Carlton coach David Teague stands by Mitch McGovern
Carlton coach David Teague has defended the role of forward Mitch McGovern, declaring critics can be “seduced by numbers”.
Carlton coach David Teague has defended the role of forward Mitch McGovern, declaring critics can be “seduced by numbers”.
Blues legend Mark Maclure this week lashed out at the form of the former Crow, saying he didn’t compete properly and his spot in the team had to be under question.
But Teague today said he intended to play McGovern in Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium.
McGovern didn’t kick a goal and had only six disposals and two marks in last week’s loss to St Kilda.
Teague conceded McGovern had been quiet last week, as were most of the Blues’ forwards, but said he played an “important role” for the team and had plenty of growth in his game.
“Mitch will play on Sunday night. We’ve got one more training session and if everyone gets through, we plan to play him,” Teague said.
“I thought last week he was a bit quiet, as all our forwards were, (but) our ball movement and our speed to get it into them — we didn’t give them a lot of opportunities.
“But the two weeks before that, Mitch was really important against Geelong and Essendon and I know people can get seduced by numbers and stats. He is not a high possession player, but he plays an important role for us.
“He is continuing to learn and he has got growth areas as has everyone of our players.”
McGovern has kicked six goals for the season and is averaging only seven disposals a match.
Maclure said the Blues needed to give McGovern a “shake-up”, but Teague said the 25-year-old had been unfairly singled out.
“I think last week a lot of our forwards were quiet. I think we are grouping him in. He gets a little bit more media attention than the others,” Teague said.
“Right now we think the role he is playing for our team, he probably would say he is not playing as well as he would love to play, but there are a lot of players on our list in that position and we have got to continue to work together and play team football.” Teague suggested McGovern was not locked in to play as a permanent forward, and he could be used behind the ball for the Blues if required. “If we lose a backman we often mention Mitch’s ability, we know he has done it before — he did it against us in 2018 I think when he was at Adelaide,” Teague said.
“He reads the game very well. So we are very comfortable if we need to put him behind the ball.”
Teague said Harry McKay, who was also goalless against the Saints, had lacked continuity in his preparation this year.
“Harry is probably the one that has lacked continuity with everything, his training, his playing,” Teague said.
“We would love to have him fit and strong and playing out there at his best each week, but it might just take a bit of time. But we believe in him and we believe he is going to be a very good football player for our club.”
Teague said he was excited at the prospect of a potential midfield match-up between Patrick Cripps and the Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli.
“I’m not going to lie, I do like the idea of that and them going head to head,” Teague said.
“But we’ve also got to do what we think is going to win the game.
“I think early on we will see that, depending on what the Bulldogs do with Cripps.”
Teague backed Jacob Weitering and Liam Jones to “get the job done” against Josh Bruce after the Bulldogs forward’s six-goal haul in their win against North Melbourne last week.
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