The real reasons No. 1 pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is yet to debut for the Western Bulldogs
The football world can’t wait to see Jamarra Ugle-Hagan. But so far the Dogs have given nothing away on his debut. Why are they waiting?
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Watch every single one of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s VFL possessions and the highlights-reel stuff screams of Lance Franklin.
Gathering the ball tight on the boundary then spinning to hit up Cody Weightman with a darting kick of precision and poise.
Bounding onto a loose ball at half forward to sink onto his left foot before thumping the ball through from well outside the 50m arc.
As Luke Beveridge got into a testy argument with journalist Ronny Lerner on Friday night about his potential debut, it was clear the Dogs are sick of the relentless questions.
Why hasn’t he debuted yet?
Why wouldn’t the No. 1 pick be playing AFL seven rounds in?
The issue is watching every possession so far isn’t a marathon task.
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Even after a loss Beveridge should know better – you get the No. 1 overall pick and you absolutely must answer a question on him every time you are in front of the cameras.
But the Dogs are entirely justified in making Ugle-Hagan work for his debut.
He isn’t playing yet because of form, because of the Dogs’ determination to knock off his rough edges, because of his fitness, his defensive attributes and because the bottom line is this.
The Dogs have three key forwards ahead of him, with Josh Schache’s modest display in place of Tim English surely drawing him closer to an AFL debut.
Ugle-Hagan is averaging just 10 possessions per VFL game and has taken only eight marks in his three contests, rated below average in the VFL.
From those 10 possessions he is averaging six score involvements, which is off-the-charts stuff.
But his five-goal game against GWS, his most encouraging performance to date, included a Joe-the-Goose he soccered through from point-blank range and a goalsquare collect and goal that fell in his lap.
None of it is to suggest he won’t be the player the Dogs hoped for, but Beveridge doesn’t have to get cranky about the Friday night emergency, he just has to keep stating the facts.
Against the Northern Bullants in a 10-touch, one-goal outing this weekend, the bloke coaching against him knew a bit about the expectation he faced.
Former No. 1 overall pick Josh Fraser played exactly 200 of his 218 games for Collingwood – including 21 in his first season – but believes Beveridge is setting up his pupil to succeed.
“We put Benny Silvagni on him at the weekend which shows the high level of respect for him already. Benny did a terrific job. I think what he is experiencing is some growing pains early on in his career but the luxury he has, which will be a real benefit to him, is he can have those pains at VFL level and not being thrust onto the AFL stage straight away,” he said.
“The way Luke is managing him is perfect for his career.
“He is extremely athletic, he is clean with the ball, and I am not completely across his leading patterns with what the Dogs want him to do, but he has the capacity to move up the ground and meet the footy and then work back to the goalsquare. Everyone gets excited about goals but I am sure the Dogs are working on all parts of his game.”
Beveridge was pointed on Friday night about that aspect of Ugle-Hagan’s defence, saying every player needed to buy into the off-ball set-up when they played for the Dogs.
Fraser seemingly hit the scene fully formed, an assured media performer and balanced individual who still admits there are times he regrets the No. 1 tag.
“Yeah, there were times, to be honest. I probably wish I had a slightly different introduction to the AFL and spent more time at VFL level. So I could develop other parts of my game, but I understand why I was given the opportunity as early as I was.
“To be brutally honest there are a lot of things I would have loved to have done differently in my career. There was a lot of pressure, no doubt about that. I couldn’t put my hand up and say I handled it all that well in different stages of my career.”
Ugle Hagan has spark and spunk and some football arrogance.
He has been in a relationship with Brendan Fevola’s daughter Mia for around 10 months, with the ex-Blues star firing back about trolls and critics of the relationship in March.
“He’s a great kid, she’s a great girl, she’s smart, she’s got her own business, she studies, she’s got a degree … she can do what she wants. It just pisses me off that people can write that and say vile things online about any girl, not just Mia.”
Ugle-Hagan strolled to the front of a nightclub queue over summer and was noted demanding entry with the famous old line but was quickly put back in his box.
There is no doubt he arrived with the heady confidence of junior stardom.
But Dogs insiders report he has not rocked the boat, has worked hard on his weaknesses, has never shirked an issue.
Skipper and former No. 4 draft pick Marcus Bontempelli said on Tuesday he chatted regularly to the first-year player about his status, aware it was “tough” on him given his determination to make an impact.
“He came in with a bit of a rush and wanted to display a bit of an influence early, but sometimes it just doesn’t go to plan,” he said.
“Sometimes they’re good lessons to learn early in your career because they do help you as you progress, going through those challenging experiences.
“There’s no doubt he’ll be better for it as a player.”
Ugle-Hagan just isn’t quite ready. And he is playing at the first club to take a No. 1 overall pick while in contention since Des Headland was taken by Brisbane in the 1998 national draft.
The Lions played finals in 1997, had a five-win stinker in 1998, took Headland and then marched to a preliminary final the next year as he played three games in his debut season.
So given the unique circumstances, Ugle-Hagan will bide his time until injury or form means Beveridge has to pick him.
Round 11 is part of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round, and the Dogs take on Melbourne on a Friday night in the battle of two emerging powerhouses.
The Dogs surely won’t parade him like fellow No. 1 pick Jack Watts on Queens Birthday.
And yet there would be no better stage if he is truly ready for a player with some of the skill and all the showmanship of Lance Franklin before him.
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