Adelaide forward Mitch McGovern has lost his battle against a hamstring injury and won’t play in the AFL grand final.
McGovern has been ruled of out Saturday’s premiership decider against Richmond after sitting out chunks of Adelaide’s training on Wednesday.
About 10,000 fans were at Adelaide Oval for the Crows’ training session on Wednesday – the club’s last public appearance on home soil ahead of the grand final.
Most eyes were focused on McGovern, who missed Adelaide’s preliminary final win because of a hamstring strain.
After showing no obvious discomfort during the initial phase of the 90-minute training session, McGovern didn’t participate in end-to-end drills.
The 22-year-old then rejoined his teammates for goalkicking practice at the tail end of the session.
“He hasn’t come up,” Crows coach Don Pyke told the crowd in a brief on-field interview after training.
Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan said it was a devastating blow for McGovern.
“Mitch needed to get through today’s session and as Pykey said, he didn’t quite pull up,” Fagan told reporters.
“It’s a sad story for Gov. But one man down, another man up.”
McGovern’s fitness was shaping as the sole selection headache for Adelaide, who will enter the MCG as warm favourites to claim the club’s first premiership since 1998.
He was replaced by Andy Otten in their preliminary final team and the experienced utility is expected to retain his spot for the grand final.
Lamby
Roar Rookie
Good point. There have been about 2 a day on Richmond! No articles on How the Crows can avoid getting caught by the mosquito fleet? How Jacobs will win the Norm Smith for his brother (see his stats from R6)
Sammy
Guest
Yes he is..both have bucket like hands
mickyo
Guest
Is he as good a mark as his Brother ?
sammy
Guest
It is a shame as McGovern presents a matchup problem for Richmond as they really don't have anyone who could go with McGovern in both the air and on the ground due to his fantastic marking ability and pace when the ball hits the turf. If it is wet, I would personally opt for Hampton in lieu of Otten as Hampton is a big bodied midfielder who has pace whereas if the ball hits the ground Otten does not have the same pace
AD
Guest
It was always unlikely he'd get up. You don't see too many players only missing 1 match with a hamstring, and a grand final isn't the time to take unnecessary risks on something like that - the Crows have already shown themselves more than capable of kicking a big score without McGovern.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The first Expert article focusing on the Crows since the 23rd of September! It might not be good news however it is better than nothing. Well done.