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https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/jesse-hogan-mourns-the-death-of-father-tony-hogan-ng-b88457839z Very, very sad. Very, very sad for the young man. He has had a lot on his young shoulders. Hopefully, people will back off on him and recent performances. Hope Jesse got there in the last few days. A tough time awaits him. Hope he takes all the time he needs. Football matters not in these circumstances. Edit: A very moving update: Jesse's family were in Melbourne for the ANZAC Eve game and his father passed away in Melbourne. "The family had been in Melbourne for several weeks and Tony saw his son play on Monday night against Richmond, before Tony took a bad turn on Anzac Day". http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/jesse-hogans-father-tony-passes-away-20170427-gvtg9p.html Wonderful support by the club to keep that quiet so the family could enjoy some time without cameras and journos all over the place.

Congratulations to Neville Jetta, who will line up for his 100th game this weekend against the Bombers! Incredibly well deserved for easily one of the most underrated players in the competition and one of the first picked every week.

Want to sound a little bit more heartless?

I'd say take as much or as little time as needed. As BB said, grief is an individual thing - some find having something else to focus on helps. By the way, I'm proud of the way the club has handled this in recent times. It's been obvious in recent times that Jesse has been up to his neck in it - a few on here failed dismally at reading between the lines and panned the club over letting him go to Perth - but ultimately the message was always one of absolute support, without ever exposing the public to the details of what was going on. I have no doubt Jesse will get the support he needs from the club - this is what good clubs are about.

RIP. And the footy media and all the tools that panned him can all go jump. A number of media outlets owe him an apology.

As do a few people on this site.

I know this isn't a football topic but it is still very important, I have struggled with anxiety and depression for the last 10 years. I know its hard for anyone to talk about these issues to people they care about, let alone strangers on the internet but everyone needs to talk to someone. I struggle a lot with drinking too much and I hope I have never been rude or mean to anyone on here. I dunno I guess I just thought this could be an online place for people who were struggling to vent and let our their problems.

Very tough. Makes all this stupid coverage about him smoking and dancing seem so damn trivial. Even that article had to mention him smoking. ffs.

I have attempted to post on this subject most of the day since I heard, anyone that knows me Knows my situation losing the battle is not only innevatable but comes at such a high cost to family. I still think of my wife , I still cant do certain things. I cant walk into some shops its been just over 5 months since i held my wifes hand as she took her last breath. I still find normal everyday things hard. Looking after our 3 young kids keeps me going That is only just part of how hard things are , anyone that has lost a partner , family member will understand. There are many here on demonland. SO anyone you calling for Jesse to take a week or less off , give him time , if he needs longer let the kid have it. let him have time with his family, he has lost his dad. MFC will do the right thing and give him as much time as he needs , the players will support him , we as supporters should too. Until you have been through this you will never understand it . sometimes there are things bigger than football in life. I hope a snippet of my loss will help some understand. my thoughts and heart goes out to Jesse and family at a time of need and loss mark

G'day Rafiki. I'm an older guy and have suffered from PTSD for many years and spent periods of time hospitalised as a result. The most diappointing thing for me was being shunned by people I thought to be friends. What that ultimately did however was to identify those who are true friends. It transpired that some people I regarded as acquaintances put their hands up whilst a couple of "best mates" turned their backs on me. My life is better for that. From your perspective, the absolute best thing that you have done is to identify that a problem exists. That is the very first step to wellness and the hardest part. Great achievement! Don't be afraid to seek professional help and guidance either. There are some great people out there who truly care. Further, if you have found a lady that chooses to be with you regardless of your health issues, she is a definite keeper and a huge positive. As others have said, please PM me if you'd like to chat. I am more than happy to support you. After all, our love of the MFC makes us all mates and mates help each other out. On a lighter note, it wouldn't do us any harm if the Dees played 4 quarters and got over the line this weekend! Cheers PD

Not to break down with injury midway through the second quarter.

I know he was here for the Richmond game. Jeez it's tough on a kid like Jesse, and he is a kid. I don't care what anyone says... I didn't know squat about squat when I was 22. As much as you can't be prepared really for what you feel on that day, I don't think being young would help. In terms of footy, it explains a lot. I'm glad they didn't explain in detail how ill he was, the pressure on Jesse and his efforts/body language would have been more intense. And I'm glad they're giving him the week off. Being away from home in a pressure cooker AFL environment is going to be a really big test for him, from next week on. I hope the club, and we, get around him. At times like this all you want to do is be home. The club can help him feel that, even if he misses a bunch of footy.

So sorry to hear this sad news. My thoughts and prayers are with Jesse and his family. I lost my mum almost a year ago to cancer and it was the worse thing I had ever been though. RIP ??

The only thing insulting about Essendon is that they exist in the first place.

Great effort. Have to say that when he was delisted at the end of '13, I would never have seen this coming. Didn't look to have any position - wasn't a midfielder or a forward and he didn't have any particular tricks that made him stand out. When we picked him with our last pick in the rookie draft, I took that to mean "there is literally nobody left in this draft". I think Nev credited Jade Rawlings with his turn-around. Whether it was Rawlings or whoever it was that put the word on to Roos and Taylor to give Nev another shot as a defender, take a bow. He's evolved in to a tough, reliable player. You know that he will at least halve any contest he's in (except when the back line stuff up as a collective and he ends up one-out on the key forward - gee that annoys me), and while he's not a huge collector of the ball, he never wastes it when he has it. He is greatly underrated as a ball user in my view. Well done Nev on 100 games. You got there the hard way - not that there is an easy way - and I am proud to have you in our team.

Poor kid. His " behaviour" and body language now seem fairly understandable. His dad will be happy to have produced such a nice boy before he went. Its a cruel world at times.

The club should have the whole list (excluding injured players) taking turns in the ruck. Will confuse the media and opposition. And we may find someone from left field who can actually do the job.

No deal if it's a delicious nacho hat.

Unless your blind it's easy to see Oliver gets a lot of the footy and gets it in a good way - but after watching his ability to get clocked twice in the nut and still dispose of the footy effectively last week thought it would be good to assess just how well he does as an effective accumulator vs the comps best this year. looking at the top ten ball getters for the comp to date - here's Oliver by the numbers: - games: 18 - a whopping 90 less than the avg of the rest of the top 10 and 34 less than the next least experienced in crouch - avg disposals: 31.4 which sits him 6th but right behind selwood and gaff on 32 - avg marks: 4.6 which ranks him 7th but majority of top 10 avg between 4 and 5 per game bar Merritt and Rockliff who are above 6 - avg tackles: 7.8 which is 2nd with only selwood the tackling machine ahead on 8.2. Only Rockliff and treloar are also above 7 light years ahead of the rest. - goals: 0 which if you take out dangerfield who has booted 9 puts him at only 1 goal behind the rest - efficiency: 79.6 which, and most impressively, sits him 2nd behind only laird. After those two the next best users are selwood and gaff on 73 with all others below 70 i knew he was fast becoming a favourite d but when you sit back and look at him objectively - he's a super star. For someone of his lack of experience and is willing to get in apply pressure and do the hard ball gets, and yet to be getting so much of the footy and using it effectively 8 out of 10 times - it's scary how good he could be as he fills out and develops. despite a few recent losses, it's blokes like this that make the d's still such an exciting prospect.

Very true. Boys (and girls) grow up wanting their dad to be proud of them. I have no doubt his dad would be very proud of the legacy he's left in Jesse. It will have a massive impact on Jesse and he should take all the time he needs.

In: Pedersen, Lewis, Bugg, Weideman Out: Smith, Spencer, Hogan, JKH Bugg rewarded for form and takes the spot of Kennedy-Harris, while Kent was apparently quiet at Casey and doesn't get rewarded for being quiet in the VFL. They could bring in Oscar instead of Weideman and switch Tom to the forward-line. Have the athletic Frost take Daniher (when he goes forward), who has always torn Tom a new one. They just have to get creative, lower the eyes, spread the forward-line and pick out holes. If we can win the midfield battle we can still win this game. In reality, I have no idea how selections will go this week.

Sorry CB I was trying to say the MFC does not matter in this situation.

I think there's a fair bit of revisionism going on here: 1. The club didn't "let Jolly walk" - I'm lead to believe it was filthy about it at the time, but felt it had little choice once the player said "I'm outta here". What are you meant to do in that situation? You can't hold the player prisoner. 2. Martin was a conundrum. He was capable as a first ruck, but we didn't need a first ruck and he was hopeless as a forward, a position we did need filled. In addition to the personal issue at the club he faced, he wasn't going to stick around waiting for Jamar to get injured (Spencer is the only player I've ever known to spend a whole career waiting). If Martin had been on the list last year he'd have played every game in the VFL. Do you think a player with AFL aspirations would have settled with that? It's easy to say too few rucks = poor management, but in reality it's the most complex position to manage, because you only ever need one ruck specialist in your side at once. Good rucks forced to wait in the seconds are eventually going to tire of waiting and leave.

That goal he gave to Garlett was the most composed kamakaze [censored] I've ever seen. What a player.

Surely we'd be better with Frost on Daniher than Frost in the ruck.

I know the FD rate JKH, but I don't think they did him any favours, picking him after one ordinary game for Casey. It may have been better to give him another run with Casey, to find fitness and form. FWIW, I thought he was terrible and that includes his 7 tackles. He was just plain terrible. Dropping marks, turning it over, fumbling, looking slow and actually being a liability. If he stays in, hopefully he can give us a better game this week.

My condolences Jesse. A very tough time ahead for you and your family, especially the next few days. We will welcome you back when you are good and ready and will be thinking of you in the meantime. Keep strong. Apologies for some judgmental comments re smoking - all understandable, if that helps.

Wouldn't it be nice to be 5 & 0 heading into Sunday's game, that was a very realistic possibility. But some unnecessary suspensions and injuries to key players we find ourselves at 2 & 3. Today we learnt the sad news that Jesse's father has passed away. Understandably Jesse will be away from the club and miss matches, he should be given as much time as he needs, however long that ends up being. In years gone by this would be an automatic write off of the season, players would simply put it in the too hard basket and the losses would begin to mount up. But I would like to think we've grown as a club, both physically and mentally. Questions about leadership were again raised over the last 3 weeks, and to be fair some of them were warranted. If there's ever been a time for our leaders to stand up and be counted it's now. We are in the midst of one of the most even seasons ever. Someone on SEN this morning made the comment "With the exception of GWS and Adelaide any team can beat anyone else on their day". Our season is far from over, we still have enough talent to win not only this week but the games in coming weeks. The boys must unite and hold the fort until Jesse is ready to come back. Finals must still be our goal, Gawn could be back by round 15-16 giving him enough time to be match fit come finals. Moments like these can not only define this season but shape us mentally for years to come.

I know that FFS But the MFC and its collective energy are there for him and will be very important in his healing

I don't think anybody is writing Jesse off and I hope he stays a Demon for life and kicks a million goals. However, as a student of human behaviour, I too sense that something is not quite right and my gut tells me he won't be in the red and blue after 2018. I pray to God that I am wrong.

Did Jesse know your son's story of losing his mum when that photo of them in your avatar was taken, Mark? If not send it to the club with the story as fan mail to remind him that he is in you and your son's thoughts and you have some knowledge of how he's feeling. It would be a touching gesture (or I think so anyway).

The best way to watch the replay of this game is just to watch all our goals and forget that Richmond won... http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2017-04-26/rd-5-all-the-goals Some of the goals were awesome: - Watts' shimmy and spin and left foot delivery to Salem who goaled - Petracca bullocking through Melksham to hit Jeffy in the forward 50... gold! - Salem's quick hands to Hunt who was coming through at full pace to goal from 50 - Then Clarry's monster double hard ball gets to give to Jeffy for another goal from 50

Some good news at last. It appears that the real old dee has escaped and has returned to demonland. Welcome back, od.

Firstly, congratulations 'Adam Farr'! Secondly, you are a very lucky man to have a lady that is ok with you going to the footy the day after the wedding. Best wishes for the wedding and Go Dees for Sunday.

I'm getting married on Saturday night and a bunch of my groomies (one being a fair-weather Essendon supporter) want to go to the game with me on Sunday. Really hope you're right. We're going to miss what Hogan brings to our forward structure. And if Trac doesn't get up, not such a happy wedding present. These [censored] groomies have been taunting me all week about us 'choking yet again' at the hands of Richmond, so it tells you a lot about their grasp on footy, but anyway, it'd be hilarious and gratifying to get a win with them there.

The inexplicable wonders of zone defence!

My deppest sympathy and condolences to Jesse Hogan and his family. Please take as long as you need before returning to play. I hope tha the media feel bad about the hard time they were giving him. He was very brave in his performance last Monday night when he's father was watching him for the last time.

Who would have thought he could come back from being de-listed to becoming our best defender. I've always loved Neville and his unassuming manner . May this be just the half way point in his career.

Somehow i still favour a fwd who scores....than one who doesn't. Many of of JKH tackles simply resulted from being second to the contest. Im not against Keny playing. Shove a rocket up him with a clear message but his upside is far greater than Jays. Just is.

Obviously it is beyond you so here is my comment. " Sorry CB I was trying to say the MFC does not matter in this situation. "

Beautifully put LH. Strength to Jesse and his family.

Sadly that is usually what happens but with her system she gets 4 hours peace.

I'd tell him to take minimum 3 weeks. I was 38 when my Dad passed away and its a crap time.

Good luck Steve I hope you have a great day with your father. I miss mine even though he has been gone for a long time.

I'm passing thru Melbourne following some business in Newcastle tomorrow and have booked tickets for me and my Dad, who will travel up from the Western District. Having an interstate membership only, I couldn't believe the cost of two tickets - one a pensioner concession and my own general admission totalling $115.00 in some pretty average seats! Regardless of cost, I'm very pleased to catch a game of footy with the old man and I'm quietly confident that we'll pull this one off against the cheaters. ????

The other way of looking at this is if we get our No.1 and No.2 injured in any position, we're going to struggle. If, for example, Hogan & Watts were injured at the same time, or T-Mac & Frost, then you could say the same thing about the lack of depth of tall forwards or tall defenders. And you could make a hindsight-based argument that we should have foreseen this and recruited someone good enough to make up for the loss of Hogan and Watts but who was happy to spend the whole year at Casey if Hogan and Watts were not injured. As someone pointed out, any club loses their No.1 & No.2 ruck, they're going to be struggling for the next alternative. And how well did Spencer do against Sandi? About as well as Goldstein did, but without the soft frees.

TGR is talking dribble. That's not what Leigh Matthews said. He said he's only going to be a forward that jumps and marks the ball, he'll be no good at ground level. Which is absolute garbage. Probably a quarter of his goals are from ground balls and he's set up numerous others via (often sublime) hands. TGR also said Naitanui would be the greatest player the game has ever seen and Cotchin will be the best midfielder in the game. LOL pureBS

he's a 21 year old in his third season of football who has played the key forward role since his debut game. anyone writing him off is not just insane, they're fundamentally flawed as a football follower.

Hey mate, not sure if youre on facebook or not but if you are theres an awesome group called "blokes vs the black dog" which is a really safe and supportive space online for blokes to vent (Assuming you are a bloke of course)