Blues forward Mitch McGovern has made a successful return to footy as a host of AFL names helped the Carlton VFL side to a thumping 49-point win over the Sandringham Zebras on Saturday afternoon.
McGovern, who hasn’t been sighted an AFL level since suffering a high-grade Hamstring injury in Round seven earlier this year, showed a strong hand inside fifty for the Blues to finish with two goals.
Carlton has been crying out for a tall forward to help Harry McKay in the senior team, and McGovern now appears a strong chance to return to the AFL next week as David Teague’s men look to keep their (very slim) finals hope alive.
McGovern had plenty of help however, as many AFL listed players threw up their hands for AFL selection in the demolishing win.
Lachie Fogarty and Sam Petrevski-Seton combined for 57 disposals and five shots on goal running through the midfield, while Matthew Cottrel was also strong with 21 disposals after being dropped from the senior side this week.
In a peculiar twist of fate, Essendon listed ruckman Andrew Phillips shone in a one-off appearance for the Blues, the club who traded him in 2019 after four seasons on its list.
Phillips was in Melbourne while the Essendon squad was in Queensland and was therefore given special permission to have a run for Carlton.
He was one of the only Blues who found the big sticks more often than not, finishing with 3 goals, 20 disposals and 27 hit outs to be in the top handful of players on the ground.
Positives were harder to come by for the Sandringham side who simply couldn’t contain the Carlton outfit, however Dan Hannebery continued his promising return from the hamstring injury that has so far curtailed his 2021 season, getting through his second VFL match unscathed with 18 disposals and a goal.