INTERCEPT king Jeremy McGovern has made his name as an All Australian defender, but the West Coast star says he still has ambitions to spend more time in the ruck.

Over the past two seasons, McGovern's ability to read the play and launch counterattacks has made him a key weapon in coach Adam Simpson's fluid zone defence.

But the strong-marking 195cm Eagle believes he could also offer West Coast a different dynamic around the ground as a mobile ruckman.

"Ruck is my favourite position, it's probably not my best position, but if I had the choice I'd love to play there," McGovern told AFL.com.au.

"I want to give Simmo the option, if he needs it, to be a bit more versatile with going up forward or in the ruck.

"But it's totally up to Simmo and the coaching staff."

McGovern was called on to ruck late in last year's elimination final loss to the Western Bulldogs and accepted afterwards he needed to become more durable to offer Simpson a genuine option against the AFL's big men.

West Coast's fears of a ruck crisis have eased since, however the 24-year-old is confident he is better prepared to cope with the physicality of the role after an incident-free summer so far.

"That will be massive, just getting through the pre-season," he said. "I've done 95 per cent of training … which is what you want to do.

"The longer I can stay out there will help with the durability and fitness side of things."

While McGovern continues to put his hand up for more time in the middle, improving his defensive craft remains his priority.

McGovern led the League for intercept marks (3.5 per game) and contested intercept marks (2.2) last season, and is ready to adapt if opposition teams change the way they attack to combat his aerial prowess.

"The way teams might be moving the ball might not suit me as much as kicking in as long as I would like," he said.

"It's nothing extraordinary, it's just a few things that might change with how blokes might want to play against me. 

"I'll be keeping it pretty consistent to what I did last year. My main thing is a bit of leadership with the younger boys and helping them get through and teaching them the game plan."