West Coast have hosed down rumours that Jeremy McGovern is nursing broken ribs, declaring the star defender a certain starter for Saturday’s AFL grand final against Collingwood.
McGovern copped a knee to his hip area during the first quarter of last week’s preliminary final win over Melbourne, and was rested for most of the last term.
The three-time All-Australian failed to train on Monday, and didn’t join the main group at Wednesday’s closed training session.
Rumours have surfaced that McGovern may be nursing broken ribs.
Eagles assistant coach Jaymie Graham moved to allay those fears when he fronted the media on Wednesday, saying McGovern’s injury was nothing more than a cork on his hip pointer.
“That’s what it is,” Graham said.
“They’re pretty painful, and he’s had a few of them. He’s managed it before, so we’re confident he’ll be fine.
“He got it pretty early last week and he managed to fight through until he got put on ice.
“He’s really tough and really competitive. I’m sure on grand final day he’ll find that competitive instinct and he’ll be able to fight through.”
Graham said McGovern was likely to train fully on Friday during the club’s closed session at the MCG.
Star midfielder Luke Shuey (ankle) is also rated a certain starter for the grand final, meaning West Coast are likely to go in with an unchanged line-up.
Goalsneaks Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan are among the players who will be making their grand final debuts, and Graham is confident the exciting duo will thrive on the big stage.
“They’ve handled the first two finals pretty well, We’ve been impressed with the way they’ve gone about it,” Graham said.
“The boys they do like the attention, and they do like a celebration. They haven’t been fazed. The whole group are in a good spot.”
Nic Naitanui (knee), Andrew Gaff (suspended), and Brad Sheppard (hamstring) are West Coast’s hard-luck stories.
Graham knows the feeling all too well.
In 2006, Graham played 24 games in West Coast’s premiership campaign, but was dropped for the grand final to make way for the returning David Wirrpanda.
“I’m sure it will be hard for them at some point on game day,” Graham said of Gaff, Naitanui, and Sheppard.
“But at this stage they’re just trying to be positive around the group. They don’t want anyone else to feel sorry for them.”
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