Mitch McGovern is weighing up cash v culture decision as Crows step bid to retain their forward

MITCH McGovern has a big decision to make and West Coast premiership player Beau Waters says he should weigh up his options carefully.

Mitch McGovern has big decision whether to remain with premiership favourite Adelaide or accept massive offer from Fremantle. Picture Sarah Reed

ADELAIDE has cannoned back into the fight for Mitch McGovern but the forward arrives in Perth deeply torn over sacrificing premiership success for a life-changing, home-town pay-day.

McGovern has a newly structured Adelaide deal that’s still short of the annual $750,000 deal over five seasons on offer from Fremantle. McGovern, 22, must now decide whether a 30 per cent salary gap is worth more than long-term flag fulfilment.

Key defender Jake Lever appears to have flown the Crows nest for Melbourne leaving Adelaide greater scope to accommodate McGovern who has 49 goals in 34 games.

Adelaide and McGovern’s management have worked to find common ground and additional tenure for the promising forward as Josh Jenkins achieved with a five-year deal last winter.

Beau Waters resisted overtures for a home town return to Adelaide and was rewarded with a starring role in West Coast’s 2006 grand final triumph against Sydney at the MCG.

Waters, 31, would love to see “blood” brothers Mitch and Jeremy McGovern united at West Coast but had sagely advice for the Crow while agonising over his great career decision.

“One thing you realise when you retire is you rarely talk about money you made but I quite often talk about the 2006 premiership and preliminary finals,” Waters told The Advertiser.

“We are competitive beasts and if you are talking about $150,000 or more, it is not what defines your career. It’s the success you have with the players and club.

“I would be thinking that’s a key factor is sustained, long-term success.”

Crows pair McGovern, Lever, Richmond’s Dustin Martin and Greater Western Sydney’s Josh Kelly are the subject of an audacious bids from rival clubs. The quartet are faced with valuing flags and culture over cash.

Waters says there’s a reason retired players tell successors to seize the day.

“At 20 you think premierships are going to be a dime a dozen but I didn’t play in another after 2006. Time moves on quick,” said Waters

Going home would mean leaving the sanctuary of Don Pyke’s Crows’ program for a Ross Lyon Fremantle set up that endured another lowly, bitter winter.

“I was gifted a fantastic opportunity with West Coast and will be forever grateful. We won a premiership in my third year,” said Waters.

“Mitch is still young, has his best footy ahead of him credit needs to be given that he is out of contract and playing his best footy at Adelaide. All clubs want his signature but it is not affecting him and showing his resilience.

“You don’t have to be top five draft pick to have a successful career.”

DON THE GENIUS BEHIND ADELAIDE

WEST Coast premiership hero Beau Waters has seen it all - grand final tears then joy, Ben Cousin’s rise and demise followed by Don Pyke’s evolution as master coach.

Critics argue West Coast’s 2006 premiership legacy was tarnished by a party culture that claimed many victims headlined by Cousins. Waters doesn’t buy into the doom and gloom.

Waters, 31, was front and centre in the Eagles 2006 finals series, shining shoulder to shoulder with Cousins and Chris Judd in preliminary and grand finals against Adelaide then Sydney.

“It is a fine line. I think about that preliminary final in 2006 against Adelaide at Football Park quite a lot,” recalled Waters.

“It sends shivers down me. We kicked away in the second half on the back of some special performances from Ben and Juddy. You feel for Adelaide and Sydney but we had some great rivalries through that period.”

Cousins is a shadow of the 2005 Brownlow Medallist who ruled the west but commanded total respect from the soldiers he led into battle.

“Ben was our captain, somebody that we looked up to for guidance, a fantastic individual,” said Waters, respected for his tireless philanthropic endeavours in Perth.

“He has got a hard road ahead and his family have been with him all the way and it’s a testament to the quality people they are.”

Making consecutive grand finals, notes Waters, can only be achieved by incredible sacrifice and unbreakable bond regardless of ongoing conjecture about the Eagles’ culture.

“It doesn’t affect me or the grand final. We know how hard we worked to get to the final stage.

“I encourage people to keep putting their voices forward,” 2012 All Australian Waters told The Advertiser.

“We had the 10-year reunion last year and it felt like yesterday, the sense of nostalgia and circumstances at that final siren given it was a one point win. It is what you dream about.”

Adelaide was collateral damage in West Coast’s grand final surges in 2005-06 but Waters believes this is the Crows time under “genius” Pyke who succeeded the late Phil Walsh.

“Both Phil and Pykey are rated great students of the game, process focused and have a trust the players will go to the ends of the earth for them,” said Waters, who retired in 2015 after 120 games in 11 injury plagued seasons.

“Don has a genius IQ and realise his potential now that he’s four years back into the footy game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Adelaide wins the premiership. You can see the players look up to him and believe in his strategy.”

Adelaide lost Patrick Dangerfield and Walsh, tragically, in 2015 but Pyke has improved it from within with Brad and Matt Crouch, Hugh Greenwood, Rory Laird, Jake Lever and Mitch McGovern all developing.

“Two years ago you would have asked where to next? Now you are looking for a weakness,” said Waters.

If Adelaide conquers the Eagles and wins the McClelland Trophy it will end the careers of Brownlow Medallists Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell. Priddis never tasted flag euphoria but will sign off a legend says Waters.

“He is one of my favourites, a fantastic man and plays his footy as he lives his life. I am very lucky I got to play with him,” said Waters.