17 games. One rising star nomination.
Essendon’s new No.8 made his presence felt in his rookie season and is at the forefront of an exciting crop of talented young players at the Bombers.
The boy from Horsham is primed to continue his upwards trajectory within the AFL, returning from the Christmas break in excellent shape.
Oozing with potential, Ben Hobbs is ready to take the next step as a player and a teammate within an environment that is looking to unleash the young core of players at its disposal.
“I love being at the club,” Hobbs said.
“It has been a high performing environment so far this preseason.”
“It’s great to get the new coaching staff in, the boys have come back keen to really perform well this year.”
Eager to perform, Essendon’s list is one of the youngest in the AFL, featuring only two players over 30.
The opportunity for Hobbs to make his mark early in his career is significant.
With some AFL experience already on his resume, Hobbs is relishing the opportunity to get stuck into his second pre-season, especially with the added advantage of skipping the initial icebreaking stage.
“It is pretty exciting, you’re still young but you already know the boys and know your way around,” he said.
“It is great to have some AFL experience already under my belt.”
“It is good to have played a fair bit of footy in my first year, there are a lot of improvements that I am making that will help allow me to stay in that side more consistently.
“I am taking a lot away from last year that I will be implementing into this year.”
When up and firing, the Bombers boast a robust midfield group, one that is helping Hobbs to learn his craft and add to his game.
Therefore, cracking the side initially meant strong VFL form was required for the young midfielder, an experience he credits as being highly instrumental in his early development.
“It was massive for me (playing in the VFL). Early on I was just an inside mid, but the coaching staff said that I need to become a two-position player, due to our strong midfield group," he said.
“I got to play a more forward role at the start of the year and then finally got an opportunity to play more midfield towards the back end.
“I have learnt so much from the other mids, particularly professionalism.
“We have a lot of different midfielders, Shiel’s breakaway from the contest, Merrett's knowledge of the game inside and out and Parish’s attack on the ball are all things I want to add to my own game.”
Understanding that this will take time, Hobbs is aiming to become more consistent as an AFL player.
“I just want to be consistent at an AFL level,” he said.
“I will look to base my performance off being a good teammate and hitting some certain KPIs.”
With Brad Scott now on board, other new faces like Ben Jacobs have been instrumental in Hobbs’ development already.
“Ben Jacobs has been fantastic so far and I have already learnt a lot from him about my midfield craft," Hobbs said.
“(Brad) Scott has also been very clear in what he wants from me as a player and individual.”
With the season fast approaching, Bombers fans will be excited to see the talented young number eight take the field for what will be his second season.
