The 2018 AFL Grand Final would have been a lot different if West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern hadn't played.

The Eagles champion was the catalyst for arguably the most clutch goal in football history, taking an intercept mark in the defensive 50 that led to Dom Sheed's major from the boundary.

It entered footy folklore.

However, there was a brief period when that may not have been the case.

McGovern had been battling a "hectic" rib and lung injury from the week before, and he describes the lead-up to the 2018 decider on Channel 7's Unfiltered.

"It was internal bleeding, it sounds a bit hectic. It was a cork internally around my organs," he said.

"It was a big haematoma that we couldn't get out. We tried everything, different injections, and trying to soften it. It couldn't come out.

"But we had to get it moving, otherwise I couldn't move. (Physio) Steve Gravina said, ‘Have you heard of Wim Hof? We need to try Wim Hof, this is your last chance'.

"As soon as I started (the breathing method) to get my chest and diaphragm moving, it started flushing it out and I started feeling heaps better. We were doing that all day, every day and massage, different types of movement. Pool running and all types of things.

"We were doing that before the parade and Steve said, ‘We need the next two or three hours because he's got captain's run this arvo and he's not going to be able to do it unless we keep going with this'.

"It was a $50,000 fine (for not attending the parade), and the club said, ‘No worries, we'll pay it. We don't care, we'll pay it. He needs (to do this) because we want him to play'."

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However, then-CEO Gillon McLachlan had other plans, threatening to pull McGovern from the match if he didn't attend the annual grand final parade.

"Gill got on the phone and said, 'If he doesn't get to the parade, you're not playing'," McGovern explained.

"So I get a call from Craig Vozzo (Eagles footy boss in 2018) who said, 'Mate, you have to get here now otherwise you're not playing'.

"I thought it was all good. He said, 'Yeah it was, we were going to pay the fine, but they said you're not going to play'.

"So I jumped on the back of the car. They were all waiting for me, and it was even more embarrassing. I had my sunnies on, and the one rule was no sunnies. All the boys were like, 'The rockstar's here'."

McGovern gathered 14 disposals, nine marks, eight intercept possessions and two score involvements, one being the most remembered of them all.

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