YOUNG-gun forward Jesse Hogan says 2014 was “a bit of a rollercoaster”, but has already set his sights on making his much-awaited AFL debut in round one next year.

Hogan, who effectively missed the 2014 season with a back injury – he only played an intra-club match, a NAB Challenge game and featured in a VFL clash late in the year – said it was a year of highs and lows.

“It’s not been an ideal year,” he told Dee TV.

“You think you’re invincible until you get one of those injuries. For me, I had one of them this year and the attention to detail I do [now] is completely out of sight compared to what I’d done at the start of the year.

“There are plenty of things I can take out of it and I can put into next year.”

Hogan said his back injury came to a head when he played for Melbourne against Geelong in the club’s second NAB Challenge match in Alice Springs, back in February.

“It was a bit sore going into the game, but the physios insisted it was just tightness. I was training as though I was feeling OK and I was a bit aware of it, but it affected me during the game in the third quarter, when I tried to kick it,” he said.

“My whole body seized up and I’ve gone ‘this isn’t tightness’. I basically couldn’t run in the last quarter and then I woke up the next morning and I was basically the same – I was just stiff.

“I couldn’t really walk and I sat on the plane for four hours and got up and was no good. Then I finally got the scan and was told that it was going to be four to five [weeks] depending – but everyone’s body is different.

“It didn’t really work out and then it was six to 10 [weeks on the sidelines]. Again I was running and the body wasn’t responding too well. Then it basically turned into a season injury.

“It was overuse from the start of the year and I kept going with my body and it wasn’t responding as well as someone else’s could have. Basically that’s the story of my back injury.”

It led Hogan to feel that he let people down due to his injury.

“I was expecting myself to come back and I was really wanting to, but then I couldn’t get up for it and my body just wasn’t responding,” he said.

“It was a massive wake-up or reality check.

“These things happen. I’ve never had a serious injury up until now.”

But having had a taste for Casey late in 2014 was important for his confidence, as Hogan explained.

“For me, I wanted to get through a game,” he said.

“I played 80 per cent and I didn’t realise how good Footscray were on the ladder – I didn’t know they were the top side.

“I just wanted to get through a game and see how my body went. You can train as much as you want, but it’s never the same as a game, when there is contact coming from any which way.”

But after having got back for one VFL game, Hogan said he didn’t want to risk backing up in Casey’s final home and away match of the season.

“I spoke to Roosy (Paul Roos) and a few other people and they said ‘it’s up to you’,” he said.

Having signed a contract extension until the end of 2017 in July, the Western Australian said he had no hesitation in signing on at Melbourne.  

“It’s not a bad lifestyle and it was a pretty easy decision. Melbourne is a pretty livable place and I still get to go back to Perth at the end of the year,” he said.

“It’s a win-win really.”

The 19-year-old was now confident his back issues were behind him.

“It’s one of those injuries that should never come back now – touch wood,” he said.  

“I’m really confident in it – that’s the thing.”

Looking ahead to 2015, Hogan said his aim was to build up his all-round fitness and then aim for Melbourne’s season-opener.

“If I can tick all of those boxes, I’ll be pretty confident that I can play round one.”