Jesse Hogan knew it was coming.

At his first media conference when he was officially unveiled as a Fremantle player, the boom recruit was ready for the inevitable question: could he fill the void left by the Dockers' greatest player, 700-goal champion Matthew Pavlich? 

"The P-word - Pavlich," Hogan said with a laugh.

"There's been a lot of talk about a power forward at Fremantle, but like I said I just want to become my own player, work really hard, earn my spot and earn the trust of Ross (Lyon), Nathan (Fyfe) and the playing group and go from there.

"That's my main priority."

Relaxed and happy to have been granted his wish for a trade home to Freo, the 23-year-old admitted he had some doubts if a deal would get done.
The Dockers stopped their due diligence on Hogan last Friday, claiming Melbourne's asking price was too high.
Hogan learned of Freo's stance while on holiday in Bali, but was back in Perth shortly after for more crucial conversations.

"I wasn't actually in the country at that stage, so when I woke up I got on the phone to my manager just to chat through some stuff and a lot of that was to do with Melbourne and Fremantle weren't on the same wavelength with what they wanted to get out of it," Hogan said. 

"Then I came back to Perth and had a conversation with Ross and Peter (Bell, general manager of football) and Steve (Rosich, CEO), and it came off the back of that, we were able to get something done."

The Dockers had long coveted Hogan, and finally landed their man after agreeing to release dual Doig medallist Lachie Neale to Brisbane during the NAB AFL Trade Period.

After booting 152 goals in 71 games during a spectacular start to his career at Melbourne, the hulking 195cm forward shapes as the spearhead Lyon has been crying out for.

Hogan had been regularly linked to the Dockers after he burst on the AFL landscape with 44 goals in his debut season.

But the passing of his father, Tony, and his own testicular cancer scare last year convinced him the time was right to come home, although it was a tough call to leave a Melbourne outfit expected to push for a premiership next season. 

"That's obviously a big factor. I got to the Dees and my first year they had three coaches, and won three or four games," Hogan said.

"To come from the bottom and see the list now and how close they are – or potentially are to playing in a flag or winning a flag – that was a serious factor going into this.

"But I sat down with (Melbourne coach) Simon (Goodwin) at the end of the year, and had a really good chat about where I was mentally and where I was as a footballer.

"Obviously, I do want to play finals and play in flags, but at this stage it was more important for me to get back and be around my family and friends and have a fresh start."

Hogan met with Lyon and Fyfe at the end of last year to discuss the Dockers' five-year plan in case of "a random trade", and believed Freo was heading in the right direction after three seasons outside the top eight. 

Expectations are set to rise for the port club heading into 2019 after a successful Trade Period – which also netted tall Rory Lobb and runners Reece Conca and Travis Colyer – and plenty could hinge on Hogan's form.

He missed Melbourne's drought-breaking finals campaign this year due to a navicular stress fracture in his right kicking foot, but was in All Australian contention after booting 47 goals in 20 games and pushing into midfield at times.

Hogan isn't sure when he will be able to commence full pre-season training, but is confident he will be well-prepared for 2019.

"It's going well, no hiccups, so hopefully I'll start running in two or three weeks, maybe four, but I'm feeling good," he said.

"Obviously, I've had a lot going on, so I've been trying to keep my main focus on that (foot) as well because I want to be ready almost coming into pre-season.

"I'll get another scan in a few weeks and go from there, but hopefully before Christmas I'll sit down with the docs and get a bit more of a program and a bit more of an outline."