COACH Paul Roos says the club has taken a conservative approach to Jesse Hogan’s back injury, as he looms as a decade-plus prospect.

Roos said Hogan, who has yet to play an AFL home-and-away match after featuring in one NAB Challenge game against Geelong at TIO Traeger Park Oval in February, needed to be managed carefully for his long-term future.

“It’s tough. He’s a young kid who’s a real competitor and he wants to play and he’s had a pretty good pre-season. He played against Geelong and he came off a little bit sore, so no one really saw it coming,” he said on Dee TV’s Roos’ Views.

“When you get through pre-season, you generally take a deep breath and you think ‘great, the season’s started’. He got through the pre-season and the game and said ‘gee, there’s something wrong with my back’, so it’s really frustrating for anyone, but certainly for a young kid.

“Having said that, he’s got 12 to 15 years of his career in front of him, hopefully, so we’ve got to be conservative and look after him and make sure he gets right.”

Hogan was listed as out indefinitely, due to his back injury, earlier this week.