I’m staggered Bell doesn’t cop more heat for the Hogan debacle.
I would have hoped a plan for managing Hogan’s physical and emotional state would have been something that came up during Bell’s extensive due diligence we heard so much about before pulling the trigger on the trade. Given Dr Bell publicly diagnosed Hogan with ‘clinical anxiety’, which doesn’t technically exist, I’m not sure we were firing on all cylinders as it comes to certain aspects of player welfare.
JLo found himself in a tough positon for a rookie coach when he inherited Jesse’s problems, but I still think he gave up on him too early. Hogan is a blue-chip forward, and JLo was asking him to play as a defender in mickey-mouse 15-a-side games in COVID isolation times while our forward line wasn’t firing a shot. That it was reported Bell or his team set up Hogan’s contract in a way that seemed to financially punish Freo for giving him a game – which led to us banishing Hogan to the seconds instead – really didn’t help.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise Hogan would get frustrated but we never heard peep publicly from Hogan; yet JLo expressed his own disappointment in Hogan’s body-language in the media.
Fast forward a bit and a rookie forward has a whinge about not being picked immediately and they film it and put it on the website as a good news story.
The club made a calculated decision to make a big swing and trade for Hogan. Jesse made a hash of things, and the club made a calculated decision to cut their losses; but they were big losses. I’ve heard Jesse be honest about his struggles and what he’s learned, but I haven’t heard anything from the club about how they might have handled things differently. If Peter Bell is capable of personal reflection he’s never made it obvious in any comment I’ve ever heard.
I feel like they are comfortable putting everything on Jesse, and I’m not sure that’s fair.
