Booney wrote:West Australian newsbreaker Kim Hagdorn has shed further light on the complicated situation surrounding Fremantle forward Jesse Hogan.
The respected journalist told 6PR Breakfast on Wednesday that Hogan may have played his last game for the club after he recently took an indefinite break from the game to focus on his mental health.
Speaking with Kane Cornes, Hagdorn said the club was at such a “frustration” with the 24-year-old that they were considering all their options to cut ties ahead of the new season.
“I’m not tip-toeing around it as much as others,” he said on SEN Mornings
“I do understand how officials at Fremantle and even those at AFL House (are sensitive about this) – it’s probably the AFL’s biggest issue is the mental health concerns amongst some of the athletes.
“I think Fremantle are at such a frustration with Jesse Hogan that even considering all that, they’ll have to come to an agreement where he vacates the club for a very long period of time and ultimately I don’t think he’ll be going back to Fremantle at all.
“A player with mental health issues can be put on a long-term injury list and then be reconsidered at a due time well down the track and a player can replace him.
“Ultimately, I don’t think Jesse Hogan is in a position to play football with Fremantle again. Not only has it become a major issue, his habits away from the club which have unfortunately been fairly public over the last 11 months.
“Now it’s gotten beyond the playing group, the senior players and now even new senior coach Justin Longmuir, who I understand, are of the view that we should move Jesse (Hogan) on.”
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/jes ... 53yc9.htmlJesse Hogan has taken time away from football to deal with mental health problems. He has not quit the game, nor has he been asked to quit by the club.
Neither are the Dockers poised to do so any time soon.
It is not the first time Hogan has struggled with his mental health at Fremantle, or at Melbourne before that. Nor is it the first time he has had to confront serious health issues of a mental or physical nature; in 2017 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and suffered the loss of his father.
He has prioritised his health above his football at the moment, which the club encouraged him to do. Fremantle understand the pointlessness of any player attempting to play elite sport when they are not mentally well.
Whether Hogan does reach a point where he decides his mental health is better served not returning to football – like Tom Boyd at the Western Bulldogs – sources suggest he has not reached that point. And Fremantle have not put themselves in a position of offering him an ultimatum.
A radio commentator suggested on Wednesday that the club was close to cutting ties with Hogan. This seems at the very best to be premature.
"Jesse needs time away from the club so he can manage mental health challenges that he is dealing with and focus on his general wellbeing," Fremantle's general manager of football Peter Bell said on January 29.
"We believe it is the most appropriate course of action and, more importantly, it is what is best for Jesse's long-term health and wellbeing.
"We will continue to provide all the necessary and ongoing care and support Jesse requires, as we would do for any of our players."
Hogan is a complex character who has endured a great deal. He is a senior character in the playing group by virtue of the central position he plays, but as he battles his issues he has not, according to those within the Dockers, been a destructive force that would prompt them to consider the idea they would rather not have him around. In fact, they aggressively state the opposite.
Like at Melbourne when Hogan also wrestled with mental health issues, he did not act out in a distracting manner. Rather, he withdrew and became aloof. Aloofness is regarded as a symptom of his anxiety.
Hogan's step away from football is open-ended in that there is no timeframe on his return, but the Dockers say that he will be back.
If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
