‘Made me a lot hungrier’: The Baby Bomber who has helped transform Essendon

Ben Hobbs was the odd one out of Essendon’s midfield at the start of this season.

The 19-year-old played 17 games in his debut year, but did not add to that tally in the opening five rounds of 2023. He suffered a calf setback in February, yet that wasn’t the only reason for his absence at AFL level.

Though Hobbs was putting up video game numbers in the VFL, where he was clearly a class above, the problem, at least for him, was that Essendon won four of their first five games. Off-season recruit Will Setterfield had grabbed his chance as part of an in-form on-ball unit alongside new captain Zach Merrett, Darcy Parish and a resurgent Dylan Shiel.

There was a bit of extra noise at the time because Hobbs was out of contract at season’s end, with the overwhelming majority of his peers at the top end of his draft class having already inked an extension.

It all seems so trivial three months down the track.

Hobbs has played every match at senior level since, averaging almost 20 disposals, seven contested possessions and three clearances, and signed a fresh two-year deal in May that ties him to the club until the end of 2025.

His importance was obvious on Sunday, when he had a game-high three centre clearances in the first quarter to turbocharge the Bombers’ potentially season-defining victory over Adelaide.

The richly talented inside midfielder – Essendon’s first-round pick in 2021 – admits the competitor in him was frustrated, and even a bit pissed off, while he was out of favour, but has belated appreciation for that experience, given where he is now.

“I’m kind of glad it went like that because now I’m taking my opportunity and I don’t want to miss out,” Hobbs told this masthead.

“It made me a lot hungrier – but it’s great to be in the side. Hopefully, I can stay in there and keep having an impact.”

There are potential challenges on the horizon for Hobbs. Shiel played the past two matches as the substitute after a difficult recovery from a foot injury, while Setterfield is a fortnight off returning from his own foot setback.

Hobbs insists he is not concerning himself with the upcoming selection headache, but would be quietly chuffed with how coach Brad Scott addressed the scenario post-match.

“We made it challenging for ‘Hobbsy’ at the start of the year, to force his way into the team, and he’s been absolutely fantastic for us,” Scott said.

“We’re going to have some good challenges, and that’s what good teams have, [but] put it this way – if he keeps playing like that, and he gets displaced out of our team, we will be going unbelievably well.”

Hobbs is one of the reasons there is such optimism about these Bombers. They are not only exceeding expectations this year under Scott, but there is genuine belief the best is yet to come.

He joins the likes of Nic Martin, Archie Perkins, Jye Caldwell, prized draftee Elijah Tsatas, Nik Cox, Sam Durham, Harry Jones, Nick Bryan, Zach Reid, the Daveys – Alwyn and Jayden – and Jye Menzie in a promising 22-and-under group.

“There are so many exciting players who I will hopefully get to play with for a long time,” Hobbs said.

“We just wanted to keep improving [this year], and that’s on individual development as well. I feel like Jye Caldwell’s taken his game to a new level, Peter Wright is back [from injury] and he’s back to his form from last year, and Kyle Langford’s having a great year as well. It’s been great to see.”

Scott goes out of his way not to make finals part of fifth-placed Essendon’s narrative this season, but that possibility is becoming more realistic by the week.

Saturday night’s trip down the highway to face reigning premiers and fellow finals contenders Geelong is one of the Bombers’ biggest matches in years because of the stakes. The Cats have been a problematic match-up for Essendon in the past five years, including piling on 130-plus points against them in each of the past two contests.

“We’re taking it week by week, but it’s fantastic [how we are going] and we want to be a contender,” Hobbs said. “We get another crack at Geelong, which will be exciting. They’re a great side, so we’ll just keep going, review this one [against the Crows], and get better.”

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