Jezza’s Journal: West Coast Eagles star Jeremy McGovern’s last journal entry after a swift finals exit

West Coast Eagles vice-captain Jeremy McGovern has kept his home town in the loop during this remarkable 2020 AFL season. Here is the final entry of Jezza’s Journal with the Advertiser. Our season is done and it was a pretty disappointing way for 2020 to finish. It was a good game but that start doesn’t help — down by four goals in the first quarter, it is hard to come back from there. Our inconsistency on the night hurt and we didn’t take our opportunities and Collingwood did. In the back half, we didn’t bring the ball to ground as much as we usually do, myself and Tommy Barrass included. That fast start from Mason Cox had us on the back foot and then Brody Mihocek finished it off. It felt like we were playing good enough to win but they were more consistent. I thought we were surging but Mihocek’s goal 50m out on the left was a big moment and that snap from De Goey were real momentum breakers. We needed a point to draw or a goal to win in those dying minutes. It was go at all costs, that was my mindset. Back in that 2018 grand final, I rolled the dice and it worked. Sometimes those things come off and sometimes they don’t. We’ve had some really close and great battles with Collingwood recently, most of which we have won, and it pains me to say it but I guess it was their turn. After the final siren, I was pretty upset with the loss. It’s a tough one; you are not too happy with the whole thing and at the same time you’ve got to get up and congratulate Collingwood. The saying, you’ve got to be in it to win it, cannot be understated. In finals footy, anything can happen and credit to Collingwood; they came and implemented a good plan. Finals has that different feel to it. There is a bit of perceived pressure but it does feel a bit quicker. In finals, everything comes down to moments; they are not glorified but heightened. I know from firsthand experience in that grand final. When you reflect back on the game, you reflect on a couple of moments you had and what you could have done better. I had a chat to Darcy Cameron, a good North Albany boy, after the game. I congratulated him and said I was stoked to see him out there playing. We’ll try and catch up in the post-season if he can get back to WA. Looking at the season as a whole, we probably fell a little bit short in what we were capable of. It felt like we had a couple more weeks of finals in us at least but best of luck to those left playing. After the game, we had a coaching debrief as normal and everyone was in the rooms, so there were a few goodbyes to staff members who we know are leaving and guys like Schoey (Will Schofield), who are not going on. It wasn’t a pleasant post-match; it was very sombre in there and you’ve got to love to hate the game at times. We were on the bus back to the club and then all had to drive home, so we didn’t have any beers in the rooms. We did get some good news — our quarantine is seven days instead of two weeks but basically sitting at home by yourself for a couple of days reflecting on what could have been is punishment itself for the season being done. The post-season normally involves a couple a beers and you can let your hair down but we’ve got to wait. We will all catch up as a group and our backline will have a beer to send Schoey off. Usually we get together with the coaches and play some lawn bowls and have a few beers so that will be on the cards. I will look at trying to get away for a bit, head up to Exmouth and Broome, and then also spend some time back home in Albany. Finally, I just want to thank the Advertiser for the opportunity to do this journal. It has helped me give a little insight into what’s going on in a tough year for the game and a glimpse of what AFL life is like. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading it and I really loved doing it for the people of Albany.