Time On: Troubled Western Bulldogs star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan pops up at basketball
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan may not be turning up to all the Bulldogs training sessions but he enjoyed some time on the sidelines at the NBL finals.
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Time On is your wrap up of all the footy gossip and banter.
Man about town
Troubled Western Bulldogs star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan may not be turning up to all training sessions but he’s taking centre stage at the basketball.
The former no. 1 draft pick whose playing future is uncertain, was courtside on Wednesday night as the Hawks forced an NBL title decider by overcoming Melbourne United.
He was captured posing for photos and signing autographs for fans in the crowd.
The 22 year-old has regularly cheered on United at John Cain Arena.
He’s posted at the gym and also uploaded video at a golf range with a Sydney based French glamazon called Cristiana.
Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli said Ugle-Hagan, who has taken time away to deal with personal issues away from the game, had been on a “flexible” training itinerary for multiple months.
“I’m aware of it (the current situation) … I think it just continues to speak to the delicacy in which we try and handle every person at the football club and prioritise their health and wellbeing,” Bontempelli told Fox Footy.
“I know it’ll sound somewhat similar to how I’ve answered these questions in the past, because the support for Jamarra is A1 as a person before it is a footballer, and obviously the challenges that have been documented, we’re obviously still processing and dealing with (those).
“It’s why, I guess, his return to full training has been staged — to allow for him to able to segment things and work through the challenges that he has.
“I spend a lot of time talking to him to try and help him from more a personal level than a football level, and we just continue to work through the process of week-to-week.”
Bonds’ rescue package
Richmond’s rising star Sam Lalor has gone viral for many reasons this week.
One of those was due to his, ah, preference to go commando on the footy field.
Asked about the situation and a reported new Bonds deal, Lalor admitted he’d found it hilarious.
“It’s been pretty funny to be honest,’’ he told Dylan Buckley’s Footy and Friends podcast.
“I just took it in my stride, I couldn’t really care less, I think it’s funny as.
“They’ve (Bonds) sent me a big package and got my manager in contact with them so who knows.
“All the boys around the club loved it, everyone’s seen it pretty much, it was hilarious.”
Dylan couldn’t resist another little reference which drew a huge chuckle from the no. 1 draft pick.
“Not sure why they sent you a big package, you’ve already got one,’’ Buckley said.
Lalor acknowledged the mishap after the game, posting on Instagram: “What a night. Thanks @richmond_fc for the opportunity, keen for many more to come”, along with an eggplant emoji.
It didn’t take long for Lalor’s teammates to get in on the joke. Gun midfielder Tim Taranto tagged @bondaus in the comments, while Jacob Bauer commented: “Was impressive, good game too x.”
Bonds then came to the party, offering him “some extra support”.
“You probably heard about Sammy’s great Round 1 debut last Thursday and the not so great situation where his boys were not secure during his goal celebration,” Bonds said in an Instagram reel.
“His teammate Tim has been kind enough to give us a shout out, so we thought why not reach out to Sammy and make sure he’s secure for the next time he hits the field and give him some Bonds trunks.”
An eyeful for Watson
Speaking of private parts, Tim Watson got an eyeful when he went on his daily walk through a Port Melbourne park and came across a loved up couple.
“You know I go for a walk every day, I walk a lot,’’ he told SEN co-host Garry Lyon on Thursday morning.
“I take my wallet and keys and now I’m going to start carrying a bucket of cold water. I came across a very amorous couple in the park in Port Melbourne yesterday. And I know what they were doing because my uncle Harold told me many, many years ago when I asked him what the cattle were doing in the yard, he said they’re joined together.”
Watson said it was around 10.30am and it occurred in the grass under the trees.
“If you’re one of those people listening, I saw you. I noticed it with my keen eye,’’ he said.
“I don’t know what the motivation was, all I know is the wisp had to look the other way.”
Fake Tom Browne strikes again
The pesky Tom Browne fake social media account has claimed another victim.
A fake X account, which says it’s a satire account in the bio, still catches people out with its mischievous and blatantly inflammatory statements.
Last year it was Sam Newman who fell for a post about Mason Cox endorsing Joe Biden at the next US election. On Monday night the account posted a wild statement about Carlton coach Michael Voss.
“Breaking: Michael Voss and the Carlton Football Club have mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately. More to come.”
It was picked up on 3AW by much loved veteran newsman Denis O’Kane who was on air with his great mate Denis Walter.
“We’ve got some breaking news that is coming in,’’ O’Kane said.
“Tom Browne from Channel 7, there’s been a tweet so I assume it’s ridgey didge but it hasn’t been confirmed. Breaking news that Michael Voss and the Carlton Football Club have mutually agreed to part ways.”
Walter exclaimed “WHAT!”
O’Kane said it was yet to be confirmed and “we’ve got to be very careful”.
After the initial shock, moments later it was pointed out that it was a satire account.
“That was something I wanted to do in the eight o’clock hour tonight, all these bits and pieces that are happening online where you don’t know if something is real or you don’t know what is going on,’’ Walter said. “There’s a false account under my name at the moment where people are being asked to accept friend requests.”
O’Kane said he was glad it was false — but remarkably Browne is still causing a stir two years after leaving the media.
“I did make it clear that it was not confirmed,’’ O’Kane said.
“That’s a real lesson to a lot of us I suppose, including me, even though I didn’t confirm it, but you just don’t know. Very hard to believe that would happen so early in the season that a coach and a club would part company. I’m glad it is false and thanks for clearing that up.”
Too many voices, too many rooms
Brian Taylor says an overload of footy opinions is set to “wear people out” with an influx of programs the veteran commentator has described as “bizarre”.
The Channel 7 and Triple M identity believes we could do without a third of the shows — many of which have been introduced by his own network this year.
“The last 10 years we’ve been saying, ‘Got any money to do a Sunday footy show or something’ and they’ve been going ‘No, no there’s no money to be found’,’’ Taylor said on his Life of Brian podcast.
“All of a sudden we’ve got 15 shows, one every hour of the day. So it is bizarre, the competition is red hot, the AFL must be sitting back licking their lips and saying this is what we want. Full blown coverage of the AFL can’t get any better than what it is right at this moment. It’s amazing.”
But Taylor, in a discussion with his son Harrison, said people will get sick of it.
“I would also think the appetite of the general football follower, not the person who absolutely can’t get enough of it, but the general go to a game every now and then supporter out there … I would say they’re going to be sick of it by halfway through the year,’’ Taylor said.
“I have no doubt that this is going to wear people out, people’s opinions on footy.
“As was proven with Richmond and Carlton the other day, every expert that I know, I didn’t hear anyone tip Richmond, but they all tipped Carlton by 40 or 50 points.
“It just shows you the experts are guessing, we are all guessing. So all of these shows, it’s not fact, it’s just subjective guessing. And that’s all it is.”
Footy Show can’t get over Cornes?
Nick Riewoldt delivered a drive by to the Sunday Footy Show panel who continue to discuss their former colleague Kane Cornes.
Riewoldt suggested the crew had no credibility given they didn’t go after their host Tony Jones and his now infamous incident with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
During his Roo’s Marks segment on The Agenda Setters Monday night, Riewoldt said he was grading the guys a C.
“So they get a C for comedy gold, they get a C for class and maybe a C for credibility because if you don’t go one of your own who caused a global diplomatic incident then don’t come after our man,’’ Riewoldt said.
Host Craig Hutchison said to Cornes: “Still relying on you for ratings even though you’re not there. More of you in the show than anyone else.”
Cornes said he was baffled.
“Just a bit of an obsession wasn’t there, but anyway we’re all part of it,” he said.
The program on Sunday referred to Cornes and segments he’s taken with him from Nine to Seven and the AFL website.
His Vol-Kane-o segment — where he vents on a footy issue — was co-opted by Damian Barrett, who introduced the segment as Vol-Damo.
“It’s a straight theft, it’s an intellectual property theft of something that used to appear on this show,’’ Barrett said.
“It’s now appearing on other platforms and I’m not going to stand for it. I’m going to take back this IP, it’s our segment, it’s back.
“I’m Vol-Damo-ing somebody who we used to know. A former friend of this show. He’s a thief, he’s a plagiarist and he’s got form in this space.”
Barrett went on to call The Agenda Setters, “basically Footy Classified reheated” and said “we’ve got legal options here”.
All good banter but seems the Seven guys no longer find the jokes funny.
Footy feud no one saw coming
The media feud we never saw coming exploded into life on Monday morning.
It all started when horse racing analyst David “Gator” Gately responded to a Fox Footy story with a quote from David King suggesting Tigers number one draft pick, Sam Lalor, looked like Dustin Martin in the way he moved on the MCG on Thursday night.
KINGY !!!!
— David Gately (@GatorGately) March 14, 2025
Also Kingy: Reece Conca will be a better player than Dustin Martin…. Oh, and Chris Fagan can’t coach. #predicitionsNOTastrongsuit 🤣
Kingy clapped back at Gately, warning him that he’d be closely monitoring his horse racing predictions over the weekend.
Will be watching your tips tomorrow closely and reviewing as a once off Saturday set, gamble well.
— David King (@davidking34) March 14, 2025
Tune in at 6:01 for the feedback regardless of win/loss. Might be interesting. @SENBreakfast#FireballFeedback
King was asked about the situation by his SEN breakfast co-host Kane Cornes on Monday.
“I don’t have the energy for fighting anymore. He’s a race tipster. He’s not a bad fella, what’s he having a crack at me for?”, King asked.
He then proceeded to go through Gately’s tips at Caulfield for Sky Racing on the weekend — with the racing guru backing just one winner from 10 picks.
“He had a stinker, he got one from 10 at Caulfield. I could do that! It paid $3.60.
“He’s had a shit one hasn’t he.”
Cornes couldn’t control his laughter as King went through each of Gately’s tips, sounding a buzzer for the failures.
Chompers branches up
It appears Tony Jones has found a potential new career — as a doof stick.
Evidence has emerged of the Sunday Footy Show host’s head being paraded at a music festival, believed to be Chill Out, Australia’s largest and longest-running queer country pride festival, held in Daylesford last weekend.
“Holy f. k my chompers are swinging,’’ the display read poster.
Another was just of Jones’ head.
For those unaware, a doof stick is a tall, decorated pole or sign, often used at music festivals and bush doofs.
It wouldn’t be the first time someone has wanted Jones’ scalp.
‘A great man’
Geelong great Joel Selwood paid tribute to his late brother Troy before being part of 3AW’s broadcast of the Geelong-Fremantle match.
“It’s been a really tough five weeks for us losing my brother Troy who was a great man,’’ Joel said.
“He was a real glue man, he was exceptional at bringing people together, he loved this place and there’s a lot of his touch on the Geelong players here. He worked in the recruiting department for a period of time so when you look at the likes of a Max Holmes and a Brad Close and a Shannon Neale, that was his last touch here before he went and joined Geelong Grammar.
“Loved his time at Geelong, loved his time at Brisbane and we’ll miss him greatly.”
Originally published as Time On: Troubled Western Bulldogs star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan pops up at basketball
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