Western Bulldogs premiership hero Tom Boyd backs club to help Jamarra Ugle-Hagan return to playing football

One of the few people who may understand the pressures around Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is Bulldogs hero Tom Boyd – and he has some specific advice for the fellow No. 1 pick.

Western Bulldogs premiership hero Tom Boyd has backed his old club to support Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to get back to playing football but has given advice to the forward to consider his long-term playing future.

Ugle-Hagan was not at training on Wednesday and is on what the Dogs have termed a “flexible” program, having missed key chunks of pre-season so far for personal reasons.

The star forward missed two matches for personal reasons in 2024 and the Dogs are committed to helping him get back on the field.

His absence during the most important part of pre-season has raised questions whether he will be fit to play come the season start in March.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has been in and out of training. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Boyd played his final AFL game at age 22 and retired from the top level in 2019, after playing a key role in a fairytale Bulldogs flag in 2016.

While Boyd said he didn’t know the exact circumstance of Ugle-Hagan’s partial absence from the club, he backed in the Dogs to help get the 22-year-old through a difficult time.

“The Bulldogs have been quite successful at dealing with this stuff, they were great supporting me and they have supported a lot of players over the years so hopefully they have some success here as well,” Boyd told this masthead.

“The recommendation I give to people is to get on the front foot with this stuff. Missing a week is better than missing a month and missing pre-season is better than missing the season.

“Without knowing really anything about Jamarra’s case, this guy is not a star of the future. He kicked almost 50 goals last year, he is a current-day top 25 player in the league.

“The only thing I am sure the Bulldogs are hoping for, he is hoping for and everyone who supports him is that he is back playing amazing football. And has an incredible life attached to it, and that is certainly the position that I take.”

Tom Boyd will always be a Bulldogs hero. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Media

Ugle-Hagan bagged 43 goals last year. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Boyd, who gave up about $2 million by retiring midway through a lucrative contract, said if a player was not all-in on his job at AFL level, he had to ask himself a question about his future.

Ugle-Hagan signed a two-year contract in May that ties him to the Dogs until the end of 2026, with multiple rival clubs prepared to offer big money to lure the goalkicker out of the kennel.

He revealed after signing the deal that he struggled with the pressure of being out of contract and the speculation about his future.

“It gets to a point where in the industry of the AFL you need to be 150 per cent committed to every moment of every day being conducive to playing the best football possible,” Boyd said.

“The only thing to do, particularly in my situation being on a huge contract with several years to go, if you don’t think you can do that, the only right thing is to take a step back and consider whether you want to play long term. That’s what I did.”

Boyd is now a mental health advocate

Like Ugle-Hagan, Boyd was a key forward selected at No. 1 in the draft – by GWS – and expected to champion a forward line for a decade or more.

“If you are a No. 1 pick, the club has given up a huge amount of resources to you and in my case they expected me to play at the Giants forever, which obviously didn’t occur,” Boyd said.

“There is a certain amount of dissent that came with that. Then there is the ‘he should play really well from day one’ talk, which in most cases is unrealistic.”