Mitch McGovern

Mitchell Gordon McGovern (born 11 October 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted with the forty-third selection in the 2014 national draft by the Adelaide Football Club from West Australian Football League (WAFL) club Claremont.

Mitch McGovern
McGovern playing for Adelaide in April 2017
Personal information
Full name	Mitchell Gordon McGovern
Nickname(s)	Brackets[1]
Date of birth	(1994-10-11) 11 October 1994 (age 30)
Original team(s)	North Albany Claremont (WAFL)
Draft	No. 43, 2014 national draft
Debut	Round 1, 2016, Adelaide vs. North Melbourne, at Etihad Stadium
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb)
Position(s)	Forward/Defender
Club information
Current club	Carlton
Number	11
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2016–2018	Adelaide	48 (67)
2019–	Carlton	97 (53)
Total		145 (120)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 18, 2025.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

Adelaide

In 2015, McGovern's first season at AFL level was interrupted by injuries, but he showed promise in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), kicking 15 goals in 11 games for Adelaide's reserves side.^[2] He made his AFL debut in round 1, 2016 against North Melbourne.^[3]

During the last quarter of the Round 3 Showdown in 2017, McGovern injured his hamstring and had to leave the ground for the rest of the match.^[4]

In Round 19 2017, McGovern took a large pack mark with approximately two seconds left in the last quarter and goaled after the final siren to draw with Collingwood despite his team at one stage being 50 points down during the match.^[5] McGovern's hamstring worries continued early in Adelaide's 2017 finals series, and as a result missed out on their preliminary final against Geelong and the following 2017 Grand Final against Richmond.^[6]

Carlton

After the 2018 season, McGovern informed the Crows he would like to be traded, despite having two years left on his contract. After requesting a trade to Carlton, McGovern was traded on 10 October.^[7] Battling through consistent injuries, McGovern played only five games in 2021 and seven games in 2022. McGovern overcame his injury woes and reinvented himself as a footballer, moving down to defence under new coach Michael Voss.^[8]

In a 2024 grudge match against Collingwood, McGovern had an opportunity to kick a goal after the siren to win the match for Carlton with his team down by three points. However, McGovern failed to kick a score, missing the opportunity to become just the third player to kick a goal after the siren to salvage points for his team after Barry Hall and Gary Rohan.^[9]

Personal life

Mitch is the younger brother of former West Coast player Jeremy McGovern, and the son of former Sydney and Fremantle player Andrew McGovern.^[10] Mitch McGovern, after being tutored by Cam Ellis-Yolmen, is proficient at the didgeridoo.^[11]

McGovern is the father of two children with wife Kirsten. Their names are Margot and Hamish.^[12]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of round 10, 2025^[13]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2016	Adelaide	41	23	32	21	142	88	230	96	60	1.4	0.9	6.2	3.8	10.0	4.2	2.6
2017	Adelaide	41	13	20	17	105	42	147	66	34	1.5	1.3	8.1	3.2	11.3	5.1	2.6
2018	Adelaide	41	12	15	13	124	31	155	78	22	1.3	1.1	10.3	2.6	12.9	6.5	1.8
2019	Carlton	11	16	22	11	96	40	136	60	24	1.4	0.	6.0	2.5	8.5	3.8	1.5
2020	Carlton	11	12	9	2	70	18	88	39	21	0.8	0.2	5.8	1.5	7.3	3.3	1.8
2021	Carlton	11	5	6	4	42	14	56	24	13	1.2	0.8	8.4	2.8	11.2	4.8	2.6
2022	Carlton	11	7	0	1	85	19	104	45	13	0.0	0.1	12.1	2.7	14.9	6.4	1.9
2023	Carlton	11	22	2	2	297	82	379	105	54	0.1	0.1	13.5	3.7	17.2	4.8	2.5
2024	Carlton	11	18	3	3	244	54	298	85	29	0.2	0.2	13.6	3.0	16.6	4.7	1.6
2025	Carlton	11	10	1	0	121	33	154	50	16	0.1	0.0	12.1	3.3	15.4	5.0	1.6
Career			138	110	74	1326	421	1747	648	286	0.8	0.6	9.6	3.1	12.7	4.7	2.1