By Sam McClure and Angus Delaney
In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Jamarra Ugle-Hagan on road to redemption at Western Bulldogs
- Pressure mounts on Bulldogs as doubts aired about Bonetempelli’s return date
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has taken a significant step towards returning to football, but the Bulldogs want him to repair damaged relationships with some senior teammates and coaching staff before they consider him for selection.
Ugle-Hagan has not missed a session in almost three weeks and is turning heads at Whitten Oval with a changed attitude since the Dogs announced in January he had been granted permission to train away from the club while he dealt with personal issues.
The 22-year-old attended the Bulldogs season launch at the club on Monday night in a further sign that he is taking the right steps towards a return to football at some level.
However, two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, said Ugle-Hagan’s relationships with key figures at the club, including coach Luke Beveridge, captain Marcus Bontempelli and senior teammate Rory Lobb, needed to be repaired before he could play again at AFL level.
Ugle-Hagan lived with Lobb for several months late last year.
Approached for comment, the Bulldogs confirmed Ugle-Hagan needed to rebuild trust with some teammates and officials, and said he had returned to the club with renewed positivity and professionalism after last month’s Indigenous All-Stars match.
Beveridge has said internally that he won’t compromise selection integrity - and risk losing the trust of some of his other players - by bringing Ugle-Hagan back before he is ready.
Bontempelli, who is famous at not just the Bulldogs but across the competition for taking time to help teammates in need, made a huge effort with Ugle-Hagan across the summer, training with him at a private gym in Hawthorn along with a personal trainer.
The captain, who now also finds himself on the sidelines with a calf injury, acted similarly with Bailey Smith last year when the midfielder was recovering from a knee reconstruction.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, returns to training.Credit: Justin McManus
The sources said Bontempelli had been left frustrated by Ugle-Hagan’s attitude across the summer.
Lobb, too, went out of his way to help his teammate, opening his home to him and his fiancee.
The booming left-footer had only managed a handful of sessions with his AFL teammates since December as he dealt with a range of complex personal issues.
Why Bont’s injury might be worse than the Bulldogs are saying
Three-time AFLW premiership player and physio Libby Birch has cast doubt on Marcus Bontempelli’s injury recovery timeline and raised questions over the Western Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning team after several players sustained injuries since the end of last season.
Marcus Bontempelli left the field early in a pre-season clash with Hawthorn. Scans revealed a “complex” calf injury.Credit: Getty Images
“As a physio, looking at their off-season, I’ve analysed their injury trends, and it seems to me like they’ve got a massive soft-tissue injury trend happening there,” Birch said on The Age’s Real Footy Podcast.
“Obviously, their loads have been too high for a substantial amount of time, and we’re just seeing this bulk of soft-tissue injuries. So their high-performance team will be under a lot of pressure.”
Injured Bulldogs include Aaron Naughton, who injured his calf shortly before Christmas, defender Liam Jones, who suffered a significant hamstring strain in February, and midfielder Adam Treloar, who was sidelined after a late-January calf strain. Defender Jason Johannisen will also miss several weeks of the season after undergoing surgery for a hamstring strain.
Captain Marcus Bontempelli was ruled out for at least six weeks when he sustained a calf injury in Thursday’s practice match against Hawthorn.
Birch said she was particularly worried about Bontempelli’s injury, which was described as a “complex” calf strain, believing it could involve the skipper’s plantaris muscle as well as his tendon.
“That is a concern for me. They’ve said six weeks, but I think we’re looking more like eight for Bontempelli.”
The Bulldogs declined a request for comment.
St Kilda are one of the other clubs to have their share of injury woes this pre-season. But the Saints received welcome news on Monday when Mitchito Owens was officially cleared of major damage to his shoulder.
The Saints said experts had examined Owens’ AC joint, and ruled he will not require surgery and remained a chance to be selected for the round one match against the Crows in Adelaide.
“It was a great result to get the all-clear from specialists this morning,” St Kilda’s executive general manager of football David Misson said.
“Mitch is already feeling much better, but we’ll still have to monitor his progress over the next two weeks as we lead into the start of our season.”
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