No.1 pick? Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s Lance Franklin comparisons, miracle trick shots and his lucky Fiji trip
He’s already been touted as the next Buddy Franklin and clubs are clamouring over each other to take him No.1 in the AFL draft. So what did Jamarra Ugle-Hagan get up to in his week living with Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli?
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He’s been labelled the next Lance Franklin.
A similar-sized Indigenous boy with special talents, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has long looked up to the goalkicking Sydney superstar.
But this year’s likely No. 1 draft pick might turn out to be very different player.
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As good as the 18-year-old is as a key forward – highlighted by kicking 9.4 in a game for Scotch College last year – Ugle-Hagan has his sights sets on becoming an AFL midfielder.
“As a tall, people don’t expect me to be able to be capable of developing as a midfielder but I think that’s where I stand out most because I’m 196cm,” Ugle-Hagan told the Herald Sun.
“I just find it more fun and that’s where I wanted to get, into the midfield this year.”
Some pre-season practice matches for NAB League side Oakleigh Chargers have been the only competitive hit-outs Ugle-Hagan has had this year.
But the training has not stopped.
With on-site schooling at Scotch College off limits during Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown, Ugle-Hagan has returned to the family home just outside of Warrnambool.
Five days a week when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, he wakes up his father Aaron and the pair head to a local boxing gym.
“We go to the gym and do the same program. He pushes me and we do boxing with one of my family friends as well,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“It’s been the longest pre-season ever, since last Christmas.”
The sessions have had the desired effect.
Since weigh ins at the start of the year, Ugle-Hagan has added more than 10kg to his frame.
“I was 84kg,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“Now I’m in the 94kg, 95kg range. That’s what I needed to do, build up my body.”
ALL-ROUND ATHLETE
In 2017, Ugle-Hagan had a choice to make.
He had been playing representative basketball for the Warrnambool Seahawks and was selected to play for Vic Country’s under-16 basketball team at national championships in Perth.
Ugle-Hagan also found himself picked for the AFL Flying Boomerangs team that year, which not only meant games in Queensland but also a tour of Fiji.
The problem was, the two competitions were being held in the same week in July.
“I had to pick Perth or Fiji, so I picked Fiji and footy,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“I don’t like to pump my tyres up but I was fortunate enough to receive the best on ground and the game ball in the last game we played in Queensland.”
The wide-ranging sporting talents don’t end there.
Back at Warrnambool College, Ugle-Hagan enjoyed taking part in any event he could on athletics day.
When he got to Scotch College, he quickly discovered he was quite the high jump ace during under-17s competition.
“I’d never worn spikes before or I never had a coach for high jump. I normally just jump the stick,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“The first year I jumped 195cm and I was only 194cm (tall) back then, too. I was surprised as well.”
LIVING WITH BONT
Ugle-Hagan had just finished surfing with friends at Anglesea last summer when he grabbed his phone from the car and had a text message from an unknown number.
It was from Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli.
Part of the AFL Academy as well as a member of the Western Bulldogs’ Next Generation Academy, Ugle-Hagan was given the opportunity to train with the Bulldogs during pre-season.
Part of package was an invite to live with Bontempelli for the first week and fellow midfielder Josh Dunkley for the second week.
“I mainly stayed under his (Bontempelli’s) wing for the first week but when I got into the club you feel comfortable talking to all of them because they have a real good culture,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“With Bont, Nike feed him with shoes and we ended up being the same size in runners and boots. So he gave me a bag full of shoes to go home with. I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to them.”
While that was Ugle-Hagan’s first opportunity to train with the Bulldogs’ senior players, his involvement at the club goes back some time.
In 2017, the Bulldogs would visit Ugle-Hagan at Scotch College regularly to help improve his game.
“They had three staff come out to look after me and make me become a better player and work on my fundamentals,” he said.
“They did that for a year and a half and then slowly crept away once NAB League started coming up. So I was pretty fortunate for them to come out.”
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BEING LIKE BUDDY
Ugle-Hagan grew up an Essendon supporter, but Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin has always been his idol.
That makes the comparisons to Franklin all the more enjoyable.
“It’s a special thing to get that comparison, but at the end of the day we are different people but both had the same dream,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“That’s the best thing, because that’s who I wanted to be and that’s what I wanted to achieve. He’s my hero and he’s setting records for me to hopefully chase down.”
While Ugle-Hagan wants to make his own name in the AFL and plans to be a different player, he does want to be like Franklin one way – as a role model for Indigenous youth.
“I was thinking of becoming an Indigenous mentor to help younger Indigenous boys to get the opportunity I had and get that scholarship to break that chain,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“That’s why I want to play footy, because it’s also going to make other younger boys understand that there’s a way out. You’ve just got to keep knocking on doors.”
THE MIRACLE TRICK SHOT
Ugle-Hagan was on his way to soccer practice at Scotch College earlier this year when he had an idea.
From a bridge near his boarding room there was a distant view of a basketball court.
Ugle-Hagan wondered whether he could kick a football from the bridge and get it through the basketball hoop.
“I grabbed a footy out and said, ‘I want to try and get this in before I leave’,” he said.
The first kick went close.
Another bounced on the court and then went through the hoop.
It was not too long before one went in, caught on camera by a mate.
“It took under 15 goes. It was pretty quick,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“Now that I think of it, it was a bloody tough shot.”
If that kick is a sign of things to come, the AFL had better watch out.