THERE are few more decorated juniors in this year’s AFL Draft crop than East Fremantle Colts captain Jed Hagan. The small utility has several seasons of Colts footy under his belt and pulled off the rare feat of featuring in both his state’s Under 17 and 19 squads last year.

With clean skills, smarts, and a high running capacity, Hagan is an asset in whichever role required. Though able to play on each line, he has increased his midfield minutes for the Sharks in 2022, having previously cut his teeth on the wing and at half-back.

Hagan’s latest Colts outing saw him lead East Fremantle to a 29-point derby win over South Fremantle on Monday morning, and he was a strong contributor. We put the 17-year-old’s performance under our Player Focus microscope for Round 7.

East FremantleSmall Utility

Jed Hagan

Height: 175cm

Weight: 74kg

DOB: 15-10-2004

Strengths:

Consistency

Footy IQ

Tackling

Work rate

Short kicking

Improvements:

Hurt factor

Speed

SEASON SO FAR

Averages: 5 games | 24.0 disposals (16.8 kicks, 7.2 handballs), 5.6 marks, 8.4 tackles, 5.4 inside 50s, 0.4 goals (2.5 total)

With plenty of Colts experience under his belt, and a decorated junior career to boot, Hagan has looked comfortable across five games in 2022. He has been typically consistent, not yet dipping below 20 disposals and five tackles. His high point came in Round 2 with 31 touches, 14 marks and nine tackles against Swan Districts, which put him in good stead for his AFL Academy outing last month. Speaking of, Hagan put in a productive shift for his country in that game, operating as a small defender.

2022 WAFL Colts, Round 7
South Fremantle 7.5 (47) def. by East Fremantle 11.10 (76)

Stats: 21 disposals (14 kicks, 7 handballs), 3 marks, 10 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 2 behinds

FIRST QUARTER

Though interrupted, Hagan’s first term proved a fruitful one in the way of numbers. He racked up over a half-dozen possessions rotating forward from midfield, attending two of five centre bounces having been forced off through the blood rule nine minutes in.

He came back on sporting tape around his head and got to work immediately, showcasing his stoppage smarts and ability to work both ways. What Hagan did well was take back position at stoppages, nudging his opponent into the contest and peeling off to either receive going forward, or pressure going backwards.

He got involved in-and-under as usual and while not always clean in his handling, managed to display neat skills once in possession. Hagan’s quickness of mind and sharp short-range game came to the fore just before quarter time, as he slipped a kick across forward 50 to Xavier Bradshaw-Pini, who marked and goaled with the final touch of the term.

SECOND QUARTER

Again taking up a starting midfield spot, Hagan made a hot start to term two. The diminutive ball accumulator made his two centre bounce attendances count, streaming away for two clearances by peeling off his opponent and reacting best to the direction the ball was headed.

He very nearly capped off a super opening five minutes with a goal, but burned his teammate in the goalsquare and missed the awkward kick over an oncoming opponent, 15 metres out.

For the rest of the quarter, Hagan worked hard between the arcs to get into positions to receive the ball and move it on quickly, perhaps just lacking the hurt factor of his first few possessions. Nonetheless, he also applied himself defensively with deceptive strength in tackles, rounding out a solid 13-disposal half.

THIRD QUARTER

The game opened up a touch in term three and Hagan continued to get his hands on the ball. He came out cleaned up after being in the wars during the first half, and looked to get into good positions to receive the ball.

While consistently able to receive and support his ball-winning teammates, arguably the feature of Hagan’s quarter was his tackling. The small midfielder hit the Bulldogs with intent and often brought his opponents down, locking the ball up for stoppages.

In an attacking sense, he got his hands on the ball in positions to assess the options in front of him, but lacked the speed to maintain enough space to keep pressure off the kick. That hindered his usually tidy play, but Hagan’s work rate up and back was noticeable, even if sometimes unrewarded.

FOURTH QUARTER

With the game just about wrapped up for East Fremantle, Hagan had a quiet fourth term as his Sharks capped off a fine Fremantle derby win. For the first time in the match, he attended every centre bounce (three) but found his few possessions away from the contest.

He drew five free kicks on the day and won another for one touch, before his final contribution came at half back with a mark and long kick to the contest. At that point, he was winding down the clock.

Overall, Hagan continued his impressive form at Colts level and with several seasons of experience under his belt, he is quite accomplished among his peers. At 175cm and without significant speed, the test will be whether he can translate his play to senior grades. What he has on his side is versatility, a great work rate, smarts, and a natural knack for finding the ball.