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Blues make brutal contract call on defender at selection
SEN • August 20th, 2025 8:20 pm
Carlton defender Mitch McGovern has narrowly missed out on securing a contract extension for 2026 after being overlooked for Thursday’s clash against Essendon at the MCG.
The 30-year-old has played 17 games this season but hasn’t reached an all-important 18th game in 2025 to automatically reach a contract trigger for the 2026 season.
While he initially couldn’t reach 18 games due to injuring his hamstring in his 17th game of the 2025 season against Brisbane last month, he’s been available for selection since early August, having played VFL against Gold Coast a fortnight ago.
Given he’s been overlooked for the clash against the Dons, instead being named as an emergency, McGovern is currently without a deal for the 2026 season unless he’s a late inclusion.
SEN’s Sam Edmund spoke about the machinations surrounding the crucial selection call for McGovern earlier on Wednesday.
“Contrary to some reports, Mitch McGovern has only one match to reach an 18-game trigger for an automatic contract extension for next year,” Edmund said on SEN Afternoons.
“How ruthless are these new age Blues prepared to be? He signed this contract in August 2023. It was a two-year deal with this trigger for a third.
“He returned from injury via the VFL a couple of weeks ago but was held over from the VFL last Sunday, given the AFL game is tomorrow.
“But I think whether he plays AFL tomorrow or not, his future is far from guaranteed at Carlton going forward, along with a number of others, of course.
“That's without even getting to the glut of assistant coaches that are out of contract. So, a lot more change is coming at the Blues.”
After McGovern missed out, check out the ins and outs for both the Blues and Bombers for Thursday’s Round 24 clash.
ESSENDON
Ins: Z.Merrett, D.Shiel
Outs: S.El-Hawli (Omitted), B.Hobbs (Omitted)
CARLTON
Ins: L.Camporeale, W.White
Outs: L.Fogarty (Injured), C.Lord (Injured)
