3 minutes ago, PaulRB said:

Would have him back in a flash.

I would too, but the small glimpse I've seen of Jacob Van Rooyen has me just as excited. 

He reminds me do much of Aaron Naughton who is better then Hogan imo.

14 minutes ago, In Harmes Way said:

Interesting he laments leaving the dees and that watching us win a flag was "torture"

In a sliding doors world and he was still with us, I wonder who would have made way for him from the grand final team. 

Would we be premiers without May???

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I would too, but the small glimpse I've seen of Jacob Van Rooyen has me just as excited. 

He reminds me do much of Aaron Naughton who is better then Hogan imo.

Agree re- JVR he looks very capable. 

Not sure Jessie would have bought into the selfless brand that we played last year.  Also we would not have landed Maysie if he had not left.  TBH I think May is one of our most important signings ever!

I still have a lot of love for Jesse.
 

But Maysie was as integral a cog in that premiership winning team as nearly any other (with the obvious exceptions of Max, Clarry or Tracc).

Some might say Tomald would be our full back. While he was handy with his aerobic fitness, he isn’t the type of ‘body work’ full back May is and can play on blokes like Charlie Dixon or Tom Hawkins. It’s been the missing link ever since I’ve followed the Dees. Arguably Lynden Dunn was, but he clearly wasn’t in May’s class (not did we have a team that amounted to a row of beans).

Also, could he adjust to play the role BBB plays for us (i.e. the bloke who contests for the high ball in packs and gets it down to the mids and smalls so we can lock the ball in)? BBB adjusted as he was a one out leading full forward (who in my mind staged for way too many free kicks) when at North so maybe Jesse could have too. He would have needed to start leaping much more than he did however.

Edited February 10, 20223 yr by Colin B. Flaubert

I burn a candle for Jesse, really hope he gets a solid run for the back end of his career. Trade time last season when there were a few forward options out there I was all for the idea of him coming back to the club over Brown as I felt a homecoming would’ve been a great romantic idea, but extremely glad we got Brown instead. 

As for him leaving, I can’t see how we would’ve been able to get the picks to nab Maysie without letting go of Jesse. Him leaving ultimately helped us become premiers. 

If we had him, Brown, TMac, and Weid (insane depth of forwards!) I’d see it being Brown and Hogan, with Jesse playing the connector role. Tom had a great start to last season but towards the end tapered off (hopefully it was injury related). Once he’s finish with GWS I hope he’s welcomed back to the Dees with open arms as a former player. 

It's more than the skillset of Hogan. It's the mindset. Watts was moved on coz he didn't have the head for finals football that May, Viney, Sparrow, etc etc, have. Hogan similar. He went hard when he wanted to. Not all the time as Goodwin requires. Garlett also comes to mind. Goodwin's shaped the list as a bunch of ferocious goers and we saw in the finals what an unstoppable force they are when they're on. Hogan would be out of place in this team.

Jesse had the most sublime footy smarts and skills that were never appreciated or even noticed. His loss due to injury, illness and other issues was a sad day for our club, even allowing for May's recruitment.

Sadly he suffered from a lack of intelligent coaching and on field structures so that he was considered only as the go-to man deep in attack even when he was against up to three opponents. This structure did not change for the whole time.

With today's coaching he would be allowed to play a roaming game (a la BBB) that would increase his influence and dominance on the game. I hope he is now fit enough and has a coach who uses him properly to become the force he should always have been, except against us.

 

Would love to see Jesse end his career back at the MFC if the opportunity arises …

Cannot read due to paywall.

However, its easy to talk in hindsight after your first club were clearly the best team of the year and just won the flag convincingly. Would he be saying this if we finished outside of finals in 2021? Possibly not.

Might have been nice for JH to have sorted out his stuff when he was on our list several years ago and stayed. He had a lot on his plate and moving back to his mates in WA was always dangerous. As a club we still had much to learn about player development and wellbeing.

But gaining pick 6 and then using that on May was a master-stroke.

Loved JH as a MFC player, the early game where he tore Rance apart is a favourite. Do I miss him though? Not really.

 

My understanding is that there were enquiries from Jesse's camp around coming back to us when he left Freo, but we knocked it on the head.

That says enough for me.

4 hours ago, Grimes Times said:

Would we be premiers without May???

No - although we could have got him as a FA at the end of 2019 (assuming the Pies didn't swoop in to grab him - not sure how they would have afforded it though)

20 minutes ago, In Harmes Way said:

My understanding is that there were enquiries from Jesse's camp around coming back to us when he left Freo, but we knocked it on the head.

That says enough for me.

yeah I wish him well (just not against us!) but I think the time has passed for him at MFC. There's a reason we let him go and I don't think it was just homesickness

Oh by the way, can someone send this article to Dogga? 😆

Anyone rewatching round 21, 2018 should understand why Hogan played his last game for us that day.

Edited February 11, 20223 yr by John Crow Batty

I said it then and I'll say it now.

Leaving Melbourne for Freo was always going to be a worse decision for Hogan than for the MFC.
He went looking for something. What he should have gone looking for instead is the level of professionalism required to be an A grade footballer. Talent alone is never enough. 

His head, rightly or wrongly, was not in the game and not at the club. 

I wish him nothing but the absolute best on and off the field, but there is no doubt in my mind that he will never reach his full potential. He has definitely found the right club in GWS. Very little external pressure, no media focus in a non footy state, and a club filled to the bream with first round picks where Hogan is just another player. 

1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

I said it then and I'll say it now.

Leaving Melbourne for Freo was always going to be a worse decision for Hogan than for the MFC.
He went looking for something.

He went looking for "comfortable". "Comfortable" and "elite" don't go together. All the best, Hoges, but you'd be better off in the ammos killing it every weekend and having a few beers and laughs with the boys.

If he thinks watching us win last year was torture wait 'til we go back to back. 

10 hours ago, tiers said:

Jesse had the most sublime footy smarts and skills that were never appreciated or even noticed. His loss due to injury, illness and other issues was a sad day for our club, even allowing for May's recruitment.

Sadly he suffered from a lack of intelligent coaching and on field structures so that he was considered only as the go-to man deep in attack even when he was against up to three opponents. This structure did not change for the whole time.

With today's coaching he would be allowed to play a roaming game (a la BBB) that would increase his influence and dominance on the game. I hope he is now fit enough and has a coach who uses him properly to become the force he should always have been, except against us.

 

I really don't think that he has the evasion skill and instant take off speed to play on and compliment target up the ground.

1 minute ago, willmoy said:

I really don't think that he has the evasion skill and instant take off speed to play on and compliment target up the ground.

He had that and more. It was just that he was forced to play within an unsuitable structure that denied him the opportunity to display his real abilities.

I will always have a soft spot for Jesse Hogan.

I used to love watching him play for the Demons!

He was incredible in his breakout season for the Demons in 2015.

I would definitely welcome him back at the Melbourne Football Club. However, we are Premiers without him, and as harsh as it may sound, we don't really need him anymore.

8 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

No - although we could have got him as a FA at the end of 2019 (assuming the Pies didn't swoop in to grab him - not sure how they would have afforded it though)

After the 2019 we had I doubt he would have come to us.

Our destination club status took a big hit...

13 hours ago, In Harmes Way said:

Interesting he laments leaving the dees and that watching us win a flag was "torture"

In a sliding doors world and he was still with us, I wonder who would have made way for him from the grand final team. 

We don’t get May if Hogan doesn’t leave and I don’t see us winning it without May

I always thought that the club felt it had to pander to him.

I don't share the love others have for him. I do however wish him no harm ... 

34 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

We don’t get May and Sparrow if Hogan doesn’t leave and I don’t see us winning it without May

Without that trade we don’t get Sparrow and miss out on the middle part that ended up as this…..