Hogan has had an outstanding season with the Scorpions, as he prepares to be included on Melbourne’s 2014 list, but elite performance manager Dave Misson said it was important the 18 year-old wasn’t overburdened in his first year with an AFL club.
“We had a preset program for Jesse at the beginning of the year and that involved giving him a few weeks off spasmodically during the year,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“This week happens to be one of those weeks.
“He’s had a pretty long campaign for an 18 year-old, and has been going pretty well, but we felt just freshening him up a little bit and then getting him ready for the last VFL games and finals would be good for him.”
Misson said another key forward, Mitch Clark, had joined in with the rehab group this week after a long layoff with a foot injury.
“Mitch trained with the rehabbers yesterday (Monday), and he’d been doing a bit of work by himself for a couple of weeks,” he said.
“He’s actually come in and his foot’s good. He ran pretty well [on Monday] and had good rhythm, so he’ll continue to come in and just work with the rehab guys, and work through his program.”
Misson said the Demons were optimistic Chris Dawes would play against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night, after missing round 19.
“[Dawes is] pretty good. He just developed some calf tightness at the end of training last week,” he said.
“There was just a little bit [that showed up] on the scan.
“It’s pretty minor, but he’s pulled up pretty well this week. He’ll be a test, so we’re hopeful.”
Misson was hopeful that defender James Frawley would only miss another week.
“He’s clinically showing some really good signs. He’s basically symptom free at the moment,” he said.
“Our only concern is that it’s a recurrence of a previous injury, so we’ll probably be a little bit more conservative.
“I wouldn’t think he’d be this week, but he’d be a chance next week.”
Midfielder Michael Evans and ruckman Mark Jamar, who have foot injuries, are also still at least a couple of weeks away, according to Misson.
“Michael had some bone stress on one of his toes, but he’s also had some plantar fascia problems,” he said.
“In rehab last week, he tore the plantar fascia … he’s a little bit sore at the moment, but it’s actually probably preferable to us that the plantar fascia is torn, and his toe is going pretty well. So he’ll be back running - probably by the end of the week.”
“Mark Jamar’s working through rehab pretty well. He’ll probably be another couple of weeks.”
Rookie Tom Couch is also still working his way back from a hamstring injury.
“[Couch is progressing] slowly. There has been a fair bit of back involvement there, and some hamstring tendon as well,” Misson said.
“It’s not a split or anything like that, but it’s still reasonably irritating.
“He’s going OK at 80 per cent, but we’re not prepared to push it at 100 per cent, so he’s another couple of weeks.”