COACH Paul Roos expects Jesse Hogan to be right for next Saturday night’s clash against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, after the key forward was a late withdrawal from Melbourne’s stunning 29-point win over Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday.

Hogan was replaced by versatile tall Cam Pedersen, who played an important part in Melbourne’s win with a crucial final quarter goal and a towering pack mark during the game.

Roos said Hogan, who missed with a knee injury, after he crashed into the point post during last round’s two-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG, was close to playing.

“We were still hopeful on Thursday, but he blew up a bit overnight and Friday he was probably a little bit sorer than he was Thursday, so then we decided not to play him,” he said.

“In the end, [he was] probably not that close, but he should be OK for next week.”

Meanwhile, Roos said his side planned meticulously in the lead-up to the clash against Hawthorn, which resulted in its first win over the brown and gold in 10 years.  

“It was just reinforcing the planning that we went into,” he said.

“Traditionally, Hawthorn doesn’t win contested possession, but they set up really well behind the ball. Their ball use is elite, as we all know. They use the ball so well. They’re smart – they work for each other. And they prey on turnovers.

“We were reinforcing that – that we needed to win contested ball and they don’t. We needed to take away their ball use and we needed to use the ball well. When we were getting deeper entries, we looked dangerous.

“When we went to the 40 to 50-metre area – they looked dangerous because we turned it over. They were the messages we went into the game with and we just tried to reinforce them throughout the whole day.”