JESSE Hogan says he’s looking forward to spending greater time in the midfield this year.

Coach Simon Goodwin flagged during the pre-season that Hogan would push up the ground at stages this season. And the key forward said he was happy to expand his game, with time in the middle.

“It’s good fun. I haven’t done too much, but I did a little bit last year, but I enjoy it,” Hogan said.

“If I’m going to play there, it’ll be more of a burst role and maybe if Christian Petracca goes forward, I might play in the midfield, while he rests.

“It’ll probably be just little spurts.”

But Hogan said he was excited by the prospect of teaming with fellow key tall Tom McDonald in attack this year.

“I only played three or four games with him [in attack] last year and we probably weren’t super used to playing with each other, but after a full pre-season, who knows, [we] could be anything,” he said.

Hogan acknowledged there was pressure on the team to make finals this year, but he understood it and relished the challenge.  

“They (the supporters) pay to watch you play and you feel some form of responsibility, so you do,” he said.