BLUES DID McGOVERN HOMEWORK
CARLTON says it has been tracking Mitch McGovern since considering a trade for him as part of the Bryce Gibbs deal to Adelaide last season.
The Blues have drafted McGovern as a key forward but believe he has the capacity to at times play as a swingman or free up Charlie Curnow to play on a wing when he is stationed in attack.
Carlton traded picks 26 and 28 to Sydney for pick 13, with Sydney to use those selections as part of their recruitment of academy selection Nick Blakey.
The Blues then handed selection 13 and their rights to SANFL forward Shane McAdam to the Crows, who handed pick 40 to Sydney.
The Blues will have to consider whether they trade a future second-round pick to GWS for 190cm midfielder Will Setterfield, having only picks 43, 68 and 76 in November’s national draft.
Carlton list manager Steve Silvagni said yesterday that a year of research had gone into the recruitment of the 23-yearold.
“When the Bryce Gibbs trade was happening, we had interest in him then, but the interest came late. We hadn’t done medicals or any homework on him, so we have tracked him since then,” Silvagni said. “For whatever reason, he felt as though he needed a change from the Crows and both parties were able to do a deal.”
The Blues are happy to keep Levi Casboult on their list, given little interest from rivals, with Silvagni conceding defender Ciarán Byrne seems unlikely to return from Ireland.
McGovern will predominantly play forward but played star roles against North Melbourne and the Blues in the final two rounds to showcase his flexibility.
“Mitch is pretty keen to play forward. We see him as an exciting, bouncy forward. He takes a big grab but he could go back at times, he might become a swingman but that’s up to the coaches and Brendon Bolton,” Silvagni said.
“That’s the beauty of it, Charlie Curnow has got a really good engine and we can play him midfield and behind the ball at times, Harry McKay can go into the ruck and Mitch can play multiple positions but, having said that, we will look to lock most of them down into one position initially.”
The Blues missed out on contracted GWS midfielder Dylan Shiel but will hope they can rise up the ladder next year and secure an established star given major salary-cap space.
“Our cap is in really good shape, so that’s the thing about bringing in young talent — you have to allow for growth. But at the same time, we are in a position to bring some players in, so we will see what happens at the end of the trade period and assess what’s out there.”
The No.1 overall draft pick Sam Walsh will add to a midfield with plenty of youthful talent but also improving depth. “We are really excited with [Zac] Fisher and Paddy Dow and Sam Petrevski-Seton and [Cripps] and Murphy and [Lochie] O’Brien and what we can bring through the trade period and draft. We have a really good young midfield, so we are excited about how that is progressing but we have a lot of hard work to do,” Silvagni said.