Ben Hobbs did not want to touch a football after being delisted by Essendon last year.<\/p>\n
Discarded after four seasons and 65 AFL matches with the Dons, he was disillusioned with the game.<\/p>\n
He had spent years preparing to play in the AFL, only to be cut adrift at the age of 22.<\/p>\n
The 2021 AFL national draft\u2019s No. 13 pick left Windy Hill feeling unfulfilled.<\/p>\n
But Hobbs has rediscovered his passion for football at VFL mainstay Port Melbourne. His self-belief too.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
McCartney marked him down as best-afield last Sunday as Port Melbourne grittily came from behind to defeat Casey Demons at Casey Fields. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m loving my footy again,\u2019\u2019 Hobbs says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly in the pre-season, I didn\u2019t really want to pick up a football, to be honest, just after the whole delisting. I lost a lot of confidence.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He regained some of it during talks with McCartney, Port Melbourne director of coaching James Hird and Borough head of football Susie Robinson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me I am a good AFL player,\u2019\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gave me the confidence to go to the VFL and show what I can do, and from there I\u2019ve just found a belief in myself. The support of my teammates has been great too. The enjoyment is back. I\u2019m hungry to get back to the level. I feel like, at my best, I can get back into the system.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Hobbs is playing in the midfield for Port, something he wanted to do at Essendon but rarely did.<\/p>\n
He was drafted as an onballer, having been described by AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan as a \u201chard-edged beauty who excels one-on-one and consistently extracts the ball out of congestion\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Sheehan also saw in the Horsham product \u201celite game sense, reading the cues in winning the loose ball\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Hobbs\u2019 under-age resume glistened with achievement: Vic Country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In a top-age year derailed by Covid, he averaged 25 disposals for the GWV Rebels.<\/p>\n
Sheehan even compared him to Port Adelaide great Travis Boak, \u201cwith his competitive edge and ability to hit the scoreboard\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t get a whole lot of midfield time at AFL. Never really got the opportunity,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cWe had some great mids at Essendon and, yeah, I was a half-forward flanker, which just didn\u2019t 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\u2019d only get little snippets and little goes at it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
That was a frustration for Hobbs. Closer to a regret was that he listened to too much advice and trusted too many people \u2013 \u201cI\u2019d go back now and tighten my circle; I told too many people what was going on with my life when you really don\u2019t need to \u2019\u2019 \u2013 and took too much notice of social media.<\/p>\n
Hobbs was delisted despite playing 18 games for the Bombers last year. He expected another AFL club to come calling, but it didn\u2019t happen, bringing another flush of rejection.<\/p>\n
Inundated with offers by VFL, interstate and local clubs, he signed at Port.<\/p>\n
After leaving a meeting with McCartney and co, he phoned his parents and said: \u201cThis is where I want to be.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked out feeling taller and so keen to get into it. I didn\u2019t want to meet with anyone else,\u2019\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a good decision. \u2018Macca\u2019s\u2019 game plan suits me to a tee \u2026 outnumber, contested footy.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n
He says McCartney has stripped his football back and kept his mind uncluttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt AFL level, you can get too complicated. You can think too much. You can watch so much vision. He said, \u2018What are your strengths?\u2019 And I was like, well, winning the contested ball, and my pressure and tackling. And he said, \u2018Mate, bring that every week\u2019. That\u2019s all we really say. I go out on the field knowing I\u2019ve got two things that can really impact the game and help us win.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s tough on me, he\u2019s really tough on me as a coach. But I needed someone to hit me between the eyes.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
McCartney says: \u201cI\u2019ve just left him alone, really. We\u2019ve just let him look forward to a game of footy every week, turn up and give his best.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n
Most weeks he\u2019s in the best.<\/p>\n
But McCartney hopes AFL clubs won\u2019t be leaving Hobbs alone. He\u2019s adamant the right-footer is worthy of another listing: \u201cHe should get another crack at it. I\u2019d be surprised if he doesn\u2019t get pre-season and SSP offers.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n
For all his disappointment at being let go by Essendon, Hobbs believes some good has come from it. <\/p>\n
Head down as he fought for his AFL career, he\u2019s lifted it this year to see a wider world.<\/p>\n
He even went back to his home town and played a game for Horsham, having more than 30 disposals in a two-point win. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve learnt a lot about myself and my game,\u2019\u2019 Hobbs says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m improving even through I\u2019m 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\u2019ve always had belief in myself, but my personality \u2026 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\u2019m like \u2018Shit, I\u2019m out of the system, what am I going to do?\u2019 I\u2019ve been working at St Michael\u2019s Grammar as a sports coach and I\u2019ve got so much enjoyment out of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about different things outside of footy. That\u2019s only helped me. I never did that AFL level. It was always footy, footy, footy. Now I\u2019m broadening my perspective on life. Being able to work with younger kids, it\u2019s helped my public speaking and my confidence. I feel really great about myself that I can help others get better. That\u2019s only helped my footy. If I do get another opportunity, I\u2019ll be better off for the year off.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
If not, he says, he\u2019ll pursue something else.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe architecture. I love design. I haven\u2019t had to think about it until this year,\u2019\u2019 Hobbs says. \u201cI\u2019m still working out what I actually want to do down the track. Right now it\u2019s AFL.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
BRENDAN McCARTNEY ON BEN HOBBS<\/p>\n
\u201cHis 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\u2019s got a bit of old-fashioned midfielder about him. He\u2019s really good at owning his space around the ball. So competitive too. There are things he\u2019s going to keep working on. I\u2019ve got no doubt he\u2019ll get back to playing at the higher level and there are things he\u2019ll have to add into his game \u2013 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n