The Jamarra Thread

[Proper Gander]

Found a few of his comments in this pod interesting, especially the part where he says he never watches footy. Like, i realise not all players are footy heads but it seems he doesn't even like the game. Hes just good at it.

This seems more common than I would have thought though, and doesn’t always equate to not being a competitive player.

I remember Max Gawn telling a funny story in his podcast after a game against Carlton in 2021. In match planning there was some discussion about how to approach playing on an in-form Sam Walsh. Jack Viney had to ask who he was. That’s the VC “Mr Football” guy for Melbourne. Watches no footy at all. Gawn reckoned he probably thought Chris Judd was still running around for Carlton.

The JUH situation feels like a really common off-the-rails phase that happens to vast numbers of people at one time or other. Statistics come up with pretty incredible “one in five” type numbers of people who experience mental illness of some description in their lives, often quite well masked, so it seems unsurprising that these situations occur. It just becomes harder to understand or tolerate when large paycheques are involved and social media manages to paint a partial and unregulated narrative.

 

[Anja_Nees]

View attachment 2292000
Found this quite funny from the Midweek Tackle. What a shame that we missed out on so many bonafide stars of the competition!

Yeah we accumulated those picks specifically for the purpose of taking Jamarra. We were never going to use them all.

As I’ve posted elsewhere, we’ve since brought in Davidson and O’Donnell in that age range and selected McNeil in 2020 as well. We took Darcy, Artie Jones and Cleary the next year.

Jones doesn’t look flash but the others are all looking very good. There’s no gap in the list because of Jamarra.

If another club takes him during the period of his contract then we should get a compo pick or a trade but beyond that I’m not fussed. Win some lose some and we’ll get cap room back.

 

[Sentinel]

It’s become an absolute mess. Port are trying to add the kid who looks like the #1 pick into their academy as a 17 year old.

The AFL have really ****ed this academy stuff up.

Part of the issue here is how they handled Sanders, who was added to the North NGA literally 1 month before the draft, at the time when bids werent allowed before pick 40. North only wanted him on it because at the same time they were campaigning for pre-draft access to their NGAs as part of their assistance package.

The AFL granted the former but not the latter, but at the same time set a precedent that players can be added to an NGA at any point up until they get drafted which obviously goes against the intention of the program. So dumb.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Simple - Marra stop hanging around with gronks

In reckon when he’s gone the first thing they will do with every set of new draftees at the club is put up a bunch of slides of Jamarra’s nights out with his mates and tell them “this is the fastest way out of the AFL system”.

 

[Dale4captain]

Part of the issue here is how they handled Sanders, who was added to the North NGA literally 1 month before the draft, at the time when bids werent allowed before pick 40. North only wanted him on it because at the same time they were campaigning for pre-draft access to their NGAs as part of their assistance package.

The AFL granted the former but not the latter, but at the same time set a precedent that players can be added to an NGA at any point up until they get drafted which obviously goes against the intention of the program. So dumb.

Just needs to be a time spent in program stipulation. They need to be a 3 year academy participant or similar for them to be preferentially draft eligible to that club. Then have it so that at the end of the draft if they haven’t been picked up yet and they’re ’signed on’ to your academy, regardless of time spent in the program, you can have priority access to them in the rookie draft.

That way if other clubs see them as an actual national draft prospect and you’re simply trying to **** the rules and get ahead by making them last minute eligible then it doesn’t work.

 

[cleveland]

Have also heard Juh has shacked up with Warnys youngest daughter who herself is off the rails.

 

[Bulldog Brent]

Have also heard Juh has shacked up with Warnys youngest daughter who herself is off the rails.

Could explain why he’s in Brighton having coffee.

 

[bresker]

"Shane Warne's daughter" enters proceddings, an unexpected and unwelcome addition to the saga. He's trying to find every avenue to break our hearts.

 

[Mojorisin]

Just needs to be a time spent in program stipulation. They need to be a 3 year academy participant or similar for them to be preferentially draft eligible to that club. Then have it so that at the end of the draft if they haven’t been picked up yet and they’re ’signed on’ to your academy, regardless of time spent in the program, you can have priority access to them in the rookie draft.

That way if other clubs see them as an actual national draft prospect and you’re simply trying to **** the rules and get ahead by making them last minute eligible then it doesn’t work.

On top of this I'd like players to only be eligible to the club past their draft year if they have been in your VFL or equivalent program and able to be signed as a Cat B rookie, completly removing a timeframe from the equation. For example if khamis went undrafted we could pick him up in his 19th year only if he had spent the year tied to Footscray, similarly if a player graduated from our NGA and didn't get picked up before spending his next few years at Footscray he should also be eligible as a Cat B. If a player from an NGA plays anywhere other then the club he is tied to he should be available to any club as a Cat B rookie after his draft year.

The attention needs to be put to those on the fringes not the players who were set to be first round picks regardless or players already in other academies.

 

[VitalDread]

D-Day for Marra and Dogs happening soon

 

[dogwatch]

If you wanna see how poorly run the AFL can be then look no further than academies.

We get Jamarrah, so they change it that if the player gets a bid in the top 40 the club can’t match. The next year Melbourne lose Mac Andrew who goes a top 5 pick. Then all of the sudden Kako is on essendon’s radar so they have a sook and the rules get changed back. So Melbourne lost Mac Andrew for literally no reason. Now you’ve got Port trying to add a 17 year old who is dominating against men in the sanfl, who had a dad who played AFL, to their academy.

You’ve got northern academies that are meant to “grow the game in the northern states” having access to the sons on 300 game AFL players in Luke Hodge and John Blakey. Kids who have been playing for Sandringham or Oakleigh and boarding at top football schools since they were 15. Some of these kids have a footy in their hand before they can talk.

The whole thing is a joke for all clubs.

Great summary. An indictment of an incompetent and complacent administration.

For all the money that flows through the joint you’d hope they could at least get the competence bit right.

 

[Pencil case]

Western Bulldogs’ coach Luke Beveridge says Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s future at the Dogs will “probably come to a head” if he remains absent from the club.

The senior coach wants to speak with the star spearhead again following his next meeting with league and club and officials in the faint hope he can help reignite Ugle-Hagan’s AFL career.

The 2020 No.1 draft pick is at football’s crossroads amid serious concerns about his off-field lifestyle and some erratic behaviour which dates as far back as 18 months ago.

Ugle-Hagan, 23, has not attended Bulldogs’ training over the past three weeks and will almost certainly be moved on from the club at season’s end if he does not meet expectations on and off the field.

In an exclusive interview with the Saturday Herald Sun, Beveridge said “we are all concerned about him”, but was adamant there “comes a time when you have to step off the preoccupation with him and make sure you centre your observations and influence on the people who are there”.

“We hope he is connecting with the medical experts and from time-to-time our practitioners and that the penny will drop at some point, and we can turn it around,” Beveridge said.

“But if it doesn’t happen over the remainder of the season, then I don’t know. It will probably come to a head.”

The Dogs have thrown their full resources behind Ugle-Hagn to help support his complex personal issues, but frustrations are growing amid an ongoing review of his flexible training arrangement.

Rival clubs also hold serious concerns about making a play for Ugle-Hagan in the trade period over doubts about whether he can commit to top-line AFL standards at a new home.

Beveridge said he was unsure if Ugle-Hagan still wanted to play at the top level.

“I don’t know, that is the serious answer. He will tell you he does, but the actions don’t back the words up,” he said.

“It is going to take a lot of time to build trust again with everyone.

“The thing about compliance and punctuality and being in a program you have to be there.

“You can’t choose which days you don’t come.

“And that has probably been his existence over this year until recently when he has been away from the club.”

Beveridge said he hoped he could speak with the forward again soon after he next met with the AFL and club staff about his situation.

Attempts to organise another meeting with the experts from the AFL and the Dogs have failed in recent weeks.

In the meantime, the 67-gamer, who hasn’t played since last year’s final series, has continued to post social and off-site workout videos on his social media account.

“The plan was to have that meeting (with the AFL) and then sit down and work out what that pathway was or is, and being totally re-engaged and possibly playing again,” Beveridge said.

“But because that either didn’t happen or hasn’t happened, and I have been unable to have that conversation with him.

“I’m hoping it does happen. I’m just not sure when it will be, but it is not occupying my every day (thoughts).

“I have just channelled any frustration or negativity and just channelled it into positive energy for the group at large. I have got no other choice.”

Concerns first emerged about Ugle-Hagan in late 2023 before he booted 43 goals across 22 games the following season in 2024, but no majors in the final two matches including the elimination final against Hawthorn.

After beating GWS Giants on Sunday in Round 24, the goal kicker didn’t reappear back at the club until Thursday, and was almost not selected for the clash against the Hawks.

Ugle-Hagan had four disposals amid significant concerns about his preparation for the cutthroat final.

His ties with his current teammates have since come under considerable strain despite their best efforts to publicly support the 194cm forward from Framlingham, near Warrnambool.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

For what it's worth, he was in the gym before 4am this morning.

Had he been to bed?

 

[Bald]

Have also heard Juh has shacked up with Warnys youngest daughter who herself is off the rails.

This has been going on for months.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Had he been to bed?

Yeah I was gonna say…if I’m spotted in a gym at 4am it’s because something has gone horribly wrong.

 

[maddog37]

Had he been to bed?

Maybe he is training to be a jockey!

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

Just needs to be a time spent in program stipulation. They need to be a 3 year academy participant or similar for them to be preferentially draft eligible to that club. Then have it so that at the end of the draft if they haven’t been picked up yet and they’re ’signed on’ to your academy, regardless of time spent in the program, you can have priority access to them in the rookie draft.

That way if other clubs see them as an actual national draft prospect and you’re simply trying to **** the rules and get ahead by making them last minute eligible then it doesn’t work.

I reckon all academies are a wank, especially the northern ones. I don’t see how Sydney, Brisbane and GWS, three of the powerhouses of the last decade, need any assistance. The suns will soon be in that category when they get another 3 first round picks this year.

The narrative that those clubs have created is pathetic. No one would be lost to the game like apparently Isaac Heeney or Callum Mills would.

If AFL clubs can find Jeremy Cameron or Patrick Cripps who both lived in the middle of nowhere, I’m sure some kids from Surry Hills would have no issue.

And it’s not the same as father son. Every club has access to father son. Sure, GWS and the suns won’t atm but that’s part of being a new club.

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

That article in the herald sun is the most polite way I’ve ever seen a coach say everyone at the club is done with this bloke.

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

i just wish he’d come out and say he doesn’t wanna be a professional footballer. There’s no shame in that. Plenty of blokes just don’t want to do it.

 

[Bulldogs85]

That article in the herald sun is the most polite way I’ve ever seen a coach say everyone at the club is done with this bloke.

That’s how I took it kind of sad really

 

[Dogs Rule]

That article in the herald sun is the most polite way I’ve ever seen a coach say everyone at the club is done with this bloke.

100 per cent. Ties just about fully cut.

 

[Mojorisin]

100 per cent. Ties just about fully cut.

I beleive the AFL have an agreement infront of the AFLPA and his management now. So still a couple of hurdles to jump and these things generally drag out but from a club perspective the hands have been washed.
I believe the main sticking point will be the main sticking point will be with the 18 month non-compete clause that comes with the contract.
I have been told the severance package that has been approved by the AFL will be full wage from 25 and a large portion of the 26 wage with 50% of the 26 wage NOT included in the salary cap. In terms of list implications Jamarra will still be a listed player until the end of 2026 however he will be on the inactive list.

 

[Mr. Walker]

Yeah I was gonna say…if I’m spotted in a gym at 4am it’s because something has gone horribly wrong.

He really wanted to get on a particular piece of equipment. His foresight, planning and implementation should be praised

 

[JewelRunna]

I’m not questioning those with intel and given bevos commentary too, it seems at odds with what Ameet Bains recently said

 

[RWnBluey]

I beleive the AFL have an agreement infront of the AFLPA and his management now. So still a couple of hurdles to jump and these things generally drag out but from a club perspective the hands have been washed.
I believe the main sticking point will be the main sticking point will be with the 18 month non-compete clause that comes with the contract.
I have been told the severance package that has been approved by the AFL will be full wage from 25 and a large portion of the 26 wage with 50% of the 26 wage NOT included in the salary cap. In terms of list implications Jamarra will still be a listed player until the end of 2026 however he will be on the inactive list.

Utterly ridiculous that he’d be entitled to any of that money.
I’d prefer we let him walk to another club and have access to the additional ~$1m to pay our players who actually turn up to work, throw at Butters or target a free agent.