Now is the moment Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has to show he’s committed to returning to the AFL

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan should be lauded for booking into a health facility. But now the penny has to drop for the young star – like it did for Jesse Hogan and Tyson Stengle – or his career could slip away.

This is the point in time where the penny hopefully drops for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

The Western Bulldogs’ forward over the next few weeks and months will make the crucial decisions about whether he will do the work required to turn his life around and revive his career.

He can be thankful he has had the great support of his management, his club, and the league, whose patience has been sorely tested since his training attendance began to wane over summer.

But this is the bit where it is up to him, now.

If he doesn’t commit to his management plan at the health retreat for the period required, the $800,000 a year career will go down the drain and his talent will be unfulfilled at the top level.

No AFL club in the country will touch Ugle-Hagan for next season or beyond if they don’t see his full commitment towards a personal recovery over the middle part of this year.

His decision to head to the health facility up north should be lauded, because it is the biggest sign yet in 2025 he is truly ready to address some of his most challenging issues.

And by next year, there is scope to write one remarkable comeback story, most likely at another club next season.

His trade value is anyone’s guess, but at this stage the Dogs might do well to get much at all in the middle rounds of the draft, even if everything goes well at the facility.

Clearly, those who have tried to guide him in recent months have been frustrated at times he didn’t arrive at the club when he could have for training and instead posted pictures of his gym work outs and social life on social media.

The club tried to manage it as best it could until the flexible training program became unworkable and a distraction and his teammates’ desire to make it work became strained.

But these sorts of genuine redemption tales do exist in the AFL, such as GWS Giants’ forward Jesse Hogan and Geelong jet Tyson Stengle, who are both at their third clubs after some personal issues and difficulties earlier in their careers.

Jesse Hogan. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images.

Tyson Stengle. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images.

For them also, the door looked shut at times.

But Stengle last year clinched a $700,000 a year deal after staving off interest from St Kilda and Hogan is the toast of the game after cementing his reputation as the number one spearhead in the AFL with a seven-goal haul against Geelong, the first of its kind against the Cast since 2013.

But it was because of the faith of his manager Matt Bain and the foresight of football manager Jason McCartney at the Giants, that the deal was complete to start a third chapter at GWS with no guarantees.

They never gave up and neither did Hogan when just about everyone else had written him off.

And look at him fly now.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan at training in February. Picture: Michael Klein

Their circumstances were different, but their comebacks can both be sweet.

Remember, Ugle-Hagan lifted his top and pointed to the colour of his skin in 2023 in one of the most powerful moments of recent years as part of a five-goal bag which followed some hurtful racism.

His life to this point hasn’t been always easy, but he still has the chance, with the great support of the people around him, to do something special in our game.

It may not be at the Dogs, and the fresh change could help stimulate a renewed approach to his football like Hogan and Stengle in different jumpers.

At 23, Ugle-Hagan is still young in his football journey.

But if the forward can knuckle down and overcome some of these toughest times, there is another chapter to write in his football journey.