Ben Hobbs did not want to touch a football after being delisted by Essendon last year.

Discarded after four seasons and 65 AFL matches with the Dons, he was disillusioned with the game.

He had spent years preparing to play in the AFL, only to be cut adrift at the age of 22.

The 2021 AFL national draft’s No. 13 pick left Windy Hill feeling unfulfilled.

But Hobbs has rediscovered his passion for football at VFL mainstay Port Melbourne. His self-belief too.

He’s averaging 29.3 disposals, 7.8 clearances and 4.5 tackles in 11 matches for the Brendan McCartney-coached Borough this season, helping his club climb to sixth on the ladder.

McCartney marked him down as best-afield last Sunday as Port Melbourne grittily came from behind to defeat Casey Demons at Casey Fields.

“I’m loving my footy again,’’ Hobbs says.

“Early in the pre-season, I didn’t really want to pick up a football, to be honest, just after the whole delisting. I lost a lot of confidence.’’

He regained some of it during talks with McCartney, Port Melbourne director of coaching James Hird and Borough head of football Susie Robinson.

“They told me I am a good AFL player,’’ he says.

“That gave me the confidence to go to the VFL and show what I can do, and from there I’ve just found a belief in myself. The support of my teammates has been great too. The enjoyment is back. I’m hungry to get back to the level. I feel like, at my best, I can get back into the system.’’

Hobbs is playing in the midfield for Port, something he wanted to do at Essendon but rarely did.

He was drafted as an onballer, having been described by AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan as a “hard-edged beauty who excels one-on-one and consistently extracts the ball out of congestion’’.

Sheehan also saw in the Horsham product “elite game sense, reading the cues in winning the loose ball’’.

Hobbs’ under-age resume glistened with achievement: Vic Country’s MVP and All-Australian selection at the 2019 Under 16 national championships, and Talent League team-of-the-year honours and co-captaincy of the Country U19 team in 2021.

In a top-age year derailed by Covid, he averaged 25 disposals for the GWV Rebels.

Sheehan even compared him to Port Adelaide great Travis Boak, “with his competitive edge and ability to hit the scoreboard’’.

But Essendon used Hobbs mainly as a half-forward. He understood the need to play in other positions but he felt a little out of place.

“I didn’t get a whole lot of midfield time at AFL. Never really got the opportunity,’’ he says. “We had some great mids at Essendon and, yeah, I was a half-forward flanker, which just didn’t suit me. They knew it was my prime spot but with the midfield talent that was in there it was hard for me to get in. I’d only get little snippets and little goes at it.’’

That was a frustration for Hobbs. Closer to a regret was that he listened to too much advice and trusted too many people – “I’d go back now and tighten my circle; I told too many people what was going on with my life when you really don’t need to ’’ – and took too much notice of social media.

Hobbs was delisted despite playing 18 games for the Bombers last year. He expected another AFL club to come calling, but it didn’t happen, bringing another flush of rejection.

Inundated with offers by VFL, interstate and local clubs, he signed at Port.

After leaving a meeting with McCartney and co, he phoned his parents and said: “This is where I want to be.’’

“I walked out feeling taller and so keen to get into it. I didn’t want to meet with anyone else,’’ he says.

“I made a good decision. ‘Macca’s’ game plan suits me to a tee … outnumber, contested footy.’’

He says McCartney has stripped his football back and kept his mind uncluttered.

“At AFL level, you can get too complicated. You can think too much. You can watch so much vision. He said, ‘What are your strengths?’ And I was like, well, winning the contested ball, and my pressure and tackling. And he said, ‘Mate, bring that every week’. That’s all we really say. I go out on the field knowing I’ve got two things that can really impact the game and help us win.

“He’s tough on me, he’s really tough on me as a coach. But I needed someone to hit me between the eyes.’’

McCartney says: “I’ve just left him alone, really. We’ve just let him look forward to a game of footy every week, turn up and give his best.’’

Most weeks he’s in the best.

But McCartney hopes AFL clubs won’t be leaving Hobbs alone. He’s adamant the right-footer is worthy of another listing: “He should get another crack at it. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get pre-season and SSP offers.’’

For all his disappointment at being let go by Essendon, Hobbs believes some good has come from it.

Head down as he fought for his AFL career, he’s lifted it this year to see a wider world.

He even went back to his home town and played a game for Horsham, having more than 30 disposals in a two-point win.

“I feel like I’ve learnt a lot about myself and my game,’’ Hobbs says.

“I think I’m improving even through I’m at a lower level. I think I stack up. My ability to win the footy and extract to my teammates is at a high level. I’ve always had belief in myself, but my personality … growing up, from 13 to 14, I probably knew I was going to get picked up. So that was all it was, footy. As soon as it hit me in the face I’m like ‘Shit, I’m out of the system, what am I going to do?’ I’ve been working at St Michael’s Grammar as a sports coach and I’ve got so much enjoyment out of that.

“I’m thinking about different things outside of footy. That’s only helped me. I never did that AFL level. It was always footy, footy, footy. Now I’m broadening my perspective on life. Being able to work with younger kids, it’s helped my public speaking and my confidence. I feel really great about myself that I can help others get better. That’s only helped my footy. If I do get another opportunity, I’ll be better off for the year off.’’

If not, he says, he’ll pursue something else.

“Maybe architecture. I love design. I haven’t had to think about it until this year,’’ Hobbs says. “I’m still working out what I actually want to do down the track. Right now it’s AFL.’’

BRENDAN McCARTNEY ON BEN HOBBS

“His ground-ball stuff is super. His ground-ball and getting it to someone with his handball is elite, and his stoppage-craft is really good. He’s got a bit of old-fashioned midfielder about him. He’s really good at owning his space around the ball. So competitive too. There are things he’s going to keep working on. I’ve got no doubt he’ll get back to playing at the higher level and there are things he’ll have to add into his game – his finish, his finish around goal, his field kicking, that stuff. I just respect how he picked a club and has given it everything, from the first minute of Round 1.’’

Originally published as Delisted but not done: former Bomber Ben Hobbs pushes for AFL return