IN A YEAR of ups and downs for the Carlton Football Club, the same applied for Mitch McGovern.

The ride started in the off-season of 2021, when a brand-new coaching staff entered the Club and McGovern initiated discussions with Michael Voss on how he could best impact the team.

In getting to know his new AFL Senior Coach, it was McGovern who saw the chance to counteract the departure of Liam Jones and suggest that he could be a good fit in defence.

“The conversation started from [Voss and I] getting to know each other first, and then he asked me what I wanted to get out of the year and where I wanted to play,” he said.  

“I said I wanted to have an impact down back, thinking that we had a bit of a hole there with ‘Jonesy’ and I just thought it was a really good opportunity. I’ve seen what my brother can do down there and I thought ‘hey why not give it a go myself.’

“Luckily it’s all worked out really well and I’m looking forward to having another pre-season down with the backs next year.”

That was the foundation of another McGovern name featuring in an AFL backline, with Mitch looking at home from the get-go with his knowledge of the game, intercept prowess and field kicking all being key strengths of his.

Having training exclusively as a forward for his entire career, the 27-year-old believed his origins in attack were beneficial in being able to learn how to quell the opposition's impact and have his own in the back half.

“I think playing forward for the last couple of years has definitely helped in that journey and growth of being a defender,” he said.

“There are a lot of things that are similar to playing forward that you do back: you know the tricks you would like to do or the way you would receive the ball as a forward and use that to your advantage as a defender.”

Raring to go for the 2022 season, McGovern transferred his pre-season form into the opening two games, performing strongly in wins against Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.

However, a hamstring injury and subsequent surgery meant McGovern would not play again at senior level until Round 19: he had a clean run after that, playing the remaining five games of the season to provide a backline boost for the Blues.

“To get a little sniff in the first two rounds then unfortunately go down for that big chunk through the middle hurt quite a bit,” McGovern said.

“To watch the boys out there, it’s a frustrating thing to be on the sidelines, but then to come in in the last few rounds and feel like I had an impact was really nice to get that reward after a long time in rehab.”

For players like McGovern and Caleb Marchbank - who worked tirelessly to recover from injury and make it back into the side - it was a tough pill to swallow that they had returned to the senior line-up, performed strongly and yet saw their seasons come to an abrupt end when Carlton's finals hopes were dashed.

While it was hard to handle initially, McGovern said the benefit of hindsight has allowed him to be thankful for the home-and-away season's final month, using it as motivation for the upcoming summer.

“We literally just got a taste and we were just feeling like we were ready to go and had the season cut short the way it was, it’s a bit bitter,” he said.

“I’m so thankful for the runs on the board and getting back and actually playing: it gives me a lot of motivation to get going next year.”

When McGovern was featuring at AFL level, he made his presence felt in the defensive 50, averaging six intercepts and five rebound 50s per game, having an impact in Carlton's defensive system and generating the team's ball movement.

Playing alongside the likes of Jacob Weitering and first-year Blue Lewis Young, McGovern has relished the change of pace in the backline, noting the differences in personality and game-day nuances between his teammates in attack compared to down back.

“I learnt that [the backline] is a diverse group and that they do things that they want to do and they’re not one size fits all, which is what I love,” he said.

“I noticed ‘Weiters' does a lot of things differently to everyone else in the way he prepares himself for games and I admire that a lot.

“Previously as a forward group, you’re trying to get yourself up almost like a rabbit, trying to get some energy and build it up. But you look at ‘Weiters’ and a few others, they’re quite reserved, they’re quite calm before a game – that’s the sort of thing that I like the most, that I can learn that from the group that I train and play with this year.

“I just love playing with the boys and wearing our hearts on our sleeves and playing for each other.”

McGovern wasn’t the only new face down back this season, with defensive coach Aaron Hamill joining the fold alongside Senior Coach Michael Voss.

The sentiment has remained consistent around the new-look coaching panel feeling like they had been together for more than just 12 months: this particularly rang true for McGovern, citing the way he saw Hamill and Voss interacting over the mechanics of the team's game plan.

“Obviously it’s a bit different with the different environment, having all new coaches, but they’ve jelled together so well,” he said.

“Aaron with his team defence, and it’s a running joke with the boys how much he loves it – it’s his favourite thing to look at in a defensive meeting.

“They’re great characters and I feel like they get the most out of the guys they’re working with, especially with [Hamill] down back with our back six or seven.”