JESSE Hogan has revealed that a frank chat with Nathan Fyfe and Ross Lyon last year helped lay the framework for his shift to Fremantle this trade period.

Speaking for the first time as a Docker, Hogan said he met the Fremantle coach and captain last year in case a trade opportunity popped up in 2017. It is understood it was one of two meetings he had with the Dockers before last year’s trade period.

Fyfe and Lyon impressed him with their “honest” appraisal of where the club was at and the plans for the next five years.

“Last year it was thrown up a bit spontaneously and there was a conversation I had with Ross and Nathan,” he said.

“Probably not until this year had I seriously considered it but it was always in the back of my mind.

“They gave me a bit of a five-year plan and that kind of aligned with where I was at. I kind of agreed with what Ross and Nat were saying and the natural pull to Freo was off the back of those conversations.”

Hogan, whose first experience of Optus Stadium is to be while attending the Taylor Swift concert there, said it was a “nice feeling” to be back in Perth.

He admitted having doubts this time last week on whether the trade would get done.

“I think there was a stage where there wasn’t quite an alignment between Melbourne and Fremantle but we were able to work through that so we are here now. I was getting a bit worried but it is all good,” he said.

He said doctors and physios would determine his rate of recovery from his foot injury but the signs so far were good and he hoped to be running in four weeks.

“I am 10 weeks into a 12 week program. I want to be ready. Coming into pre-season I want to be as fit as I possibly can be so I am ready for round one. It is going well, no hiccups. I hopefully start running in two or three weeks, maybe four,” he said.

He said he had no issue with the way Melbourne had handled the trade and how they had taken care of him in a tough two year stint when he lost his father to cancer and had to battle cancer himself.

“I sat down with Simon Goodwin at the end of the year and had a really good chat with him about where I was mentally and where I was as a footballer,” he said.

“We came to the conclusion that having a fresh start and playing in front of friends and family was probably a bit more important at this stage of my career. Obviously I do want to play in finals and play in flags but at this stage it was more important for me to get back, be around my family and friends and to have a fresh start.

“It is not too often that you have two instances like that that close together. I couldn’t have asked for much more from their side of it.

“Having other things on my mind probably started to affect my performance and my general wellbeing to the point where I started to venture into what might be best for me on and off the field.”