The Jamarra Thread

[Doggy]

Still posting photos on his socials about his public appearances.

He just doesn’t appear to get it.

Thats hardly bad

 

[Golden_6]

I haven't seen much in any of this that indicates he actually wants to play footy anywhere?

There is a video from last year with Naughton where Jamarra states he doesn’t watch a single minute of AFL footy and barely knows players on the other team.

If he has no love for AFL and wants to walk away then that’s okay and I think people would respect that. What you can’t do is expect to take the full salary and also not play at the same time.

 

[maddog37]

Waiting for Jamarra to reengage.

To me that sounds like he has totally checked out and it’s done.

 

[grassman75]

I'd think Beveridge was too old to be playing

Would still put in more effort than JUH

 

[flyingfishdang]

Still posting photos on his socials about his public appearances.

He just doesn’t appear to get it.

Has also changed his profile pic. Was previously him in a dogs jumper… not anymore

 

[Dogs Rule]

This is a player running down his value. If he wants to play again or get traded the AFL should step in and determine his worth as if he was a free agent. Is he a better player that Battle? Yes. Battle got the Saints a Pick 8, we deserve a pick in the top 10 and maybe another higher pick.

Can't continue allowing other clubs to determine worth and managers to Bailey Smith their players out of a club.

It's crap, but I'm done.

 

[Mofra]

It seems right now he wants the lifestyle, not the life.

 

[Unorth]

He’s definitely running down his value to more easily get where he wants to go, seeing as though he’s not out of contract like his mate Bailey Smith was. It is possible he has a lucrative contract in front of him that he wants to jump on in 2026.

If the relationship is as cooked as it sounds we should just tell him to stay away completely - which I think we may have already. No point rocking up to training once every couple of weeks. Arrange some kind of private fitness regime so he doesn’t turn into a slob and further damage his value.

Tell him if we don’t find a suitable trade he will be on our list for 2026 and it’s up to him if he wants to sit out the game for 2 seasons. This I don’t think we will do - we will get reamed in a trade for a contracted talent because we don’t want him around.

Perfect world I would have wanted to keep him but that ship has long since sailed. So now it’s about what we do with this rather tricky asset. It may require AFL intervention in some way.

We also need a bit of introspection within the club as to why we keep on getting embroiled in messy shit with our own players.

 

[Hobdog]

Pretty intriguing and frustrating situation this. Lots of conjecture. I wonder if this started off as relationship break up and family issues situation, which then escalated a bit requiring the club to intervene. That then changed the complexion of the situation again with JUH and club developing issues on the back of him not meeting expectations. Just a classic snowball situation that has gotten out of hand. Maybe even throw in the B Smith mentality of: ‘hang on, you’re the Bulldogs, you should be grateful to have me, not the other way around’.

 

[lachy]

It would be equally negligent not to consider whether there is something wrong with our psychological profiling of and due diligence on draft choices in the recruitment department.

It's possible it was always going to end this way with both Smith and JUH, regardless of who selected them on draft night.

In my view, that's the bit we should be having a close look at.

I agree. Though empirical evidence given the low number of players involved does not necessarily show there is something wrong with our profiling we do need to look at how we can improve,

Speaking to someone who was involved with Smith from when he arrived at the club to when he left, they noted a significant change in his attitude. Whether that was due to environment, close relationships with the wrong people including internally or other we also do no know.

From the outside looking in we appear to be over supportive at times, however that is mere speculation in my part

 

[BEaston]

Each AFL club is responsible for paying the wages of its players, with the total amount they can spend governed by the salary cap.

Why are you saying the AFL pay? Do you mean indirectly through the AFL club distributions?

He's right. The AFL pay the wages of players, not clubs.

 

[The White Mouse]

I agree. Though empirical evidence given the low number of players involved does not necessarily show there is something wrong with our profiling we do need to look at how we can improve,

Speaking to someone who was involved with Smith from when he arrived at the club to when he left, they noted a significant change in his attitude. Whether that was due to environment, close relationships with the wrong people including internally or other we also do no know.

From the outside looking in we appear to be over supportive at times, however that is mere speculation in my part

The unfortunate part is that the low number of players involved are at the very top end of their respective drafts and thus very expensive.

Two in such a short space of time is .... annoying. Yes annoying will do. We'll get over it but it would be a pity not to learn all we can from it to avoid a 3rd time at that end of the draft.

 

[Dogs 13]

There is a video from last year with Naughton where Jamarra states he doesn’t watch a single minute of AFL footy and barely knows players on the other team.

If he has no love for AFL and wants to walk away then that’s okay and I think people would respect that. What you can’t do is expect to take the full salary and also not play at the same time.

How can an athlete not scout their upcoming opponents, not know their strengths and weaknesses.
Total lack of preparation. I bet Marra wasn’t a fan of homework either, then again who is, but it needed to be done.

All this just feels straight out of the Connors’ playbook to me.
So orchestrated.

 

[Golden_6]

How can an athlete not scout their upcoming opponents, not know their strengths and weaknesses.
Total lack of preparation. I bet Marra wasn’t a fan of homework either, then again who is, but it needed to be done.

All this just feels straight out of the Connors’ playbook to me.
So orchestrated.

That would be the dumbest playbook of all time then.

Plenty of clubs would line up to take Jamarra on the dirt cheap but they certainly aren't handing him a long term deal on $1 million+ a season.

 

[Doggy]

I did say Warner was going to stay at Shitney for 2 years.... and he is.

No Warner picks for JUH

 

[Bulldogs85]

 

[Norm De Guerre]

There is a video from last year with Naughton where Jamarra states he doesn’t watch a single minute of AFL footy and barely knows players on the other team.

If he has no love for AFL and wants to walk away then that’s okay and I think people would respect that. What you can’t do is expect to take the full salary and also not play at the same time.

My reading of the situation is that he's a guy who has coasted by on his elite skillset and thinks thats enough to carry him for the rest of his career. The professional demands that the club places upon him run counter to this and how he's lived his life and he's currently rebelling against that authority safe in the knowledge that he can just pick up and leave for lucrative pastures anew.

The AFL is a forgiving space for such mercurial talent and even allows in some cases for them to have an extended career across multiple clubs built on the shaky foundations of promise. Without them having to deliver much of anything in return.

As an (way, way ) aside...

Given Im not some kind of weirdo. I dont follow him or any other player on social media. But I don't think its a coincidence that from what I understand, all of the women he has been publicly attached too seem to have the nebulous career of being 'social media influencers'. Not exactly a vocation that contributes much to society, but its one can be quite lucrative without having to do anything like the amount of work that being a professional athlete requires.

Perhaps one of those vacuous empty heads has taken over a Svengali like role as his chief adviser.

You know it makes as much sense as anything else floating about.

 

[adogsfan5]

I did say Warner was going to stay at Shitney for 2 years.... and he is.

No Warner picks for JUH

Gut feel is it’ll be the lions to be honest.

 

[Dogs 13]

That would be the dumbest playbook of all time then.

Plenty of clubs would line up to take Jamarra on the dirt cheap but they certainly aren't handing him a long term deal on $1 million+ a season.

There’s probably a deal already in train.

 

[adogsfan5]

He’s getting no love from the media.

Which is nice, as i really thought the media would be smashing the club but they are actually backing the club.

 

[hutchy31]

I know it’s different scenarios and maybe a long bow to draw in looking at the club rather than the player, but some will say once is unfortunate, twice is careless and three times is a pattern.

Even if we ignore Stringer (which I would), and the situations aren’t the same, we still have potentially losing Dunkley, Smith and JUH in pretty close proximity. That’s a lot of draft capital and/or players coming into their prime walking out the door for nothing like the right level of value.

Personally though, my guess is this is more on the players than the club. Dunkley wanted out for his own reasons, Smith was undoubtedly encouraged out for commercial (and possibly some football) reasons, and this seems like a player that is just going off the rails. Add in the media wanting to move big players to big clubs, and player management trying to do the same to maximise their cut of endorsement dollars, and it’s a difficult place for the dogs, saints, north etc to operate in.

He might be great elsewhere if he sorts his shit out, and that would be galling to watch. But it’s not like Dunkley and Smith leaving where it was a concerning gap in the engine room part of the list. Naughton and Darcy (and possibly Croft) should be up there for the next decade or so, and having $4m or so tied up in the cap for just KPFs would have been challenging anyway.

I hope he gets himself sorted out, but if he leaves I’m not too concerned from a list perspective. May even have removed the need for a difficult decision. That we get significantly reduced value back is shitty, but I won’t lose much sleep over it. Feels like the club is dealing with it well, as long as they do their due diligence on whether there is an issue with our primary young players committing to the club long term.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

I know it’s different scenarios and maybe a long bow to draw in looking at the club rather than the player, but some will say once is unfortunate, twice is careless and three times is a pattern.

Even if we ignore Stringer (which I would), and the situations aren’t the same, we still have potentially losing Dunkley, Smith and JUH in pretty close proximity. That’s a lot of draft capital and/or players coming into their prime walking out the door for nothing like the right level of value.

Personally though, my guess is this is more on the players than the club. Dunkley wanted out for his own reasons, Smith was undoubtedly encouraged out for commercial (and possibly some football) reasons, and this seems like a player that is just going off the rails. Add in the media wanting to move big players to big clubs, and player management trying to do the same to maximise their cut of endorsement dollars, and it’s a difficult place for the dogs, saints, north etc to operate in.

He might be great elsewhere if he sorts his shit out, and that would be galling to watch. But it’s not like Dunkley and Smith leaving where it was a concerning gap in the engine room part of the list. Naughton and Darcy (and possibly Croft) should be up there for the next decade or so, and having $4m or so tied up in the cap for just KPFs would have been challenging anyway.

I hope he gets himself sorted out, but if he leaves I’m not too concerned from a list perspective. May even have removed the need for a difficult decision. That we get significantly reduced value back is shitty, but I won’t lose much sleep over it. Feels like the club is dealing with it well, as long as they do their due diligence on whether there is an issue with our primary young players committing to the club long term.

I think Dunkley is quite a unique one too. He has a dad with a particular axe to grind. Josh has been told there is no loyalty in footy and to go where you can get paid the most. If it was just going to the Lions then you could come up with a counter-argument, but the fact he wanted to go to the bombers says it all for me.

 

[Bulldogs85]

 

[TiAn_]

Him and his management are 100% getting him out as quickly and cheaply as possible. All this just affects his trade value, not the contract he’s going to get. That’s the reality. It worked with Smith, who took off for most of 2024, travelled and worked out away from the club, then was traded for half his value, why wouldn’t it work with Jamarra? Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[adogsfan5]

Him and his management are 100% getting him out as cheaply as possible. All this just affects his trade value, not the contract he’s going to get. That’s the reality. It worked with Smith, who took off for most of 2024, travelled and worked out away from the club, why wouldn’t it work with Jamarra? Wash, rinse, repeat.

If anything, it’ll be a blight on Connor management. Clubs will just stay away from them if that’s how they want to operate.