‘I didn’t want to leave the house’: Ugle-Hagan reveals the depth of his mental health struggles

Ugle-Hagan, who is contracted at the Bulldogs until the end of the 2026 season, temporarily lost his passion for playing football at the height of his struggles, and instead turned to alcohol-fuelled socialising. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has been absent from Western Bulldogs training for much of this year. Credit: Darrian Traynor “When you are down, you want to keep finding an upper. My upper was probably staying and hanging out with my mates and getting on the piss and training with them as well,” Ugle-Hagan said. “But it just had no end goal – I didn’t have a game. I didn’t have anything. My mental health wasn’t in the right space, so I was struggling, and I found it really tough to even enjoy football. “I lost the fun in it. I didn’t want to play. It wasn’t even a priority because all I wanted to do was find something, but I didn’t know what that was until I had this break.”

Ugle-Hagan said speaking at the retreat about his mental health challenges helped him realise that he was not alone. “It takes balls to talk in a group but once you do it, it is f---ing amazing. It feels good, and they have answers for you,” he said. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan recreated Nicky Winmar’s famous gesture by facing the crown and pointing to his skin in 2023. Credit: Getty Images “You think you are alone and no one understands, but when you speak up and hear people’s stories, it makes you feel so much better ... knowing they’re going through the same thing you are.” Ugle-Hagan also explained his absence from the Bulldogs’ centenary anniversary match this year – which the likes of David King and James Hird criticised him for – saying he had to talk his best friend from Warrnambool out of taking his own life.

He ended up inviting his friend to Melbourne and spending that weekend with him. Ugle-Hagan, who grew up on an Aboriginal township in Framlingham, near Warrnambool, said that was not the only time he confronted suicide, revealing that “multiple” family members had taken their own lives. “We found our cousin in his room. I found my uncle, or my family found our uncle, in the gutter down the road from our house,” he said. “The shit I have seen. I have seen a lot more than that as well.” No.1 pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan celebrates with family on draft night. Credit: Getty Images The young star also stated his focus was on proving himself at training – and not the potential of seeking a fresh start elsewhere, such as Sydney, who have been strongly linked to the 2020 No.1 draft pick.

Loading “I’m obviously still contracted with the ‘Doggies’. I still want to play for them and win a flag,” Ugle-Hagan said. “It’s the Bulldogs until my contract runs out, and then hopefully they offer me another one, but we will see how we go. They have given me opportunities since day dot, so why can’t I get back?” Experiencing everything that comes with competing at the highest level is driving Ugle-Hagan as he tries to convince coach Luke Beveridge and his teammates that he is ready to play again. “I want to play footy. I can’t wait to play footy,” he said.

Loading I want to kick a f---ing goal in front of those crowds. I have been watching every single Bulldogs game. I have been supporting them [and] watching them. I will go to games at the end of the year. “I genuinely want to play one more [game]. I want to play some games. It’s going to be grouse.” Beveridge said this month that Ugle-Hagan was “our player” and they were committed to supporting him, while Ugle-Hagan said the club’s chief executive, Ameet Bains, was like a “brother” to him. “I’m good friends with the doctor and good mates with all the boys – there are different characters,” Ugle-Hagan said. “You go in there, they look after you, and they genuinely love you in there.

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