When Jesse Hogan walked through the doors at Collingwood, there were plenty of connections he'd built during his time in the AFL.
Former housemate and teammate Lachie Schultz played a crucial role in luring Hogan to the Pies, but he isn't the only name to make the 2024 Coleman Medallist feel welcome.
Hogan also knows Jeremy Howe, as well as Collingwood coaches Lynden Dunn, Dom Tyson (AFLW) and Neville Jetta from his Melbourne days; Harry Perryman from his time at the Giants; Darcy Cameron and Billy Frampton from Western Australia and Schultz from Fremantle.
“It's interesting; I've been around the league for a while, so I think I've actually met pretty much every player,” he said.
“I've been talking to a couple of blokes; obviously, I know Darcy Cameron and Billy Frampton, who are both Perth lads.
“I know the majority of the boys, not on too much further than a surface level, but since I kind of hinted that I'm coming here, they've reached out and made me feel really welcome.
“So I'm looking forward to getting to meet the majority, but it's nice having a couple of close relationships; it just makes it that bit easier.
“It's a really welcoming group and can't wait to meet everyone and get involved in it.”
Hogan was traded to the Pies for Pick 75 on the first day of the trade period in a move that has been mooted through halfway in 2026.
Schultz has been pushing the club to reunite him with the key forward, who spent 2019 and 2020 together at the Dockers.
“Yeah, maybe halfway through the season. He was out of contract at the end of the year, and I'd seen some stuff online that there were murmurs of him leaving and I reached out straight away,” Schultz said on Collingwood's Player Movement Wrap podcast.
“As soon as I saw that, I'm like, ‘mate, you've got to get to Collingwood, we'd love to have you'.
“He sounded pretty optimistic at the time, and I spoke to a few of the boys around the Club, and everyone was on board; everyone was like, ‘if that's a chance, we've got to get him here'.
“I just continually got into his ear and told him how good the place was, how good the environment was and the culture, and how well he would fit in and become one of the boys instantly.
“Obviously there were some other clubs that were sniffing around, but I'm glad we got on the front foot straight away. Leppa did an awesome job in recruiting him and getting to work on getting him across, and I'm just glad that we've got to where we are now.”
