There was a lot of hype around Hogan when he was first signed by the Demons and understandably there was large section of the AFL community who worried that hype would have a negative effect on his development.
You only need to look as far as Jack Watts to find a player whose career has been severely damaged by the weight of pressure and expectation.
Instead, seven games into his career, Hogan is something remarkable and incredibly rare – a young key position player who lives up the hype.
He played the best game of his short career so far on Sunday, kicking three crucial goals to help guide Melbourne to a much-needed win against the Western Bulldogs.
So far this year he’s averaging two goals per game and is third in the competition for contested marks per game.
At this stage, I think he’s the frontrunner for the AFL’s Rising Star award. He would be the first Melbourne player to win it since Jared Rivers in 2004, and the first key forward to win it since Nick Riewoldt in 2002.
Josh Bruce is the AFL’s most improved player
One of the simple facts of AFL list management is that key forwards don’t grow on trees. That’s why we see them go at the no. 1 pick in the draft or get offered multi-million dollar contracts to cross clubs.
That’s what makes the rise of Josh Bruce, a former Giant turned Saint, all the more remarkable. Seemingly from nowhere, the Saints have found a talented long-term tall forward.
Bruce only managed fourteen games for the Giants in two years before seeking more opportunity at St Kilda, but it was the Saints decision to reinvent him as a forward that has seen him improve so very much.
Eight rounds in, Bruce has kicked 25 goals for the season, an average of more than three per game and the fifth most of any player in the league.
It’s a remarkable effort for a guy the Saints secured for draft pick 48 just eighteen months ago, and if he can keep it up that trade will prove itself an enormous bargain.
Women’s footy needs smaller grounds
It was pretty clear watching Sunday’s Women’s Exhibition match that women’s footy is by no means lacking in competitiveness or physicality. In fact, there’s a handful of clubs who could take a leaf out of the ladies’ book – I’m looking at you, Carlton.
However it was noticeable that women’s footy is a game of shorter kicking, with most players having a relatively limited range of accurate kicking compared to what we generally see at AFL level.
That’s by no means an indictment on the game but, while it’s great to see an event like this occur on the big stage at the MCG, that ground is simply far too large for a game of short kicking to be as engaging as it would be at a smaller ground.
Shorter kicking means you need to get closer to goal to score, and it means you have less chance of breaking the lines and making a quick move forward. It means more stoppages, and less scoring. It means less entertaining footy.
The AFL is looking to establish a national women’s league and this is a development in the game I really look forward to. However, when it happens, the games need to be played on smaller grounds, as most women’s footy, such as the VWFL, is currently. Otherwise it will struggle to attract viewers.
Melbourne took on the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women’s Exhibition match on Sunday. (Photo: Sean Garnsworthy/AFL Media)
The Eagles aren’t the real deal – yet
Eight weeks in the Eagles are second on the ladder and have the highest percentage in the league, but I for one am still not convinced they can even make the top eight at the end of the year, let alone maintain their current position.
They have won their last five games on the trot, and four of those wins have been by more than 50 points. However, their wins this year have come against Carlton (18th), Brisbane (16th), Greater Western Sydney (4th), Port Adelaide (13th), Gold Coast (17th) and St Kilda (15th).
The only two wins out of that lot that seem like real achievements are those over GWS and Port Adelaide. But that was GWS’ worst game for the year by far, and they have traditionally struggled when visiting Perth. Beating Port is becoming a less impressive achievement with every week that goes by.
They’re yet to really face the heat in 2015 and I think when they do they’ll fall off the pace and quite possibly out of the eight.
Beveridge’s selections cost the Dogs a win
First Will Minson, then Jackson Macrae – Luke Beveridge has proven himself willing to drop established players from the side, something that most AFL coaches baulk at doing unless the player in question is seriously misbehaving.
While that’s something of a win for Beveridge’s credit as a demanding and honest coach, you have to wonder if those outs cost the Bulldogs a win on Sunday.
Little-known Melbourne ruckman Jake Spencer probably had the easiest match-up and the best game of his career to date, recording 40 hitouts and eight tackles to have a serious influence on the match. The Bulldogs had to rotate two players through the ruck, Ayce Cordy and Jordan Roughead, just to break even.
And with the Dogs struggling to get their hands on the ball – only four of their players had 20 disposals or more compared to eight from Melbourne – the presence of ball magnet Macrae would have been handy.
I admire Beveridge taking a hardline stance on his players but Bulldogs fans have a right to be asking a few questions about why talented players are sitting in the VFL given the club’s poor result against the Demons.
Round 5 of the AFL provided plenty of action, from big scorelines to upset wins and pressure starting to build on some clubs and coaches already.
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