Following on from his glittering first full year in the league, in which he kicked 44 goals and was ranked third in the competition for contested marks, Hogan has struggled for form in the opening two rounds of this season.

He was well-held by GWS co-captain Phil Davis in round one for three quarters, before kicking three final-quarter goals to help the Demons win, and was restricted to eight touches and a goal by veteran Bombers backman James Gwilt in last week's shock 13-point loss to Essendon.

Former champion forwards Matthew Lloyd and Dermott Brereton were particularly critical of Hogan's efforts against Essendon, with the reigning Rising Star winner's on-field demeanour specifically coming under scrutiny.

Lloyd said Hogan should be dropped if he displayed the same "horrific" body language again this week against North Melbourne.

"It's that drastic that I think another week or two of that and there's no alternative but to send him back to the VFL," Lloyd told AFL Media.

Brereton told SEN that Hogan virtually gave up against the Bombers.

"I thought he was as close to a gun player turning it up as I've seen for quite some time," the five-time premiership Hawk said.

But others, like Carey, Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall and Richmond great Matthew Richardson, have publicly defended Hogan.

"You have to remember, this kid's 19 – he's played 22 games," Carey said on Channel Seven's Talking Footy on Monday night.

"And with the body language ... I think Jesse Hogan gets really disappointed with himself more so than he does [with] teammates.

"If he's not playing well – and he hasn't had a great start to the season – I just see that he gets really down.

"Now, can he improve that? Absolutely."

Dunstall told Triple M on Wednesday that Hogan's critics were "far too harsh".

"This is a guy in the absolute infancy of his career ... he's played a handful of games, he's incredibly young," Dunstall said.

"We've had issues at different stages with Matthew Richardson, we spoke about Jack Riewoldt who has since tidied things up I think pretty well, but we were talking about them when they were in their prime. This is a kid who's played a year and two games.

"He'll get that addressed by the coaches, they'll talk to him about it, he wears his heart on his sleeve, there's nothing wrong with that.

"Let's not forget in round one when we were criticising him he was also one of the reasons they won the game – it was his last quarter."

Richardson dismissed suggestion that Hogan's attitude problems had been dogging him for an extended period of time.

"It hasn't been a trend for years on end," Richardson told 3AW on Wednesday.

"If you played in Melbourne's forward line on Saturday, you would have got pretty frustrated as well."

Coach Paul Roos told Melbourne's website that the club had spoken to Hogan about his negative body language but that it wasn't a major issue, and was even understandable in some instances.

"You understand why that takes place, because there are a lot of people commentating on football … so we'll address that with Jesse, but I see that more as a development," he said.

"He's more of a competitive player and I don't see it as a pattern that's going to continue. He clearly is frustrated and we tend to see it with bigger players, who come into footy and have got to play a slightly different role.

"A midfielder like [Angus] Brayshaw or [Clayton] Oliver comes in and can win his own ball around the contest. He's got to step-up, but fundamentally he's doing the same thing.

"It's something we talk to Jesse about because of the development of his all-round game, but it's not a concern at the moment. We're confident that Jesse will come out and play really well this week."