Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

[Bornadog]

what would Buddy say they no one else can’t?

Sounds like there’s more parallels with Dusty Martin - who got his shot together - than Buddy.

Buddy was Marra's hero. Both indigenous full forwards and could most likely relate to him better than Martin.

[NAUGHTY100]

I've asked for permission to post this discussion I was given the go ahead.

We all love our Training report updates from the dedicated team here but invariably the conversations get on to when will Marra be training.
All footy discussion forums are struggling with dealing with it, X, FB and Bulldogs focused Whats App Groups are full of speculation and along the way there are some crass and emotional comments being made.
On Woof, we've kept it under control and we've been patient but it's time to discuss things.

I know it's a touchy subject for many and apologies if it is confronting but it's likely to become more prevalent with younger players in the future and my aim is discuss this in a respectful way.
Please don't be too picky with my comments in the summary because I will try to keep it in general terms.

We've all heard the rumors about Marra who is a very important player for us and lets be honest it could have a massive effect on our 2025 chances.
I'll list some of the stronger rumors that have been circulating.

- That Marra went to Bali in the break between the end of the 2024 H&A and the Elimination Final without informing the club and then missed the Monday training session before the EF game against the Hawks.
He was still selected for the final but put in a shocker and the MC made the decision to start him on the bench.
This appears to be a largely accurate rumor and we can even confirm on this site that he missed the Monday session in terms of being on the training track.

- That Marra hasn't been able to settle his accommodation lodgings for a fair portion of 2024 and even now.
A merry-go-round of you accommodation can't be good for an elite athlete. He has also bounced around team mates and friends houses.
This appears to be a largely accurate rumor.

- That Marra has been spending time with less than savory elements within the boxing community.
The evidence with his social contributions confirms his passion for Boxing.
This appears to be an accurate rumor except it would be hard to confirm that his friends are unsavory or not.

- That Marra hasn't been training and that he might have recently been asked to train away from the club
It's clear he hasn't been training much at the club if at all.
It would be harder to confirm 100% though but if I'm reading some information from a club member in the know it's all coming to a head soon and he will have an enforced break in the early part of the season.
While this is somewhat speculative, my source is adamant.

- That Marra has a alcohol and substance problems. (Sorry but it needs to be mentioned)
This appears to be a speculative rumor because there isn't any evidence although plenty have questioned his behavior at the Brownlow.

There are some other rumors that haven't been included.

The word I'm hearing is the club will address at least answer some of the questions soon.

So what should we make of all this and how does it effect the 2025 season?
Because of his high profile status and undoubted ability should we have slightly different rules or make some additional allowances for him?
Who might be the players to fill the void if it comes to that?

I'm going to add a poll, feel free to select more than one option.

Lots has been said , and as much as i want the kid to become a 100 goal a year footballer with our club , we have to be mindful of what happened with Smith , his contract ran down he didn't want to resign and we lost him , for virtually nothing . Now everyone is thinking the club should act this way or that , but im of the oppinion that as much as its Marras choice or decision , or the clubs , the people who should be helping him through all this is his management , they have a network designed to help young players through hard times , so im thinking either his manager has said do what you want , we will find you a club with big coin , or Marra just wants out, ( which i can't believe), but if it truly is his management driving this then they have to be derelict in their duty to not only Marra but the whole system. I still hope and pray a solution can be worked out and he settles down and becomes the player we all hope he will , ( with us of course).

[bulldogtragic]

Buddy was Marra's hero. Both indigenous full forwards and could most likely relate to him better than Martin.

So Buddy says ‘don’t go to Bali before a cut throat final and knuckle down’ and we are good?

Not sure I’d bet this changes anything. Not sure anything will if Bont, Liam, Bevo, Grant and everyone the club would’ve had say things, including the AFLPA specialists.

At some point he’s got to change his behaviour because he wants to. Or not. It’s been FOUR months since his Bali expedition before the EF and he’s still not around and training weeks before we are meant to fine tuning our team to win a flag this year. I just don’t see a former player from another team changing his mindset.

Honestly, if he’s hoping for a 7 x $1.5M type contract then that would/should be more motivating than anything else. But his wallet, success or his team mates seemingly don’t rate right now. I’m not saying stop supporting him at all, but it’s on him now and not a chat with an ex player from another club. There’s no simple solution here or it’d be done already. The solution is on Marra to find and implement or find out about life the hard way.

[Angak]

Thank you to the forum admin for allowing this thread to exist.

We all love Marra, and there’s nothing I'd want more than for him to fulfill his obvious potential. However, there have been issues simmering in the background that, as fans, we should be able to discuss openly.

[GVGjr]

Thank you to the forum admin for allowing this thread to exist.

We all love Marra, and there’s nothing I'd want more than for him to fulfill his obvious potential. However, there have been issues simmering in the background that, as fans, we should be able to discuss openly.

Feel free, we obviously don't want pure speculation or flakey rumours but we should be able to have a mature discussion while still extending some respect towards a favourite player.

[ReLoad]

To take it back to the thread's title, its certainly not a storm in a teacup. there is obviously issue(s) that need to be dealt with.

What we have learnt at the bulldogs is that anything left to fester or to "fix itself" wont, and will actually cause further harm.

Id imagine that given JUH's contract and huge slice of the future of the club that he is, they are leaving no stone unturned in helping him achieve his potential.

[Grantysghost]

Buddy was wayward early wasn't he?

[bulldogtragic]

Buddy was wayward early wasn't he?

A little bit, but he was turning up ready to kick bags each week and dominate finals too. I don’t recall anything like this happening with him.

[yourmate]

I think clubs will come out and check his availability and I would imagine Sydney will be all over him.
We should be prepared to work though any challenges and I'm confident the club can find a solution.
You don't trade a player as talented as JUH without going through every scenario to resolve any challenges he has.

If resolving those challenges comes at the cost of club culture, you 100% trade them in my opinion. There's no doubting JUH has a gift, and on talent he's close to a 10/10. However, I think his work ethic is incredibly poor, and if the club bends over backwards to facilitate him, then I think it's going to have an effect on the playing group as a whole. The other thing which may be getting lost here is we've got paid significant unders on our last two "star" players leaving (Dunkley and Smith), and if we try to hold Jamarra despite him showing signs he wants to leave, then we put ourselves at risk of it happening again next year. Now of course everything that's happening might be minor and we're making a big deal out of nothing, but I also don't want this situation to turn into something similar to what's happening at Melbourne.

[josie]

I’m surmising if it is true Marra travelled without club approval to Bali before the EF and we then permitted him to play in the EF then it had a negative impact on the team in the EF. Not saying it explains why we collectively played very poorly but surely it partly contributed. If it’s true I think our Club erred allowing him to play in the EF.

Hope Marra and Club work through this with the best outcomes for both parties. Hope that means Marra playing for us and developing into a hard working, team orientated player who fulfils his undoubted talent. If that’s not possible without compromising high standards and good culture then we ought to seriously entertain offers. I’m backing the Club to make the right moves henceforth.

[Mofra]

What about a different take - he's getting top-5 in t he competition shots on goal with a ton of issues off-field.
He's an immature kid. When the penny drops, he'll be outstanding.

Tough love with a few hugs thrown in, show him a path to better behaviours, and hopefully he's firing for the second half of the season.

[Bornadog]

A little bit, but he was turning up ready to kick bags each week and dominate finals too. I don’t recall anything like this happening with him.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/hawks-flock-to-kill-buddy-rumour-mill-20120820-24imy.html

[bulldogtragic]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/hawks-flock-to-kill-buddy-rumour-mill-20120820-24imy.html

Im getting lost in this. Is the point a conversation with Buddy fixes the situation?

[JackCJohnston2000]

I've asked for permission to post this discussion I was given the go ahead.

We all love our Training report updates from the dedicated team here but invariably the conversations get on to when will Marra be training.
All footy discussion forums are struggling with dealing with it, X, FB and Bulldogs focused Whats App Groups are full of speculation and along the way there are some crass and emotional comments being made.
On Woof, we've kept it under control and we've been patient but it's time to discuss things.

I know it's a touchy subject for many and apologies if it is confronting but it's likely to become more prevalent with younger players in the future and my aim is discuss this in a respectful way.
Please don't be too picky with my comments in the summary because I will try to keep it in general terms.

We've all heard the rumors about Marra who is a very important player for us and lets be honest it could have a massive effect on our 2025 chances.
I'll list some of the stronger rumors that have been circulating.

- That Marra went to Bali in the break between the end of the 2024 H&A and the Elimination Final without informing the club and then missed the Monday training session before the EF game against the Hawks.
He was still selected for the final but put in a shocker and the MC made the decision to start him on the bench.
This appears to be a largely accurate rumor and we can even confirm on this site that he missed the Monday session in terms of being on the training track.

- That Marra hasn't been able to settle his accommodation lodgings for a fair portion of 2024 and even now.
A merry-go-round of you accommodation can't be good for an elite athlete. He has also bounced around team mates and friends houses.
This appears to be a largely accurate rumor.

- That Marra has been spending time with less than savory elements within the boxing community.
The evidence with his social contributions confirms his passion for Boxing.
This appears to be an accurate rumor except it would be hard to confirm that his friends are unsavory or not.

- That Marra hasn't been training and that he might have recently been asked to train away from the club
It's clear he hasn't been training much at the club if at all.
It would be harder to confirm 100% though but if I'm reading some information from a club member in the know it's all coming to a head soon and he will have an enforced break in the early part of the season.
While this is somewhat speculative, my source is adamant.

- That Marra has a alcohol and substance problems. (Sorry but it needs to be mentioned)
This appears to be a speculative rumor because there isn't any evidence although plenty have questioned his behavior at the Brownlow.

There are some other rumors that haven't been included.

The word I'm hearing is the club will address at least answer some of the questions soon.

So what should we make of all this and how does it effect the 2025 season?
Because of his high profile status and undoubted ability should we have slightly different rules or make some additional allowances for him?
Who might be the players to fill the void if it comes to that?

I'm going to add a poll, feel free to select more than one option.

If the Bali rumour is true then I think we have a real problem on our hands.

Everything else (I'm just not giving any validity to substance abuse right now) is stuff that we can work through with him and you would hope he would be invested in working through himself.

So I think we don't need to worry until the first preseason game. If he's not locked and loaded by then, it will be both hard to manage in the PR world and when it comes to on field performance.

But for now, it's still just January.

[Bornadog]

Im getting lost in this. Is the point a conversation with Buddy fixes the situation?

No, just has a chat. Something positive. The kid seems to be straying and sometimes a good chat with a sports person (that he admires ) can help him on the right path..

I didn't say it resolves the whole issue, but it will certainly helps.