CHRIS Dawes remains adamant he can form a powerful tall timber forward line with Mitch Clark and young-gun Jesse Hogan.   

Although the trio didn’t play a match together in 2013 – due to Dawes and Clark’s injury-plagued seasons, plus the fact that Hogan was ineligible as a pre-draft selection – the 2010 Collingwood premiership player says they have the ability to form a potent attack in 2014.

“For me, when I decided I wanted to leave Collingwood last year, I was looking at what club I wanted to move to, and the two biggest reasons that Melbourne was attractive was [former coach] Mark Neeld, because I knew him and he was a good coach, and Mitch Clark, who I thought he and I together could do a bit of damage,” Dawes told melbournefc.com.au.

“The way it ended up, Neeldy was gone half way through the year and then Mitch and I didn’t even do a training session together. The one day we were about to train together, I pinged my hammy in the warm-up, so it was just one of those years.

“But I’ve still got a lot of faith that the two of us together and Jesse Hogan [can have an impact]. Mitch Clark, when he’s healthy, he’s an A-grader. Jesse Hogan, while you don’t want to put pressure on a young fella, he’ll be an A-grader pretty quickly. Throw me in there and I’m an experienced role player. I think we can actually do a fair bit of damage.”

Although Dawes heaped praise on Hogan, he was also realistic about the youngster’s immediate impact in the game.

“Big guys take time … but he’s already performing at VFL level and I just think he’s so well equipped with the skill set that’s going to make him a good AFL player,” he said.

“Physically, he’s 198cm and he’s strong and he’s fit and then you throw into that – he’s got an appetite for hard work. That often takes guys a few years to learn that, but he’s already got that in him.

“He’ll still take time to adapt at AFL level, but the fact that he’s got all those things covered – and the natural aggression of his game as well – are why the raps on him have been so big and why he’s such an exciting prospect to get in.”