Jezza’s Journal: West Coast star Jeremy McGovern pens his injury recovery, All-Aus squad & harsh list cutting

West Coast Eagles vice-captain Jeremy McGovern is keeping his home town in the loop during on the eve of the AFL finals series. Read Jezza’s Journal every Thursday in the Albany Advertiser. It feels good to be home and preparing to play finals footy. I’ve been straight back into Dad-life, no mucking around, but in all honesty to be back with the family is such a nice feeling. It was a long trip home last Friday, probably eight to nine hours door-to-door in the end. We had a one-hour drive in the bus to the airport and sat around on the tarmac for an hour and then a 51/2-hour flight before the stuff at the end, so it’s a long day. It was straight down to business. On Saturday all the players had recovery to get through and then back into the swing of a normal week. It would be great to have a couple of days off, but in this footy market at the moment it’s a bit hard. All preparation is for that first final and to get as many hands on deck as we can. I’m actually tracking along a lot better than we were anticipating. With a hamstring you don’t really rest it, you’ve got to get into strengthening it with caution. I was jogging on it three days after I did it. For me to be able to put my hand up and be a slight chance, I’ll have to tick off a few strength and speed markers before I play. The club was always going to give me an opportunity to hopefully play and now I’ve got to tick a few things off before I can be considered. With no game this week, we actually get to train, which has been rare. We had a proper main session this week and it had been a while, but with an extra week it gives teams the chance to train a few things you want to adjust or change. It also gives guys like Shuey, Redden, Kennedy and myself the chance to get some controlled training in. The guys who have been playing on those quick back-ups can freshen up. Yesterday was a bigger than light skills session and we have today off. Friday will be a solid hit-out, maybe around 80 per cent game time, and we’ll do our 7km-8km in that session. We are locked in for 6.10pm next Saturday against Collingwood. Every team that made the top eight has played some good footy to get there and against good sides, and in recent times we’ve had a couple of really tight games against the Pies. The All-Australian squad was announced this week and for me personally I’ve had a year to forget and haven’t strung enough games together. Brad Sheppard is up for a second year and hopefully he gets in the team. It’s a good story with Nic Naitanui, who was a premium ruckman before he went down, but this is huge for his journey and what he’s gone through. Liam Ryan has had his challenges, and consistency is something that was holding him back, but he’s put together a very good year and Gaffy’s selection speaks for itself. At this stage of the year it’s pretty ruthless, mainly with players on lists, but even more so for coaching staff this year. Our club made a few changes when the pandemic first hit, but has so far kept most of the coaching and footy staff together. Just looking at some of the tough decisions other clubs have made, you hate seeing it. I know what some of our staff have had to go through with hubs and being on the road for long periods and all the extra responsibility that comes with all that. So when those kind of staff do so much and then get cut, it’s a kick in the guts for any club. It is the world we are living in right now, and the decisions the AFL had to make, it’s cruel and not fair for those good people. I feel for the coaches and players and I feel for the clubs as well because they don’t want to get rid of these quality people, but their hands are tied.