Western Bulldogs forward Josh Schache has fallen down coach Luke Beveridge’s pecking order and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is on the way
Adelaide is likely to cost its prized draftee a shot at becoming the richest teenager football has seen by bidding the No.1 draft pick on Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who could keep Josh Schache on the outer at the Bulldogs.
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Adelaide is likely to cost its prized draftee a shot at becoming the richest teenager football has seen by bidding the No.1 draft pick on Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
The Western Bulldogs have priority access to Ugle-Hagan through their Next Generation Academy and would match the bid, forcing the Crows to pick again at No.2.
The Dogs will secure a 20 per cent discount on the points value of those picks, but having to match a bid at No.1 would still see them pay more than taking Ugle-Hagan at No.3.
NAB, the major sponsor of the AFL national draft, confirmed to News Corp it had recommitted to handing an extra $10,000 to this year’s No.1 pick.
The bank said it would be paid as cash shortly after the draft and would go to Ugle-Hagan should the Bulldogs match a bid at No.1.
It will be a difficult decision for the Crows to either bid on a player they would immediately lose or select a player they would actually keep.
But Adelaide’s policy under list boss Justin Reid and recruiter Hamish Ogilvie has always been to rigorously follow their draft order, even if it means they are bidding on rival players.
Adelaide has repeatedly bid on rival players, including North Melbourne’s Tarryn Thomas and GWS players Harry Himmelberg and Harry Perryman.
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Adelaide will not publicly confirm its talent order until the night of the draft, but recruiters are in agreement that Ugle-Hagan is the best player.
The Crows have been linked to talent including SANFL key ruckman/forward Riley Thilthorpe, who fits their needs as a replacement for former captain Taylor Walker.
This year’s No.1 draft pick could receive as much as $210,000 before a potential finals series next year.
Under the AFL Players’ Association’s Collective Bargaining Agreement the maximum earnings for top-20 draft picks will jump to $200,000.
They will pocket a base salary of $100,000, match payments of $4000 and can also receive a $12,000 bonus, plus NAB’s $10,000 for the No.1.
The AFL wants players to take a pay cut however the AFLPA is strongly resisting after this year’s $90 million sacrifice.
If the Crows bid on Ugle-Hagan their supporters could feel aggrieved at walking away from a wooden-spoon season without the player their club wanted, and their No.2 pick also wouldn’t be thrilled at missing out on the $10,000.
But if Ugle-Hagan quickly proves he was clearly the best in the draft the Crows will be able to counter that they at least bid on him and kept the Dogs honest.
The commercial cost of dropping from No.1 to No.2 would also be a consideration for some clubs, although more so for 17th-placed North Melbourne than the Crows.
Marketing teams enjoy selling hope to their fans after securing the best kid in the country.
Melbourne drew an extra 10,000 people to Queen’s Birthday in 2009 by unveiling No.1 pick Jack Watts in what was effectively a marketing ploy.
But that proved to be a hindrance for Watts and the pressure of being No.1 must be weighed up against the promotional value.
If Ugle-Hagan somehow slips past the Crows then the Kangaroos would bid.
Ugle-Hagan is a lightning-fast Indigenous tall likened to Lance Franklin and his pace will help him create mismatches on taller opponents, with most track-watchers believing he will play early next season.
The AFL’s draft will be held around December 7, with live bidding to again be held on the night.
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WILL THIS SIGNAL END OF SCHACHE AT DOGS?
- Sam Landsberger
For a second it sounded like Western Bulldogs football director Chris Grant was describing Nick Riewoldt.
“He’s a fantastic endurance runner,” Grant said.
“He’s got beautiful hands (and) he kicks the ball magnificently — both in field kicking and at goal.
“There’s no doubt athletically, and ability, and skill, and those types of things (he) has in spades.”
Instead, Grant was talking about Josh Schache, and the appraisal came on SEN pre-game radio in Round 6.
Schache had just been dropped after Jacob Weitering, the only player selected before him in the 2015 draft, kept the former Brisbane Lion to two disposals in Round 5.
Schache has not played since, and Grant provided a stunning insight as to why the Bulldogs had cooled on him.
“The physical nature of the game tests you out,” Grant said.
“He’s got to work through that ability to work off his opponent and be aggressive, both in the air and when he needs to be against his opponent.
“That’s the challenge for him.”
Schache is 23 with 68 goals from 56 matches. It would be understandable if Grant’s patience wore thin quicker than most, given the Daylesford boy booted 51 goals as a 17-year-old in his debut AFL season.
But Grant said in his day defenders were the “triers” — players with more heart than athleticism — whereas now that has flipped.
“They don’t give you a chance — so if you don’t take up the physical nature of the game it’s going to be pretty difficult,” he said.
Coach Luke Beveridge has gone all-in on the Aaron Naughton-Josh Bruce partnership, with the Dogs thrilled that Geelong’s defenders didn’t take a single intercept mark in their forward line in Round 15.
“We”ve been over the moon with the contest our bigger forwards have given us,” Beveridge said.
Schache is unquestionably talented. But after listening to Grant and Beveridge it is also clear where he stands in the selection queue.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan — the 194cm teenager with a habit of jumping on people’s heads in games — is about to jump into that queue when he is drafted by the Dogs.
“What Jamarra showed at training looked very impressive,” Naughton said from Ugle-Hagan’s stint over summer.
“He’s obviously super athletic and his leap and speed is something a lot of players aren’t gifted with.
“He’s someone that’s very professional, doing extras with craft and at such a young age he wasn’t embarrassed to ask questions of coaches.
“Hopefully we get him and then up forward it might be a pretty nice time.”
Recruiters reckon the Naughton-Ugle-Hagan partnership will be perfect for modern football.
“They’re two forwards who are mobile and come to the ball … it’s going to be fantastic,” one expert said.
“You can’t have a forward with a lack of mobility anymore, where if you don’t mark it you’re out of the game and you can’t put on defensive pressure.
“You want those hot balls, but when the ball hits the ground you’re back on to it.
“To have two of those with the way they attack the ball in the air, it means you just don’t get out-marked in your forward 50m.”
The Bulldogs give up 5.3 intercept marks on average in their forward 50m this season, ranked 15th, albeit by a narrow margin.
Perhaps when Ugle-Hagan and Naughton are firing it’ll be closer to clubhouse leader West Coast’s 4.1 in an area Beveridge rates.
Ugle-Hagan hasn’t played this year.
But even the way the mercurial left-footer read the flight of the ball at Paul Connors’ draft camp on the Mornington Peninsula recently dropped jaws.
Not so long ago it was Schache who was setting tongues wagging.
The likeable boy from Seymour is contracted until 2022 and still has plenty of time to prove himself by growing the aggressive streak that Grant has asked for.
Things can change quickly in football.
In 2017, minutes after Schache became a Bulldog, Grant was asked whether Tom Boyd and he could coexist.
“We see a great combination between both those players, but also ‘Roughy’ (Jordan Roughead) in the ruck, so we’re really well placed,” Grant said.
Boyd has retired, Roughead is playing full-back for Collingwood and Schache is playing scratch matches because Bruce and key defender Naughton arrived ... and Ugle-Hagan is on the way.
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