McGovern Press Conference 22.05.24

uh another good uh a win at home it seems to be becoming a bit of a fortress for you again uh yeah yeah a little bit um there obviously a great win uh for the footy Club um and all the boys out there and yeah we w a couple at home now which is which is great but um we're still looking to hopefully build on it throughout the rest of the year but um it definitely helps when we get 50,000 fans every week how's that backline coming together now there there been a continuity you got yourself and Tom there playing a bit of footy now how much difference does that make when you get to play together yeah I think it it definitely helps having the same people out not just the backline I think the team as a whole um we've been pretty consistent with the boys we've been putting out most weeks and like you said build that continuity definitely helps um and down back very much the same like myself and Tommy haven't played a lot of footy together last couple of years so it's um it's been nice but also the rest of the back Line's pretty stable as well at the moment so I'm definitely enjoying it and uh we're just looking to improve each week how important to beat a team like Melbourne um in pretty good form up in that top end of the ladder oh yeah I think it's important for us to try B whoever we can for sure but um knocking Melbourne off is great um we prepared well for him and um we executed so um it's always good to win in general um I don't think it really matters whether it's Melbourne or anyone else we're um we're just trying to win every game and keep improving so um it was good to to knock them off um but we got to Park that and move on to this week against headlight how do you feel your personally your form is um compared to say other Seasons now that you you getting a bit ofia how do you compare it I'm out there so um I'm just happy to be out there to be honest um and contributing to the to the group and and the team um I don't really dig too deep into my personal form I'm just trying to perform each week and uh do what I can to help us win so um I'm just yeah like I said I'm just glad to be stringing a coup the games together so far touch with I can keep doing that and uh keep helping us try and get some wins and keep growing as a young group have a few weapons for Adela this week um I won't ask who you get because they try normally try and get you free what's the plan for the Adela forward line this yeah they got a great forward line they got a great team as a whole and they've been in really good form obviously last few weeks but um yeah we don't Know full matchups yet we I think we'll go over them later on throughout the week but um obviously TCH is first class player he's been very good player for a very long time um Rankin's out which is a little bit handy for us um you don't like seeing anyone get injured but I'm glad he's having this one off for us um but yeah they got plenty of people that rotate through that forward line um they Midfield strong down back strong so um it'll be a team effort I think why is your record so good there over over the journey take out the last couple of years but you've got a good record at L yeah yeah we have we've we've always seem to play pretty well there I don't know what the reason is Maybe maybe it's 2 hours less travel for us I don't know um yeah now we've always sort of not minded going to adade um we love the ground it's great ground I don't know the exact sizing of it but it seems very similar to to Opus here but um yeah we we normally seem to travel pretty well there how's that um kidney rib whatever you heard against Collingwood yeah kidney yeah it's fine yeah I just I cop a knocking it and had to go through some procedures to make sure I didn't damage anything so um I was yeah completely fine it was just a bit over reaction I think I guess if you kind of look you know it's been spoken about quite a bit you know the energy around the group um if you kind of look now to kind of maybe 12 months ago you know 2 years ago how does it feel now does it feel like there is a lot more energy yeah yeah I think that it's tough because we've I feel like we've had the energy and we've been working hard and doing all these great things for a while now um I think at the moment we're starting to get a little bit of reward uh with what we're doing and all the hard work we started at 12 months ago um but the energy definitely builds like I said I spoke about the fans they're starting to come get really on board again which which is great for us obviously Harley's bringing a lot of hype as well not just him you got Rubes chess all these young boys are all starting to flourish into some roles I think everyone can sort of see the path we're going so it is definitely exciting and the Energy's high but it's very much off the back of a lot of hard work that we've been building to over the last couple of years so um it's great we're still trying to build and we're still trying to get better but um it's definitely enjoyable when you when you get all the fans along and you can start seeing these young boys coming into their roles it's um it's not something that a lot of players have to answer questions about but you have come to the club this year noticeably Slimmer was that something that you I suppose made a decision to do and is it something that um you know has made a difference for you after 10 games um yeah I don't know I might I might look slimmer but I'm very much the same way I've been for the last couple years I've sort of been trying to work on that sort of things for the last four you 3 or 4 years but um yeah I think you just the older you get you you need to try and get some weight off to be able to cover the ground and that's the way the game's going at the moment you need to be able to cover the ground well so um it wasn't an exact focus it was just purely trying to get my body right holistically uh but um yeah if I look good that's great I don't really care what I look like it's just whether I'm performing I'm out there each week so um that's my goal with it is just trying to perform and be out there and healthy it's not really a look thing for me no no ask no as yet but um the boys in the for line got been going okay in recent weeks Jake wman yeah nice to see him sharing the lead of the karma medal pretty Sticky Fingers lately yeah it's awesome for for Jake he's um he's had a different journey to where he is at the moment obviously last year he missed a fair portion of footy and um he's sort of been in and out side and played a lot of different roles and he's got a great opportunity now to be I guess the number one target sort of down there with him and Jack um and he's he's clunking absolutely everything I don't know what he's putting on his hands or what he's doing but he's um he's worked really hard he's worked really hard in his craft he's always been a crafty smart forward I think he's just getting a lot more opportunity at the moment um and he's he's taken it so um I'm stoked for him because he's worked his ass off he had come back and ripping Nick through preseason so um yeah hopefully he can continue it uh continue it for a long time you mentioned before the 2-hour flight to Adelaide um do you what do you think of these comments from the East about doesn't affect your travel you know all the travel the are doing at the moment ah look you can understand everyone's got different opinions um on this space uh I think it's very hard to make an opinion on it if you actually haven't done it so for us I think ours are coming from a place if we do it all the time it's just that's reality for us um we're not winged about it just that's what it is for us um so yeah ideally if we get have it our way it'd be great not to have to travel every second week but we understand circumstances of the AFL so um we'll do it but um yeah those comments it's here or there for me I can't really buy into it too much I've just got to deal with what I'm dealing with and that's I got to travel every second week whether it's in business class or not so be it we just got to get over there and travel and try win you've played a lot of f with um Elliot yo it seems like he's going to have quite a bit of interest from from rival clubs at the end of the year you'd obviously like to see him at the club going forward yeah for sure I'd love to keep yoi um and obviously that's a personal decision for him and and between the footy Club um so yeah I'm sure they'll work through it best I can um and look the interest is fair enough as well he's he's such a good player he's showed so much since he's got back so that's that's all fair enough but um yeah hopefully we see him in PL and gold for the next couple of years and Dom shade came out um on the weekend with a bit of a new role he he seemed to um put a lot of attention into uh Clayton Oliver um Adelaide has some some great Midfield is that something that um you know could be used going forward Don as a tagger yeah it could be we told him not to do it too well cuz he get stuck there but um he did it he did it really well and um he'll do anything for the team don't he so um he's a great great BL to play with and it's good to have him back but um we'll assess that I think later on throughout the week and the coaches make a decision whether we go down that path but um yeah it helped us on the weekend for sure you grew up in a lot of indigenous communities what does this round mean to you this fortnite I think it's great I think the AFL the way they're handling it um and celebrating it great and it's been getting better every year I'm hopefully it continues to get better but I think it's just a great week to celebrate the contribution of indigenous players in our game um some of the best footballers you've ever seen so um I think it's a great opportunity great initiative from the club to do it um and it means a lot and means a lot to our boys that are playing currently and also the pass players so um I think it's just a good opportunity for everyone to recognize um and thank the indigenous players for playing a beautiful game that they're probably the best at so um yeah it's awesome I really really enjoy the week and just on the indigenous boys have you seen flying get higher then he got last week oh no he was right up there wasn't he that was um that would have been unbelievable if he took that I'm sure he'll get up there again at some stage but um it's just good to see him get his confidence back um to to go take those big hangers like that um he took another big one couple years ago on on big Maxi so um yeah it's was just good to see him get up it would have been nice if he held it but uh not this time next one it was about this time last week you told us that you were sure Liam was just about back to his full confidence and we'd see it soon you want to make any predictions about teammates this week about who's going to be exceptional well if I'm running good strike rate I don't want to dampen it um no I think I think everyone as a whole I think from the weekend there wasn't Leon's hop in Harley which is fair enough you had a cracking game of the weekend but we got a lot of boys contributing at the moment um J had a great game uh obviously dougo Jakey wman Tommy brass everyone sort of contributing hoffy so um I've got no bold predictions for you but um I think just if we can keep contributing as a team um that'll help us going forth the next few weeks this a line on Brady Hoff and what he's contributed to that backline Hof he's been amazing since he's come here he's such a good kid um he's a young man so um yeah he's been great he's always brought into obviously down back but also the footy club and he just very unassuming just goes about his business um very quietly around the footy Club but um and he's had a few different roles since he's been here but yeah his attitude towards footy and getting better and um taking on any role that's possible he he first class and he's going to have a long long career and he's going to be a very good player um which he already is at the moment he's still growing so um I love playing with him he's a great young fell he's drawn a lot of comparisons to Brad with the way he kind of can play on talls and Smalls can you say that yeah definitely we we obviously mhep the last few years um playing that role so um Hoff's sort of falling into that a little bit now at the moment um which is great and he's still learning but um yeah for the level he's at already he's he's at a pretty high level so um I'm pretty proud of him the way he's going and hopefully he'll keep going um and if he can be just as good as Brad sheeper that would be that'd be amazing Campell chess is another one that's sort of flown under the radar with the attention on Harley and others but he seems to be taking on more and more workload every week as well yeah for sure that's CH chess hasn't played for a lot of footy since he's been here so he's starting the same thing continuity with his with his body with his game with his role um and he's sort of growing most weeks um which is great um it's awesome for chess because he's worked so hard and he's I know how much he's wanted to be out there on the on the track um and playing for us so um yeah it's great to see him starting to string a few games together um getting his confidence up but um yeah yeah there's a lot of boys sort of in that boat longy was very similar obviously before his injury there's a lot of boys just siming away in the background doing their thing which is um which is great and they'll hopefully come to light soon