“IT’S REALLY important to the entire group.” 

Mitch McGovern is looking forward to the Good Friday SuperClash against North Melbourne, noting it galvanises the entire Club in the lead-up to the game. 

Visiting the Royal Children’s Hospital on Monday morning, the defender expressed his gratitude for being able to use his platform to support the Good Friday Appeal. 

McGovern, who was one of the main drivers behind the fundraising auction - launched by the players and Club to support the Good Friday Appeal, was eager to continue to give back to a cause that has been so pivotal in the lives of so many.

“We played in the game last year and hopefully going forward we have this fixture pencilled in for the Club,” McGovern said.  

“It’s a high priority for myself and the playing group to give back in some capacity. 

“The least we could do is try to put up an auction and donate that money towards the Good Friday appeal.
 
“Everyone was very excited to put whatever they could up for auction, whatever they had around."

The Blues are coming off an unusually early bye, but the 29-year-old explained that the group had been preparing for this since pre-season began assuring the media the team were well prepared ahead of Friday's clash with the Kangaroos. 

“The high performance and coaching staff had structured our pre-season knowing that we had this bye early,” he said. 

“For us now, it’s a bit of a reset, predominantly focusing on our recovery and building for this week.”

Carlton may be looking at a few inclusions for Friday’s game, but McGovern said that the ‘next-man-up’ mentality that the group has adopted has held them in good stead in their last two wins. 

For the defender, having Brodie Kemp, Lewis Young, Jordan Boyd and Zac Williams all step up was a reflection of that motto and has allowed the group to continue their positive form. 

“We’ve had ‘Youngy’ and ‘Kempy’ really stand up in those roles,” he said. 

“Not only that, the back seven as a group – we’ve had Boyd come in who has only played a handful of games last year and the inclusion of Zaccy Williams helps big time. 

“As much as Weiters is missed, we’ve held together as a unit and not just the back seven, the whole 18-man squad.”

On Zac Willams, McGovern admitted that he is only getting better with more game time under his belt, providing a real boost to an already impressive Carlton backline. 

“[Zac] coming back in and using his versatility, offensively and defensively has really helped us and he’s still building into the game as well, he’s building in confidence every week knowing that he can get through.”

Fans can support the players' Good Friday Appeal auction via this link.