LAST season was to be the final year in the TAC Cup for Gippsland Power’s Dale Hoghton, who, naturally, was keen to impress.
But, the season was effectively over for Hoghton before it began.
Two games into the 2009 season, Hoghton found his movement restricted. Initially, unsure what the trouble was, he stopped playing.
“I thought I would be right after a bit of a rest, but then I found out that I had OP (osteitis pubis),” Hoghton recalled.
In fact, Hoghton had tears in his abductor muscles, which saw him miss 16 weeks.
While he played four games at the end of the season, Hoghton admitted he wasn’t fully right and that was one of the reasons why he approached coach Damian Carroll and Gippsland Region Manager Peter Francis to see if he could return in 2010 as one of the club’s 19-year-old players.
Hoghton said he believed the opportunity to play a further season in the TAC Cup was preferable to playing VFL or country football.
“There is more scrutiny from AFL recruiters on the TAC Cup, there’s a better chance if I played well that I would get noticed,” Hoghton said.
While Hoghton has not been invited to the AFL Draft Camp, he hopes he can enhance his claims over the next few weeks
Hoghton comes off a maximum five vote game in the TAC Cup Coaches Award following his game against Western Jets.
The hard-running mid-fielder racked up 20 possessions, collected 10 hand ball receives and laid three tackles.
“I just want to play good football for the rest of the week and see what happens,” he said.
“My first half was probably better than the second half, but then I struggled for about a month. I felt my game against the Jets was a step in the right direction.
“I felt I was consistent over the first three quarters, but I wasn’t happy with my last quarter. I’m still working on my consistency; I need to have a four quarter effort.”
Carroll described Hoghton as a “quality kid” whose work ethic in a bid to be a better player had seen enjoy a good season.
He said Hoghton’s endurance and ability to carry the ball had been a key component of his game.
“Dale is a really good gut runner and works super hard. He’s got good attacking and defensive skills, he works really hard on his tackling and pressure.
“He’s right up there on our one percenters, sacrificial award. He’s so professional, a great example to the other boys,”
Carroll said Hoghton’s use of the ball against the Jets was very effective and played a telling role in setting up the win early in the game.
He added that Hoghton played his role well, worked hard on the opposition midfielders and worked hard both ways.
Gippsland Power has finished off the home and away season in an encouraging fashion to give themselves a chance to play finals for at least a couple of weeks.
Hoghton noted the Power had bonded well as the season progressed and that was evident in the results.
“We have improved heaps and in the past four or five weeks we have played really well as a team and we’ve started to gel really well,” he said.
“We’re really confident we can go a far way in the finals as long as we play as a team and work for each other.”
Last Modified on 20/09/2010 10:46