Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan has warned Mitch McGovern could be stuck at West Lakes
ADELAIDE has vowed to try to find a trade for Mitch McGovern, who has made it clear he wants out of West Lakes, but the Crows have warned there are no guarantees he finds a way out.
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ADELAIDE chief executive Andrew Fagan has warned Mitch McGovern’s exit from West Lakes is not a done deal with the high-flying forward potentially getting stuck at the Crows the way Bryce Gibbs was stuck at Carlton.
It took Gibbs two trade periods to find his way back to South Australia, where he grew up and played as a junior, and Fagan said there was no certainty McGovern would be traded this season.
Fagan said the club had accepted McGovern’s reasons for wanting out of the club and was working with McGovern and his management but there was much work to be done to arrange a deal with another club.
“He says that he doesn’t think it’s the place for him to be the best that he can be,” Fagan said on TripleM radio’s Rush Hour. “Personal or football fit.
“We understand that; we accept his rationale.
“Albeit we told him, and he completely understands, that he’s got two years left on a contract.
“Although we’re open-minded to a trade it’s got to be something that’s got to work for the football club.
“The duty that we’ve now got is to do the best we possibly can for the football club to explore whether we can look at this year’s draft and bring in someone or a group or people that can assist us in getting better and if this can assist us in doing so then we will.
“But if we can’t, Mitch understands that he’s still got two years on a contract.
“It might be something that gets parked for a while. We thought that in reverse with the Bryce Gibbs trade the first time around.
“But we’re open-minded to it and we’ve engaged proactively with Mitch and his manager.”
McGovern was rumoured have wanted out at the end of last season but instead signed a three-year contract to remain with the club.
Fagan said it was clear what had changed since he made the decision to stay.
“Things change, obviously,” Fagan said. “He made that decision at the time and we were certainly pretty happy that he signed on for three more years.
“But things change and his position must have.
“It’s something that can happen and we accept that things change in life.”
Fagan was also disappointed in losing assistant coach Josh Francou, who only spent one season at the club.
The former Port Adelaide champion and Sydney assistant coach is yet to announce what he does next but has been linked to other coaching jobs.
“The short discussions was that he had come into a challenging year,” Fagan said. “He hasn’t been through the last three or four years when it’s been pretty positive.
“He’s come into a pretty challenging environment; he’s decided that’s not for him.
“He wants to take some time out to work out what’s next; I think he’s got options in coaching and outside of football.
“But it was certainly disappointing. He’s a well-respected member of the team.”