He was selected by Collingwood in the third round of the 2001 AFL Draft. Aged 17, and in just his second game of senior football, McGough was awarded the AFL Anzac Medal as the best on ground in the 2002 Anzac Day clash between Collingwood and Essendon. In 2011, before his last Anzac day match as Collingwood coach, Mick Malthouse said his favourite memory from his 11 Anzac Day encounters was seeing McGough win the Anzac Medal.[1]
Despite being regarded as a good wet weather player, his lack of pace prevented him from being regularly selected to play for Collingwood's senior side.[2] After playing 37 senior matches in three years, McGough was delisted at the end of the 2004 season.[2]
McGough was picked by the St Kilda Football Club in the third round of the 2004 AFL Draft,[2] and played nine senior matches for the club in the 2005 season. He was delisted by St Kilda at the end of 2006, having played just three games for the year.[3] This marked the end of McGough’s AFL career at the age of only 22.
After AFL
After his AFL career, McGough spent part of 2007 on an exchange program in the United States, studying journalism at the University of Arizona and later that year spent time in South America.[4] In 2008 he returned to Australia, where he played football with the Montmorency Football Club in Victoria's Northern Football League.[4] In 2010, he joined the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League and was club captain until the end of the 2013 season.[5] He then became a teacher at high schools in Perth such as Seton Catholic College and Emmanuel Catholic College and La Salle College.[6]
References
^Holmesby, Luke (20 April 2011). "Sentimental". AFL BigPond Network. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
^ abcStevens, Mark (24 November 2004). "Winged Magpie flies to Africa". Herald Sun. p. 94.
^"Cloke brothers axed AFL clubs clear decks for national drafts". Geelong Advertiser. 1 November 2006. p. 47.
Anzac Medals were awarded from 2000 onwards, with medals for the first five matches awarded retrospectively. No Anzac Day match was played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.