Emotionally he was already committed to a move to WA, and without a word of warning from the club that had kept a close eye on him for years, his journey to the Dockers had become imperiled. Hogan went looking for answers. It’s understood that was the player himself who kick-started the process, getting on the front foot by contacting the Dockers in a bid to ensure a move was facilitated. Jesse Hogan has shown he's an A-grader. Credit:AAP The panic didn’t last long. The following day, Hogan returned to Perth, and met with Fremantle officials. The ball was definitively rolling again, and the Dees came to the party too.

The Dockers checked out Hogan’s at-times troublesome body, and were satisfied he would stand up. With the considerable help of the TLA management stable, whose company looked after a host of players seeking moves, the deal was done well inside the trade deadline the following Wednesday. Hogan became a Docker, as did Rory Lobb, Neale joined the Lions, and May moved from the Gold Coast to the Demons. It was May’s defection that underscored the bargain for the Dees. They had landed an A-grade key defender, filling an area of need, at the expense of a potential superstar forward, a part of the ground that at the time looked much better covered, given that Tom McDonald had proven to be a revelation, and Sam Weideman looked to be coming of age. Jesse Hogan wants to forge his own Freo path, without comparisons to Pavlich. Credit:AAP The question of whether Hogan would head back to WA had hovered over the Demons for years. With it came a sense of dread for their fan base.

Such was the sensitivity surrounding his situation that when Hogan put talks on hold until the end of 2016 - in part to wait until there was greater clarity surrounding a new AFL collective bargaining agreement - despite being contracted until the end of 2017, it was a major story. He duly re-committed later in 2016, but in the midst of a tumultuous 2017 - a season punctuated by the death of his father Tony, a battle with testicular cancer, and a broken collarbone, talks about a move to Perth are understood to have been floated by the Dees. Hogan of 2019 is a riddle. With him, the Dockers have risen. Without him, the Dees have plummeted. But to the naked eye, this isn’t so much because of Hogan, than in spite of him. The forward’s endurance is a strength. One of the highlights of seeing him play for the Dees at the G’ was to watch his long leads to the members’ wing. He likes to get his skates on, so to speak.

Statistically, he is playing a very similar role to the one he performed last year, with 39 per cent of his disposals coming in the forward 50, compared to 38 per cent last year - according to Champion Data. But he’s averaging just 1.2 goals per game this year, down from 2.3 last season. Since the start of last year, the Dockers are actually scoring fewer points on average when Hogan plays, with their greater success in 2019 coming on the back of being a three-goals a game better side defensively. Melbourne were better offensively last year when Hogan played, but that can in part be put down to the fact they missed him in the finals, a period when scoring is harder in general. The five matches he missed weren’t a fair sample size. How much Hogan would have helped Melbourne this year is hard to quantify. Aside from pre-season surgeries and lingering injuries, the Dees’ huge issue this year has been a disconnect between the midfielders and forward line, leaving McDonald and Weideman floundering.

Then there is the matter of Hogan’s off-field antics, which grabbed headlines on the eve of the season when he was stood down for round one following a long drinking session, the great coincidence being that May himself would weeks later draw censure from the Dees for drinking while injury. A former Demon teammate said Hogan had been known at the club for working extremely hard on the track, but going similarly hard off-field. Described as somewhat “aloof” during his early days at the Dees, Hogan was generally placid and quiet, and largely liked by his fellow players. His mental health has also been a delicate issue. Still, Hogan is said to be in a good place psychologically, with one confidant speaking highly of the support offered by the Dockers. In an interview with Channel Seven this week, Hogan said he was bracing to be booed by the Demons at the MCG this Saturday.