Someone rang into the Ox on SEN this arvo to say that his mail was Hogan would not play this year. The caller was p!ssed.

This version sounds more likely...

It would be a bit silly of Misson to say he might play round ,1 if he was not going to play all year.

This version sounds more likely...

About 4.30pm. Bit early to be p!ssed, unless it was BBO.

It would be a bit silly of Misson to say he might play round ,1 if he was not going to play all year.

Exactly. If you were going to lie you'd do it properly and drag out his return as long as possible not give positive news about him returning to training next week. SEN provides enough rumours from the people paid to deliver them, they don't need to let every random on to give their own. Anyway hopefully tomorrow we get a training report that has Hogan returning to some light running. That would be lovely.

About 4.30pm. Bit early to be p!ssed, unless it was BBO.

Never too early to be p!ssed when you support MFC.

It would be a bit silly of Misson to say he might play round ,1 if he was not going to play all year.

Nothing that Football departments say about player injuries would surprise me.

I have zero confidence in anything they say.

If they say the player is progressing well I take that as football speak for him being alive and nothing more.

Nothing that Football departments say about player injuries would surprise me.

I have zero confidence in anything they say.

If they say the player is progressing well I take that as football speak for him being alive and nothing more.

It's abit like that OD, take everything with a grain of salt until they're named in the team.

It's abit like that OD, take everything with a grain of salt until they're named in the team.

Named... I take it until the ball is bounced to start the third quarter and they a still on the field.

Someone rang into the Ox on SEN this arvo to say that his mail was Hogan would not play this year. The caller was p!ssed that the club was keeping its members in the dark about player injuries. Ox said hogan would be nearer 3-4 weeks than 6-8 weeks and the club said that he would begin running this weekend. Was all a bit of light banter and speculation.

Well, I guess that with speculation varying from playing next week to never again, someone will eventually get it right.

People who saw the footy show are saying he said maybe round 2-3.

People who saw the footy show are saying he said maybe round 2-3.

Think May he is trying to sound positive as much to convince himself as anyone

He was running already this week. The call is bulltish.

he said himself its not an injury that they can say definitively its 2 weeks. he's taken a knock to the lower back and the bruising and soreness takes a while to work its way out. They are just being cautious.

Think May he is trying to sound positive as much to convince himself as anyone

Not at all. The kid was genuine and seemed frustrated at being held back.

That was my read on him.

It's a "wait and see" injury and so far they've seen the rest has done the trick.

Unless the soreness comes back, he should be fine for Round 1, but my guess is that they'll hold him back just to be sure.

Obviously with Roos and Misson, there is a very cautious approach when looking after our talls. No more playing a handful of games and then worsening a pre-existing injury which sees the likes of Clark out for the majority of the season/s. If we get 75% games from these guys I will be happy.

He was running already this week. The call is bulltish.

he said himself its not an injury that they can say definitively its 2 weeks. he's taken a knock to the lower back and the bruising and soreness takes a while to work its way out. They are just being cautious.

I'm not sure it was a knock to the back, he said he had the back coming into the Geelong game. It could well be a stress related injury or as you say a knock to the back but there was nothing definitive said.

The article on AFL.com.au about Roos' successor had this buried at the bottom... Sounds a bit ominous - Dawes at least 4 weeks away from training, club has no idea about Hogan and 'day-to-day' tends to mean 'month-to-month' in my book. Interesting to keep a watch on how this pans out

The 19-year-old is not completely sure of the specifics of his condition, but he and the club are confident it is not a long-term worry.

"It's a bit odd. You can't really get scans on it. It's more symptomatic, so a week-to-week, day-to-day sort of thing," he said.

"There's no real time frame, you've just got to hope it pulls up well after every session and take it from there."

Hogan showed some positive signs in his first game of the season against the Cats, displaying his aerial attributes in leading the Demons' forward line in the absence of Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes.

He had 13 possessions, took seven marks and kicked a goal against the Cats.

Clark (hamstring) and Dawes (calf) did not make an appearance in the pre-season and are still up to three or four weeks of returning to training.

Having the trio up and firing by the midway point of the season is one of Melbourne's top priorities.

That's Hogan's plan, too.

"Hopefully some time in the first half of the year would be ideal and hopefully sooner rather than later," he said.

midway point of the season? well that escalated quickly....

midway point of the season? well that escalated quickly....

Yeah, although you can look at it that he was saying they were aiming for all three to be back by then, but the media message is slightly shifting each time we hear anything.

His mate on Facebook claimed that he thought it was pretty mild.

Slipping the news in quietly. Stealth like. Significant pillars all with question marks on returns.

If we were a better club we wouldn't care.

If we were a better club we wouldn't care.

Sadly, we are not a better club and haven't been for years. Therefore we clutch at any straw at all.

Slipping the news in quietly. Stealth like. Significant pillars all with question marks on returns.

Is there any club now or in the last twenty years that has/had 3 power forwards on its list and none of them can get on the field? The last time it happened is probably us again in the 90s when we struggled at times to get The Ox, Gary Lyon and maybe Neitz or Jacko on the park on a given day circa 94, 95?

Gee it is not hard to get an MFC complex at times.

Wrist, meet razor-blade.

Wrist, meet razor-blade.

I am in therapy as we speak!