What Western Bulldogs are trying to do to get Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to return to AFL
The Western Bulldogs are looking for a ‘light bulb moment’ for star youngster Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to get him back to footy. But, Jon Ralph writes nothing they’ve tried has stuck.
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The Western Bulldogs will continue to search for a light bulb moment for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan that sees him change his behaviour amid concerns over his AFL future.
The Dogs are despairing at the lack of improvement in Ugle-Hagan, who is battling a range of mental health and behavioural issues.
The club is open to anything that might trigger a response, including him stepping away from the club indefinitely to work full time on these issues.
The AFLPA rules surrounding contracts mean Ugle-Hagan has protection on his 2025 salary of at least $800,000, which continues to be paid.
But the Dogs are open to a conversation with the AFLPA about whether he continues to receive that full salary, if only because a change in his financial circumstances might force him into some kind of profound change.
Ugle-Hagan has been at the club training in some capacity at times in recent weeks but his attendance has been sporadic.
It has now been six months since the start of the pre-season where the club and AFL’s welfare and health professionals have attempted to help him work on his behavioural issues.
The Dogs are hopeful if he can minimise some of his behavioural issues he might be able to get to the root of the concerns which have seen him unprepared to train with his teammates regularly since the start of the pre-season.
But he has not yet escalated his response in a manner which might see him fully commit to changing his behaviour.
The Dogs and AFL continue to be concerned about his range of acquaintances and lack of commitment to being an AFL footballer as they take his mental health concerns seriously.
The lack of any meaningful progress means that some close to him fear the 23-year-old is not interested in the lifestyle and sacrifices of being an AFL footballer.
Reports across the weekend were that most Victorian clubs were uninterested in a trade for Ugle-Hagan given the risk in recruiting the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Dogs and AFL have at times attempted to enlist Indigenous AFL legends including Eddie Betts and Lance Franklin in an attempt to get through to Ugle-Hagan.
So far nothing has seen a change of behaviour in what is a largely unprecedented situation for a player of his stature to refuse to commit to training and not show any motivation to play AFL football.
Ugle-Hagan has found it hard to reduce his social media interactions, which have painted him in a particularly poor light.
Coach Luke Beveridge made clear after the injury to Sam Darcy that the club was not in a position to consider Ugle-Hagan.
The club had been buoyed by his involvement in training soon after the Indigenous All Stars game as he returned to regular sessions but since then his involvement has dropped off.
As the club looks forward to round seven it would now take months for him to get AFL-fit before a return to the club’s VFL side.
“That’s obviously not going to happen in the immediate term so it’s probably not worth discussing at the moment,” Beveridge said of Ugle-Hagan’s involvement.
“As far as any replacements go, we really can’t consider ‘Marra’.”
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