Throughout his storied career Jeremy McGovern has stamped himself as one of the great key defenders of his era.

His capacity to anticipate the incoming ball has seen him intercept many opposition forays into attack, his clean hands and composure being a feature.

But when required he also has shown a capacity to lock down on the opposition’s primary target. North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey has been a thorn in the side of the Eagles in recent years and McGovern was assigned the task of quelling his influence.

He held the Roos spearhead to just one goal and at the same time racked up 25 possessions himself. He took 10 marks, five of them trademark intercepts, gained a team high 560 metres through those possessions and rebounded the ball out of defensive 50 11 times.