‘Trust issues’: Inside Jamarra’s Dogs return and how ‘redemption story’ could spark big trade boost

Melbourne champion Garry Lyon believes Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is a “great redemption story, potentially, in the making” amid the star forward’s reported change in mindset regarding his future.

But triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown says he’d still be shocked if Ugle-Hagan remained at the Western Bulldogs, who still have lingering trust issues.

Ugle-Hagan on Monday took a positive step closer to a football comeback, returning to Whitten Oval and apologising to Bulldogs teammates for behaviour that put his AFL career in jeopardy.

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Seven weeks after the Bulldogs announced Ugle-Hagan was taking a leave of absence to deal with personal issues, he was back with his teammates and even took part in a recovery session.

It came after the 23-year-old, who hasn’t played a game in 2025, addressed the playing group and expressed remorse for some of his actions that drew widespread criticism about his willingness to apply himself to the demands of being an AFL footballer.

But having spent time at a health retreat, recent social media posts have shown Ugle-Hagan in heavy training – a strong indication of his desire to get back to football, which he expressed to his teammates.

“This is a good football club right now making a lot of good decisions,” Lyon told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

Bulldogs player Jamara Ugle-Hagan is seen training. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele Source: News Corp Australia

“The thing about this is that he comes back on the Western Bulldogs’ terms. That’s the most important thing about all of this. You want to play? He has had to come back to them and ‘you come back on our terms’ and now we’ll see what it looks like from here.

“It’s a long shot – and that would be what they’re selling to him, ‘you’ve got ground to make up’ – but I just love the fact that he’s back there. I love a redemption story.”

While the full path back for Ugle-Hagan remains unclear, he’s expected to feature in more training sessions as he begins to reintegrate with the Bulldogs program.

He’s been in contact with coach Luke Beveridge, who last week said the pair had spoken to plot a path back, likely through the VFL at some stage in the distant future.

“Clearly he’s been not at the professional level, but I’ll tell you what, I can go back through history in a lesser time where players used to get away with stuff and he can’t. That’s not such a bad thing – and it’s all been played out in public and we know where he’s at and everyone gets a pretty good read on some of his issues,” Lyon said.

“So now, if you want to play footy, ‘you come back on our terms’ – and you put one foot wrong then you probably won’t. But if you want to come back and you put your head down, you work your backside off and you win some trust and respect back, in six weeks’ time or four weeks’ time, you get a run in the VFL. That gives you six weeks.

“And if he has a great six weeks in the VFL leading into a final series, Ugle-Hagan, (Sam) Darcy and (Aaron Naughton) – good luck for the opposition. That’s a big, big if.

Lyon later added: “There’ll be a lot of people talking it down, there’ll be a lot of those out there in the media screaming from (the rooftops). Go, this is a great redemption story potentially in the making.”

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan returns to Dogs | 00:47

Beveridge last week dismissed any suggestion Ugle-Hagan, who is contracted until the end of 2026, could move to another club, declaring the former No.1 pick was “our player”.

AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley said the Ugle-Hagan scenario now “plays out on two fronts”.

“One is that he remains a Western Bulldogs contracted player next year,” Whateley told AFL 360. “This is not the final year of his contract, so it’s in both of their interests – if he’s committed to giving himself a chance – to go about that.

“And the other motivation for the Bulldogs is if he is going to request to trade at some point – that there’s too much scarring, too much has happened over a long period of time – they don’t want him to be a distressed asset that ends up being free to a good home. They want him to be a commodity that they’ll be able to get something for, if that is his desire long-term.

“So they both have a key stake in this. We’d be guessing if we forecast where it was going to end up.”

Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said Ugle-Hagan “believes he’s turned a new page” and would like to remain at the Dogs. It comes a fortnight after a report claimed Ugle-Hagan had told friends he would like to play for the Sydney Swans next year in a perfect world.

Cox questioned on Swans' interest in JUH | 01:18

Ralph said on Monday night: “He has told friends he would now like to play out his full contract at the Whitten Oval and the Western Bulldogs next year. That clearly is a departure from reports of recent weeks.

“He can see a road map to a VFL return within weeks, according to him talking to his friends. He believes he’s fit enough after gym and boxing sessions.

“He told his teammates as he apologised to them that he’d let them down and had to win back their trust, in what was a real concession.

“His club and his camp are committed to seeing this play out. No discussions until the post-season on his future or a potential trade. Clubs are very wary right now given his concerns across the season.

“The Dogs are more realistic. They know he’s more likely to be elsewhere, they know he’s going to need at least a full month of training before he plays VFL. They also know he needs to stop keeping the company that has got him into trouble.

“Both the club and Jamarra consciously uncoupled, they’ve decided to have another go at it. There are trust issues, at least on the Western Bulldogs’ side.”

Bevo speaks on Jamarra's return to AFL | 02:28

Still, Brown said he’d be “very surprised if he (Ugle-Hagan) played this season – and I’d be surprised if he was there next season”.

“The problem is when you have trust issues in big games – final last year (against Hawthorn) when there was issues leading into the game, ‘Bevo’ reportedly didn’t want to play him, his leaders convinced him to play him and obviously he had a poor night – whenever you break that trust, it’s hard to unsee, as a coach and as players,” Brown told On The Couch.

“Gee it’s a long way back. It’d be a remarkable turnaround if he was in the Bulldogs’ colours, I would’ve thought.”

Triple All-Australian Nick Dal Santo articulated why the Bulldogs couldn’t afford to rush Ugle-Hagan back after such a long sideline stint.

“There’s the football component,” Dal Santo told Fox Sports News’ AFL Tonight. “Is he physically able to do what he’s asked to do? If he’s had the time off that he’s had, you can only imagine he’d be underdone. If you try and rush him back, he’d be prone to injury. So you actually need to manage his body.

“Does he know the systems? Is he up to date with all the meetings that they’ve had and the little details they might be tweaking on a regular basis? That’s the first component.

Bulldogs player Jamara Ugle-Hagan is seen training. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele Source: News Corp Australia

“The second bit is – and probably the biggest piece – is the trust. Can you go to war with this guy for two hours every weekend from a playing group (viewpoint)? Does Marcus Bontempelli trust what he’s going to get from Jamarra? They’re questions probably only those individuals can answer. But can the coaches trust that he fits back into the group?

“It’s great that he’s back. I think football clubs at times are the one of the safest places to be, they wrap your arms around you and you have so many resources and people there to help you. But then he needs to tick a lot of boxes, I would’ve thought.

“Maybe it takes him four to six weeks to find his feet again, to build that trust on a consistent basis before you roll him out. I still think there needs to be integrity in selection.”

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