard by injury have you lost confidence or at times have you sort of doubted your body in that sense um I've lost a little bit of trust in it for sure yeah like uh I feel like I've tried to do everything I can to to play footy that's what I'm here for and that's what I love doing uh so I put a lot of time and effort into it last few years to try and stay out in the park and that's the game of footy though like you can't yeah there's there's no unwritten law that you can't get injured uh you can do everything you can and still get injuries that's just part of the game so um you lose a little bit of trust but that's what pres season's for uh to try gain it back and uh strengthen your body as well as you can and it started with guitar so going into this year obviously that kind of bit groin this there but the set back that down you feel that you have got confidence back in your body to play at a full season uh yeah I I sort of have most start of most PR Seasons you sort of you build up you strength and um and feel as well as you can um I'm in similar position this year I feel great and feel feel really strong and ready to attack the year but um yeah like I said injuries happen um no matter how much work you put in sometimes but yeah I I feel like I've done everything I can to try and St in that 40 Feld as long as possible just with where your fit is at now how does it compare to previous years um our fitness level very very similar I think the last probably two or three years which I've mentioned before I've been trying to just work on it um and this year was probably a bit more durability rather than Fitness um so yeah I was just really focused on trying to strengthen the body holistically and um try and minimize that chance of of of getting injured and missing games so um like I said that's I love playing footy um I want to contribute every week and been trying to do as much I can to do that in your all Australian years you were the footballer who didn't look like a footballer you starting to look like a footballer now is that an indication as to how much work you put in um a little bit if everyone's going to judge me purely by what I look like for sure yeah then maybe yeah um oh yeah I think it's just the way the game's adapted and um the transition from you know was only what six years ago sort of thing um the game was in a complet different spot to where it is now so I've just tried to adjust with the game and um and have taken a little bit more care and and look into the durability side like I was saying and trying to stay as fit and healthy as possible to stay out in that footy field um so yeah if you look comparing apples for apples yeah I feel like I do look a little bit more like a footballer but I don't really care what I look like is probably more how I'm playing so with the changes in the game do you have you had to change the way you play you've always been a great Interceptor are you can we expect you to play a little bit differently because of the way the game's been played um yeah you try and play as the same as when you first got to but you you got to adjust like the game's different now it's a lot faster and um different rule changes there's a lot of different things that impact especially down back in uh in our position so yeah I was still try and play my guess authentic way and which is trying to intercept it when I can but um also respecting where the games at um so yeah we you just I think don't think I'm going to change completely but you just probably got to adapt to each game guys have you had a look at Port yet you and how they went against freemale and their forward we got three or four big forwards georgis on and the young BL coming in Lord and that have you you starting to focus in on then for round one uh yeah we've had a little bit of a look um this week's just probably been more about us and getting ourselves right and then uh early next week we'll really dig into them but we've had a little bit of a look and um lucky enough some of the coaches were over there got to watch their practice match as well obviously we're in adade the same time so um yeah I've had a bit of a look and um they were great side great forward line they got they got great lines every really they're um they're a great side so um it'll be a big challenge for us and Hof getting around him and sort of you got brass and you and then the new Young fell how's that been it's been great I absolutely love hoffy he's um he's a ripping young kid um talk about looking different to when he first got here and I was in the photo get put up the other day he looked like a toothpick but um yeah he's filled out to to a really good size at the moment he's just developing really well um and this is just hopefully add another string to his bow he can play on the Smalls and if he can contribute with a tall side of things it it makes him very hard to replace so um I'm pretty proud of the way he attacked his foot he since he's got here J been a few disappointing years the last couple of years what has Improvement or I dare say progression looked like this year um yeah just Improvement all around I think in the way that we're probably it starts with the contest stuff really um starts with that contest and work right sort of things that we've worked on throughout pre season um we're still trying to fully find our identity on the type of team we are we've got a fair bit of turnover last few years and we got a lot of young boys coming in so we're still trying to knut that down but like all teams the the contest side of things and um stuff off the ball is probably what we're really looking at and and ball movement same very much the same as most so for us it's very hard to put an act actual indicator on it but um hope everyone can see that the improvements are there and you go away from win loss in in more like how many quarters we won or what the margins have been no more 100 Point losses or five last year is is that kind of the focus a bit it's more development rather than performance yeah a little bit but don't we want to win like we're not going into games hoping that we win three quarters or a half we want to win as much as we can but um we'll probably n it nut it down to that at stage like I think most teams do as well when they we're over there at but um yeah we'll be doing we'll be going out the Tron win as much as we can and uh we reflect on quarters and stuff as a year progresses but um yeah our focus is purely on winning a lot of talk about ball movement Jeremy would you look to take the game on a little bit more when you have the ball in your head yeah I'll try yeah for sure um I think everyone's trying to get it going at the moment which is nothing different to the rest of the competition so yeah I think everyone's trying to get as aggressive as they can with the mindset of being our defend behind it I think the teams that do it well have a good balance between both and that's probably what we're trying to work to and your leadership how's that evolved given it's a young group and there's a handful of you older guys that are probably going to have to share the load of being mentors and um on field coaches yeah I've loved it I think it's been great I feel like I've I've got three kids I feel like I've got 20 at the moment they're all young all young Lads and they're all they're all rippers so um yeah I've really liked it I've really liked the the change of all the young boys coming in and I'm more than happy to help that's part of your role as you get older you just you want to help develop these young boys and leave the club in a better place so um yeah I've really enjoyed it um and I know a lot of the other senior boys have as well and we'll do everything we can to educate them and support them as much as we can so um I'm actually excited about it