Latest news with #SamDeKoning
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jesse Hogan feeds off hostile crowd as GWS Giants breach Geelong fortress again
Jesse Hogan is one of those footballers who could easily have been lost to the game. He could be kicking bags and collecting cheques in local and country footy. He gradually fell out of favour at Melbourne. He was miserable at Fremantle. He was a worrier and catastrophiser. The key forward was a speculative pick up for GWS Giants. All the things that were missing in his life – a clean bill of health, a sound body, a quiet mind, a stable home life, a good team and a coach who believes in him – have aligned at the Giants. Against Geelong, Hogan kicked seven goals and helped drag his team over the line. He's had some big hauls in recent years – he kicked nine on a West Coast debutant a month ago – but this was in a hot game, in front of a hostile crowd and against one of the best backlines in football. Sam De Koning, a fine player and athlete, had no answers. Advertisement Related: AFL star Jesse Hogan and his love of chess: 'Within a month, I was stone-cold addicted' At first glance, Hogan presents as a highly unorthodox footballer. The stutter steps, the Flintstones run up, and the way he punches at his kicks suggest a player still learning his craft. But his craft is the best in the competition. He shuffles, pivots, positions himself precisely where he wants to be, sticks his arms out, puffs his chest and gobbles it. He's an incredibly hard man to budge. It sounds obvious but, like the best cricketers, he always keeps his eye on the ball. He has quick feet, he never stops moving, and he roams far and wide. In the dying seconds on Sunday, he was in the back pocket, clearing and directing. Hogan also has a fleet of domestiques who separate, block, divert and screen to free him up. My colleague Jack Snape and Hogan recently delved into his love of chess. When he broke his thumb in a bus toilet door earlier this year, his very impressive score dipped. This time it was the Giants and coach Adam Kingsley who shuffled their pieces; protecting, releasing and emboldening their colossus. Giants skipper Toby Greene says Hogan is the best key forward of the past decade. Certainly he plays a game that would have dominated in previous generations. He's the most accurate Coleman medallist since Fraser Gehrig and Matthew Lloyd. The closest modern comparison is probably Tom Hawkins. But Hawkins sought more one-on-one mismatches. Hogan seems to prefer two on five. Advertisement There was more to the Giants' win over the Cats than Jesse Hogan. Tom Green vied with him for best afield honours. At stoppages, Green fought for front position and positioned himself as close as possible to his ruck Kieren Briggs, who was also excellent. Green is a big man but much like Lachie Neale, he gets down low and never fumbles. He's one of the best and most creative handballers in the game, and he got GWS moving. For a large part of autumn, the Giants' home ground in usually unavailable because of the Sydney Royal Easter Show. They're bumped off by a bunch of woodchoppers, wool classers and alpacas. They'd happily relocate to Kardinia Park, where they've won their past five games. The Cats were left ruing some tardy goalkicking. Patrick Dangerfield, who was like a SWAT team leader last weekend, was well held by Jack Buckley. Mark Blicavs, also a keen chess player and footy's ultimate deploy-where-required option, has pretty much performed every role on the football field this year – ruck, spare, goalkeeper, winger, cooler, everything but carting the water. In the dying stages of the game on Sunday, he drifted forward and had the game on his boot, but his set shot hit the post. Related: AFL invite backlash as they make it up as they go with Willie Rioli case | Jonathan Horn Advertisement Eight of the nine games this weekend were decided by 14 points or less. Beginning in Perth on Thursday, round nine was highlighted by the draw in Hobart between Brisbane and North Melbourne, by Richmond's Tom Brown suddenly morphing into Gout Gout to mow down West Coast's Tom Gross, and by Mark Keane hurling himself back into traffic to shore up the Showdown for Adelaide. Keane later explained his thought process in his melodic Cork accent; 'Yer, I just threw meself back and prayed'. The worst moment was the serious injury to Essendon's first gamer Lewis Hayes. The key defender was taken at pick 25 in the 2022 draft and has been patiently developed for two years in the VFL. He was playing well on debut, getting a heap of the ball, and looked to be exactly the player the Bombers needed after their glut of injuries. And then his left knee buckled. Michael Tuck once described footy as 'an endless series of kicks in the guts'. Tucky, to be fair, played about a thousand games and half of those were finals. Hayes has played three quarters of a senior game. But he'd no doubt concur right now.
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Jesse Hogan feeds off hostile crowd as GWS Giants breach Geelong fortress again
Jesse Hogan is one of those footballers who could easily have been lost to the game. He could be kicking bags and collecting cheques in local and country footy. He gradually fell out of favour at Melbourne. He was miserable at Fremantle. He was a worrier and catastrophiser. The key forward was a speculative pick up for GWS Giants. All the things that were missing in his life – a clean bill of health, a sound body, a quiet mind, a stable home life, a good team and a coach who believes in him – have aligned at the Giants. Against Geelong, Hogan kicked seven goals and helped drag his team over the line. He's had some big hauls in recent years – he kicked nine on a West Coast debutant a month ago – but this was in a hot game, in front of a hostile crowd and against one of the best backlines in football. Sam De Koning, a fine player and athlete, had no answers. At first glance, Hogan presents as a highly unorthodox footballer. The stutter steps, the Flintstones run up, and the way he punches at his kicks suggest a player still learning his craft. But his craft is the best in the competition. He shuffles, pivots, positions himself precisely where he wants to be, sticks his arms out, puffs his chest and gobbles it. He's an incredibly hard man to budge. It sounds obvious but, like the best cricketers, he always keeps his eye on the ball. He has quick feet, he never stops moving, and he roams far and wide. In the dying seconds on Sunday, he was in the back pocket, clearing and directing. Hogan also has a fleet of domestiques who separate, block, divert and screen to free him up. My colleague Jack Snape and Hogan recently delved into his love of chess. When he broke his thumb in a bus toilet door earlier this year, his very impressive score dipped. This time it was the Giants and coach Adam Kingsley who shuffled their pieces; protecting, releasing and emboldening their colossus. Giants skipper Toby Greene says Hogan is the best key forward of the past decade. Certainly he plays a game that would have dominated in previous generations. He's the most accurate Coleman medallist since Fraser Gehrig and Matthew Lloyd. The closest modern comparison is probably Tom Hawkins. But Hawkins sought more one-on-one mismatches. Hogan seems to prefer two on five. There was more to the Giants' win over the Cats than Jesse Hogan. Tom Green vied with him for best afield honours. At stoppages, Green fought for front position and positioned himself as close as possible to his ruck Kieren Briggs, who was also excellent. Green is a big man but much like Lachie Neale, he gets down low and never fumbles. He's one of the best and most creative handballers in the game, and he got GWS moving. For a large part of autumn, the Giants' home ground in usually unavailable because of the Sydney Royal Easter Show. They're bumped off by a bunch of woodchoppers, wool classers and alpacas. They'd happily relocate to Kardinia Park, where they've won their past five games. The Cats were left ruing some tardy goalkicking. Patrick Dangerfield, who was like a SWAT team leader last weekend, was well held by Jack Buckley. Mark Blicavs, also a keen chess player and footy's ultimate deploy-where-required option, has pretty much performed every role on the football field this year – ruck, spare, goalkeeper, winger, cooler, everything but carting the water. In the dying stages of the game on Sunday, he drifted forward and had the game on his boot, but his set shot hit the post. Sign up to From the Pocket: AFL Weekly Jonathan Horn brings expert analysis on the week's biggest AFL stories after newsletter promotion Eight of the nine games this weekend were decided by 14 points or less. Beginning in Perth on Thursday, round nine was highlighted by the draw in Hobart between Brisbane and North Melbourne, by Richmond's Tom Brown suddenly morphing into Gout Gout to mow down West Coast's Tom Gross, and by Mark Keane hurling himself back into traffic to shore up the Showdown for Adelaide. Keane later explained his thought process in his melodic Cork accent; 'Yer, I just threw meself back and prayed'. The worst moment was the serious injury to Essendon's first gamer Lewis Hayes. The key defender was taken at pick 25 in the 2022 draft and has been patiently developed for two years in the VFL. He was playing well on debut, getting a heap of the ball, and looked to be exactly the player the Bombers needed after their glut of injuries. And then his left knee buckled. Michael Tuck once described footy as 'an endless series of kicks in the guts'. Tucky, to be fair, played about a thousand games and half of those were finals. Hayes has played three quarters of a senior game. But he'd no doubt concur right now.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Eddie McGuire's son Xander in huge scoop about AFL club amid nasty allegations
Xander McGuire continues to prove himself as a rising star of the AFL media landscape after breaking a big story about the Geelong Cats and the future of Sam De Koning on Wednesday night. And in doing so the 22-year-old is destroying a nasty narrative around his famous father Eddie. Xander is working on Channel 7 in 2025 and has featured across the network's footy coverage - from game broadcasts to talk shows and news bulletins. He's also landed a role as host of 'The Round So Far' program on the AFL website, but the gigs have sparked ugly claims of nepotism. Many think Xander has only risen so high because of his surname, but in reality he appears to be a gun journo in his own right. He won the Clinton Grybas Rising Star Award at the Australian Football Media Association awards last year, and has been quietly working his way up the ranks. Earlier this month he was the first to report that James Worpel suffered a syndesmosis injury in Hawthorn's win over Sydney in Opening Round, and has impressed footy fans with his confidence on screen and insight into the game. And that continued on Wednesday night when he reported the big news that De Koning is set to remain in Geelong. Sam De Koning's loyalties lie at the Cattery with the specifics on a new deal to be ironed out shortly. He's forgone a compelling approach from the Saints to remain in Geelong… 👇 @7AFL — Xander McGuire (@XanderMcGuire7) March 19, 2025 St Kilda have been trying to score a massive double coup by luring both De Koning brothers (Sam from Geelong and Tom from Carlton) to the club, with a supposed 'war chest' at their disposal. But McGuire reported on 7News that Sam is staying put at the Cats. 'Sam De Koning is now committed to staying at Geelong,' McGuire revealed. 'The Cats' 2023 premiership defender-turned-ruckman fielded rival offers, but has now made a contract extension at Kardinia Park his priority. St Kilda approached both Sam and Tom De Koning, opening a discussion around whether the high-profile brothers - both out of contract at the end of the year - would consider a bombshell multi-million dollar reunion at Moorabbin." While McGuire said Sam won't be heading to Geelong, the situation with Tom might be a "different story". Tom is said to be weighing up an offer from the Cats for seven years at $1 million per season. RELATED: Sam Mitchell goes public with new details after awful family ordeal Sam Lalor smacks down claims about Dustin Martin after brutal snub McGuire's scoop on Sam De Koning's future shows he's a legitimate gun in the AFL media landscape. Rhett Bartlett - the son of AFL legend Kevin - wrote on social media last month: "The criticism some are posting here for Xander is unwarranted. Easy to bag him cause of famous surname (trust me, I should know). Despite your nepotism arguments, one still has to be passionate, strong work ethic and good at your job and the fact he's into his 5+yr proves that." Big on Xander McGuire, great start @7AFL #AFLSwansHawks — Max Weir (@MaxWeir10) March 7, 2025 nepo baby this nepo baby thatXander McGuire has done nothing but cook since getting the job tbh — Sam. (@Orignial_Sam) March 7, 2025 Speaking to Yahoo Sport Australia recently, leading sports psychologist Alan Mantle summed up the situation that people like McGuire and Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz have to deal with. "Nepotism is a very hurtful word," he said. "When you hear that word (nepotism) you need to think it's just what someone is saying about you, but it doesn't mean it is you. It's reputation versus character. Character is what you form about yourself and a reputation is something that other people form about you."
