Crow targets home match

Injury-plagued Adelaide Crows forward Mitch McGovern has set his sights on a rare appearance in Crows colours on home soil when his club take on the Fremantle Dockers in the NAB Challenge at Mt Barker's Sounness Park on February 28.

The North Albany product's first season at AFL level was interrupted by injury, managing 11 games in the SANFL, including five successive games at the end of the season after he was taken by the Crows in the 2014 national draft.

However, the rise of older brother and West Coast Eagles star Jeremy McGovern last season and his constant frustration with injury is driving the 21-year-old to make a statement in 2016.

In a candid interview with the Albany Advertiser last week while at home in Albany in the off-season break, McGovern said he was aiming to play in next year's NAB Challenge competition.

"The main focus for me is to get continuity in my training and try to get at least 10-plus weeks of pre-season training in," he said.

"Get as much of pre-season in as I can and hopefully push for an NAB Challenge game.

"I would love to play in (the Mt Barker match), I would love to play in any NAB Challenge game, but to be back in front of everyone in the Great Southern is something I will be pushing for."

The 191cm key position player is recovering from an Achilles injury that will prevent him from full pre-season training, which begins on Monday under the eye of new Crows senior coach Don Pyke.

McGovern said the success of Jeremy and the experience of being in Melbourne for grand final week was even more motivation for him this summer.

"It was tough my first year being in and out with injury," he said.

"Jezza doing so well is a good thing.

"It puts extra pressure on you and there are more eyes on you.

"It drives me even further - there is a massive shadow on me but I want to be better than Jezza."

The son of ex-Sydney and Fremantle player Andrew McGovern lived with Eagles ruckman Scott Lycett's parents during his first year at the Crows and said dealing with the death of senior coach Phil Walsh was the toughest thing he had ever gone through.

"You would never ever expect that, especially as a first-year player," he said.

"It's the toughest thing we will ever go through in our footy careers. It has galvanised the group.

"We are a lot stronger.

"Phil and I had a close relationship, as he did with everyone.

"He called us soldiers.

"It didn't matter if you were (Taylor) Walker or a first-year player, he treated us the same. You think about him every day."