JESSE Hogan's improved training standards have been central to his career-best start to this season according to Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin.
Hogan was best afield in the Demons' comfortable 39-point win over St Kilda on Sunday, booting three goals from 25 disposals and seven marks. It took his season average to 20 disposals a game and lifted him to 17 goals after seven rounds as the powerful marking target continues to spend more time in the midfield.
There was some doubt over Hogan's fitness for the Saints contest after the 23-year-old suffered a knock to his knee in last week's win over Essendon. But despite the limited training, Hogan was a commanding presence throughout the game and Goodwin credited the 57-gamer for his maturity.
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"He's been outstanding all year. He had a slightly different preparation this week, he didn't train much with the main team and really got himself prepared really strongly for the game," Goodwin said post-game.
"His performances have been really strong all season. His ability to get up the ground at times and have an impact on the game, but then also get back inside-50 and kick some goals for us, is certainly a hallmark of his game.
"He's in really good form. But [given] the week that he's had, his preparation remained strong and he looked really strong on the day."
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Hogan was restricted to just 10 games last year after a series of challenges, including losing his father and being diagnosed with testicular cancer, but was excellent against the Saints as Melbourne lifted its ledger to 4-3 after seven rounds with a trip to face the Gold Coast in Brisbane next week.
"He's built some strong habits around his training. He trains more than he used to, his body's prepared better, he's physically more mature in the way he can handle the loads of a full season and games. He's in great physical shape and I think he's in a great mental space to be able to compete strongly week after week," Goodwin said.
While some clubs may look to follow Richmond's success last year by reducing the key targets in attack, the Dees used a rotating group of four tall players as their key options throughout the afternoon against the Saints.
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Hogan was partnered at stages with defender-turned-forward Tom McDonald, youngster Sam Weideman and resting ruckman Max Gawn, with Goodwin pleased with the results.
"We wanted to trial that," he said. "We thought we could utilise Tom on the wing at times and I think having all those guys function together is really important for us.
"It's given us some option the last few weeks, we're starting to function well as a team doing that and we'll continue to do that as long as they can provide the inside-50 pressure we're looking for."
The Dees were pummeled by 67 points by Hawthorn in round four, but Goodwin believes his side's effort against the Saints showed they had turned the corner since then.
"We're playing a more consistent footy across the four quarters. We're starting to play the right way for longer periods in games, and that's full credit to the playing group," he said.
"Three weeks ago we had a really disappointing game against Hawthorn but in the last few weeks they're really starting to build some consistency in the way they play. The leaders have been outstanding through that period and the group's responded."
