AFL trades: Fremantle ready to land Jesse Hogan

The AFL trade period is ready to light up with Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan set to play with Fremantle next year.

Jesse Hogan could be headed back to WA and the Dockers

A bombshell is about to hit the lead-up to the AFL trade period with star Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan set to play with Fremantle next year if the Dockers are successful in their multimillion-dollar bid to lure the West Australian home.

Like Chad Wingard’s almost certain defection from Port Adelaide to one of three Melbourne-based clubs, headed by the Western Bulldogs, a move west by Hogan has come out of the blue despite Fremantle’s persistent interest in him.

The Dockers have been chasing Hogan for years, but The Australian understands they believe they have a realistic chance of recruiting him in next month’s player-exchange period, which officially starts on Monday week.

Trading Hogan, 23, could also work for the Demons as the stunning development could help them land Gold Coast captain and key defender Steven May, who has another year of his contract remaining.

Hogan, who is contracted until the end of next year, has had a wretched past two seasons due to injuries, a cancer scare and the death of his father last year. He missed Melbourne’s final five games this season because of a serious foot injury.

Fremantle, who have not had a decent key forward since the retirement two years ago of Matthew Pavlich after 700 career goals, made an unsuccessful attempt to recruit Hogan at the end of 2016 when he re-signed with the Demons for a further two years to the end of 2019. The high expectation of the Dockers’ recruitment of Giants forward Cam McCarthy has not worked out over the past two seasons.

When he re-signed in October 2016 with a year remaining on his Melbourne deal, Hogan said the timing was right because he wanted to end speculation about a potential move home.

“Melbourne is where I want to be,” he said. “I really like the city and I’m really excited about what we can do together as a footy club. What excites me about Melbourne is the young talent we’ve got. We feel like we are building something special and that’s something I want to be a part of.”

New coach Simon Goodwin, who had just taken over from Paul Roos, said he had wanted to make the retention of Hogan a priority after having developed a close relationship with him during his two years as coach-in-waiting with the Demons.

Hogan, the winner of the 2015 Ron Evans Medal as the AFL’s rising star, kicked 44 goals in 20 games in his debut season and another 41 in 21 games the following year.

He had kicked 47 goals in 20 games this year before breaking down with a stress fracture in his navicular bone, but 2017 was a year to forget for Hogan who was diagnosed with testicular cancer the month after the cancer death of his father Tony in April. Hogan resumed his career to play in six of Melbourne’s final eight games last year — missing just two games due to a fractured cheekbone.

It is understood Melbourne are prepared to consider sacrificing Hogan for May after their glaring deficiency in defence against West Coast in last Saturday’s 11-goal preliminary final defeat, even with top backman Jake Lever expected back early next season from a knee reconstruction.

May, who qualifies for free agency next year if he stays, has talked to the Demons, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Essendon, who are out of the race to gain Dylan Shiel from the Giants. It is understood May has been distant from the Suns since the end of the home-and-away season.

With Tom Lynch set to join Richmond under free agency next week, Gold Coast are poised to lose their two co-captains. But in return, the rebuilding Suns will gain two additional top-10 national draft picks this year.

Already armed with pick two in the November draft, the Suns will also receive pick three from the AFL as free-agency compensation for losing Lynch.

Should Hogan agree to return home, the Dockers will have to give up a first-round selection to Melbourne in return, which the Demons would have to on-trade to Gold Coast to secure May.

As it will stand at the end of next week, Fremantle will have pick No 6. But they could also have Brisbane’s first selection (No 5) if Lachie Neale is traded to them. Neale is understood to be leaning towards moving to the Lions and rejecting a long-term offer from the Dockers.

The Melbourne move on May could have a big bearing on future personnel at Collingwood, who have out-of-contract defenders Darcy Moore and Tom Langdon in limbo as the Magpies wait on May’s availability.

Should Hogan move to Fremantle and May to Melbourne, Gold Coast could end trade week with four selections in the first round. They will also receive a reasonable draft selection from North Melbourne in exchange for midfielder Aaron Hall.