Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s X-rated Instagram swipe at Nick Riewoldt after criticism

Troubled AFL star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has hit back at one of his strongest critics, posting an infamous pic from a footy scandal.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has taken a savage swipe at Nick Riewoldt, changing his profile picture on Instagram to an X-rated photo of the St Kilda great.

Ugle-Hagan was this week placed on indefinite leave from the Western Bulldogs as the troubled forward continues to deal with personal issues.

FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every AFL match this Saturday LIVE. Catch all the action in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

Riewoldt has been strong in his criticism of the Ugle-Hagan situation, saying the Bulldogs should look to the future without the former No. 1 pick, especially in light of his social media activity.

“There can be real reasons, legitimate reasons (for a player to take personal leave), but when you’re behaving the way that Jamarra is, you forfeit all rights (to protection),’’ Riewoldt said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

“This is the issue, there is no mechanism for clubs to be protected (for a player taking the mickey).

“Not just the clubs but the players, you’re teammates who are actually fronting up day after day and doing the work for the cause, and you’ve got a teammate that is not buying in and is still taking five or six, seven per cent of the salary cap with no recourse from the football club.

“I hope whoever the new AFLPA CEO is doesn’t just fight for the one per cent, they actually fight for the majority that do the work. (They are) fighting for the wrong side — fight for the players that do the work and not the ones that take the piss.”

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Nick Riewoldt.

On Thursday night Ugle-Hagan shared photos of an appearance he was doing at an Acai shop in Melbourne.

He didn’t seem to take kindly to Riewoldt’s criticism, changing his Instagram profile picture to an X-rated photo of Riewoldt from 2020 when the Saints great was embroiled in the nude ‘St Kilda schoolgirl’ photo scandal.

Nine footy reporter Tom Morris said on Thursday: “At most this is just another example of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s public life unravelling.

“At the very least it’s just another example of the misuse of social media — something the Western Bulldogs have been very critical of for the best part of five or six months.

“The Dogs and his manager have been at him to stay off social media because this is part of the problem.

“Really what Nick Riewoldt said is more supportive of the Dogs than criticial of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.”

Morris said the AFL “have their eyes on this and there’s no doubt everything that happens to Jamarra like this will only work against him in the long run”.

“It’s a really difficult, delicate and unfortunate situation.”

Nick Riewoldt has been strong in his criticism. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/Getty Images)

After Ugle-Hagan was placed on indefinite leave, Riewoldt said the saga was proof the “balance of power has moved too far in the player’s favour,” particularly when clubs are unable to address speculation around mental health sensitivities.

“I’m big on this; I think the balance of power has moved too far in the player’s favour and you end up with a situation like this,” Riewoldt told Triple M’s Mick in the Morning.

“It is difficult to talk about because there is mental health at play here, but clubs should have some sort of discretion to be able to recoup some of that money.

“It feels like players can essentially take the piss. There are all types of rumours and innuendo out there as to whether he is tanking – and we don’t need to get into all the various (rumoured) situations – but it’s hard to see him playing footy again for the Dogs this year.”

Co-host Mick Molloy added: “The crazy thing is everyone knows what the issue is here, but no one is allowed to talk about it. People are afraid to have an opinion on it because mental health is involved.”

Ugle-Hagan will continue to earn $800,000-900,000 this season but it appears likely he has played his last game for the Bulldogs and will be traded to another club at season’s end.

The 23-year-old has been training by himself instead of at the club and his decision not to attend a club training session while the team travelled to Gather Round in Adelaide has been described as the final straw for the Bulldogs.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has been placed on indefinite leave. Picture: Michael Klein

“I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when the group went to Adelaide for Gather Round,” Riewoldt said.

“He had been training for a couple of weeks prior to that - there was a compulsory session for the players that didn’t go on the Saturday morning, he didn’t show up for it.

“The frustration for the Bulldogs was that he was showing up for training for a week, and then not show up.

“They had no real line of sight on when he was going to come; it was basically just lucky dip. That’s distracting.”

The Bulldogs said this week Ugle-Hagan’s leave of absence management plan had been developed by him, his family, manager and the AFL.

“Jamarra’s health and wellbeing remains the absolute priority and he will be given whatever time he needs,” Bulldogs football manager Sam Power said.

“We will continue to support Jamarra throughout this period.”

Originally published as Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s X-rated Instagram swipe at Nick Riewoldt after criticism