"He’s had fantastic presence up field" - Western Sydney Giants’ forward dazzles in milestone game despite Western Bulldogs defeat 

Greater Western Sydney Giants forward Jesse Hogan played in his milestone 150th game in Saturday's 70-43 loss to the Western Bulldogs.

In what could have been a worse night for the Giants, Hogan scored three of their goals. This brought his season's tally to 29, tying Gold Coast's Ben King and Carlton's Charlie Curnow at the top of the Coleman medal ranking.

Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown said of his performance on Fox Footy at half-time:

“He’s been sensational, what a first half in wet conditions. Each contested mark in these conditions is worth about three.

“His ability to go back and convert. He’s had fantastic presence up field when his Giants teammates didn’t give him a lot supply.”

Hogan crossed the 300-goal mark against Essendon in the Round-9 loss. He is currently on track to surpass his best goal scoring season of 2023 when he scored 49.

Coach Adam Kingsley stands behind his forwards

Senior Coach of the Giants, Adam Kingsley

The Giants have lost four of their last five games in the league this season, with the loss against the Bulldogs as the last addition. The Bulldogs won 70-43 and while the margin of 27 points already show how poor the Giants were, it could have been worse if the Bulldogs were more accurate with their kicks as they kicked a 8.22 score.

Despite this being the lowest score of Kingsley’s tenure, he has refused to blame his forwards for this. The forward combination of Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan scored all the Giants’ goals of the match. Hogan scored his three in the first half while Greene opened the scoring and kicked his remaining two in the final term of the game.

Speaking in his post match press conference, Kingsley said:

"I don't think our connection going forward was really strong, and add to that we didn't get the ball forward anywhere near often enough. That has an impact on everyone.

"The Bulldogs defended us really well, they were able to get the ball in their half and lock it in far better than what we did.

"If you don't really provide the supply, it's going to be difficult to really capitalise.”

The Giants started the season as one of the favorites for the finals but have now slipped to sixth. They take on third-placed Geelong in their next match on Saturday (May 25).