WHEN it comes to exciting Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan, teammate Nathan Jones is caught between two worlds.
On one hand, the Demons captain doesn’t want to talk Hogan - who is yet to play a senior AFL match - up too much.
On the other, Jones can’t help but admit Hogan is one of the best talents he's ever seen.
The young key forward’s 2014 campaign was ruined by injury and he is still yet to play a home and away game despite playing five pre-season matches over the past two years.
  
Jones said he’d been trying to talk down Hogan's return but it was hard given his obvious talent.
 
"I've been trying to talk it down for two years now," Jones said on Wednesday afternoon.
 
"As far as a talent (goes), he's one of the best I've seen and that's why there's so much excitement surrounding him.
 
"All we expect from him at this stage is to come out and play his role and just continue to learn as much as he can.
 
"I'm sure he'll do some pretty exciting things but as long as he does his role for the team, it's the No.1 thing for us."
Jones said Hogan wouldn’t be nervous ahead of his return.
 
"He's a pretty relaxed kind of guy," Jones said.
 
"All the hype that surrounds him hasn't gone to his head at all. He's pretty chilled out.
 
"He'd be keen just to get out there, get through injury-free, get a few touches and hopefully snag a few goals for us."
 
While much interest surrounds Hogan, the Demons are also unveiling a handful of recruits on Thursday night including ex-Power midfielder Ben Newton, former GWS defender Sam Frost, Jeff Garlett (ex-Carlton) and former Magpie Heritier Lumumba.
 
Jones said Newton's inclusion, after being delisted from Port Adelaide, added much-needed depth to the Demons' midfield.
 
"He's brought some of the standards Port have and he's had a terrific pre-season," Jones said.
 
"(He's been) injury-free and ticked off a lot of the sessions, and shown some real signs in some of the practice and match simulation stuff we've done at training.
 
"So I'm pretty excited about him being a great addition for us."
 
Jones also spoke highly of Lumumba, saying his experience and ability to help educate the young players had been invaluable.
 
The skipper said the Demons wouldn’t focus too much on Fremantle in Thursday's encounter. Despite having a great respect for one of the best teams in the competition, Jones said it was more important for the Demons to focus on their own development.
 
"At this time of the year, the first hit-out, we've spent a lot of time on ourselves working pretty hard on some attacking, offensive play and trying to really nail down our defensive stuff," Jones said.
 
"So a lot of our preparation in terms of the lead-up to tomorrow will be a lot about us.
 
"We're just going to try and put together some good passages and some consistent footy and there's no better team to challenge ourselves against."