MELBOURNE'S key-forward hope Jesse Hogan has endured a challenging return to the VFL but the Demons were pleased with his long-awaited first hit-out for the season.

In his first game in almost six months since suffering stress reactions in his lower back in a NAB Challenge game, Hogan moved freely but finished with only five possessions, two marks and a behind in Casey Scorpions' 27-point loss to Footscray at Craigieburn on Sunday.

However these unflattering statistics, collected in about 80 per cent game time, don't tell the full story: that windy conditions made it difficult for everyone but particularly for big forwards like Hogan; and the 19-year-old was opposed by Michael Talia and Fletcher Roberts, young Bulldogs with senior experience in a well-drilled team that will contend for the VFL premiership.

"We were happy that Jesse played the game time that we wanted him to play," Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney told AFL.com.au. 

"It was just a good opportunity for him to get back out there and build on his confidence, so it was really positive.

"He moved well and it was good to see him get a few nice touches in tough conditions.

"He's trained really strongly for the last month and hasn't experienced any symptoms. But no matter how much training you do, there's no substitute for match play. Hopefully he'll pull up well and play a few more minutes next week.

"We'd love to get a few games under his belt by the end of the season to give him some momentum going into the pre-season."

Demons coach Paul Roos said on Friday that Hogan would find it difficult to make his AFL debut in the last two rounds, and Mahoney reinforced that the club would not place any such expectations on the youngster.

Conspicuous in a No.75 guernsey, Hogan enjoyed his best patch early in the second term when the Scorpions were aided by a strong breeze, when he had a hand in two goals and shepherded another through with his ample strength.

The first time the ball was delivered into Hogan's vicinity, he leapt high and claimed a strong contested mark, before sending a well-weighted pass that resulted in his team's first goal.

A few minutes later he marked on the boundary line, on the "wrong" side for a right-footer, and his set shot from 35 metres drifted across the face of goal.

Hogan's vigour and intent would have excited many Demons fans.

At one point in that second term he gathered a half-volley at full speed on a lead and shrugged off a tackler as he swiveled, but his shot from 30 metres just missed.

Hogan recently signed a contract extension that ties him to the Demons until the end of 2017.

He was pre-listed by Melbourne in 2012 and last year kicked 39 goals and won the Scorpions' best and fairest, in a season he was ineligible to play at AFL level.

Another promising sign for the Demons was the return of young midfielder Jimmy Toumpas after being sidelined since July following an operation to remove his appendix. He finished with 10 disposals and three marks. 

"Jimmy, like Jesse, got through his 80 minutes and it was good to see him out there again," Mahoney said.

It's well documented that the Demons have stemmed opposition scoring and that the next phase is to score themselves. This will be helped considerably by the development of an injury-free Jesse Hogan, whose key-forward combination with Chris Dawes looks like being a long-term one, and will certainly cause headaches for defences.

Through recruitment, development and coach Paul Roos' demand for more versatile running options, the Demons boast a midfield that should become deeper, more diverse and dangerous by the season.

It seems inevitable that Roos' decision to stick around for a third year will have the club better placed than the alternative. It provides greater certainty and consistency, and probably more scope for progress.

The job of the yet-to-be-anointed successor to Roos' job is appearing more attractive by the month, despite the odd on-field stumble. The coach-in-waiting will have confidence that he will walk into a club that, at the very least, has systems in place that are conducive to achieving success.

History says on-field success can't be achieved without strong administration, and the Demons are on their way. Power struggles and discontentment have given way to off-field stability as chairman Glen Bartlett and chief executive Peter Jackson have delivered strong, united, decisive leadership.