Eagles sweat over McGovern’s fitness as grand final looms against Magpies
West Coast Eagles have a serious selection headache for tomorrow's AFL grand final, with coach Adam Simpson confirming that Eagles star Jeremy McGovern will have to pass a fitness test to take his spot at the MCG against Collingwood.
Simpson was asked about McGovern, who has not trained properly this week after copping a bump to his hip in last week's preliminary final against Melbourne.
"Today is a big day. We've got a lot of testing to do with him," Simpson said at the traditional pre-grand final press conference.
"He's getting better every minute. We're anticipating him to play, we've just got a few boxes to tick.
"Someone like Gov, he just gets up.
"I think he will be close to 100 per cent by the time the game comes if he gets over the line.
"I won't say it's not an issue. But we're preparing for him to play."
Asked about comments earlier in the week, and whether he was less sure of McGovern now, Simpson said:
"I don't know if I was extremely confident [he'd play], I'm extremely hopeful."
The swingman will be crucial to West Coast's chances in tomorrow's decider — McGovern leads the league in contested marks and, if fit, he looms as the key player as the Eagles seek to win their fourth ever flag.
Simpson's Collingwood counterpart Nathan Buckley said his team was planning for McGovern to be there on Saturday.
"We're preparing for him to be 100 per cent fit and playing," Buckley said.
McGovern later told Grandstand he would be good to go in the grand final —but the proof will come after the Eagles' final run.
The Magpies have no apparent injury worries, with their rebounding half-back Jeremy Howe already cleared to play after an ankle injury picked up in last week's preliminary final win over Richmond.
Coaches' long rivalry gives way to love-in
The two coaches have a long history together; from days of Simpson's North Melbourne team playing Buckley in his days at Collingwood, through to the pair's new rivalry as senior coaches.
Buckley and Simpson were extremely complimentary of each other — not giving the opposition any ammunition ahead of the big game.
They pointed to a week spent together on a study trip to Stanford University in the United States a few years ago as a turning point and emphasised their growing respect for each other.
"I love seeing the way Simmo goes about it, he's a hard worker, detailed [in preparation]," Buckley said.
"I'm wrapped that he gets this opportunity as much as that I'm here for this [grand final]."
Simpson, meanwhile, said he had overstated talk of the so-called "Buckley Rules" when he was at North Melbourne.
"I used to play on him a bit, the Kangas in the 90s were pretty good on the tongue [sledging]," he said.
"I used to sit back and watch it happen, then I had to pick up the pieces [tagging Buckley] afterwards."
Buckley unconcerned about recent Eagles wins
The Eagles beat Collingwood in round 17 at the MCG, and then backed up with a 16-point victory in Perth in week one of the finals.
But Buckley did not appear concerned by West Coast's recent wins.
"We'd been beaten a couple of times by Richmond going into last weekend," the Magpies coach said.
"I'd be pretty comfortable in West Coast's shoes having beaten us a couple of times [this year].
"I'm not uncomfortable either, we're continuing to improve. We seem to be playing some of our best footy and have momentum at the right time of the year."
West Coast has a tall line-up — with or without McGovern — and the predicted inclement weather could play havoc with their game plan. However Simpson said he wasn't concerned.
Simpson also referred in passing to criticism and tough times for West Coast and Collingwood in recent seasons.
"Both clubs have been very resilient in the last three or four years," he said.
"It takes time to foster that. We can't wait to play.
"I feel like we're in a position where there's a lot of connection with our players and our staff.
"Win, lose or draw we will hold our heads high and stay together."
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