Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

[Bornadog]

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

My take is the only thing he did wrong was not tell the club, where he was. Who knows what he got up to but he could just as easily been on the beach at Warnambool, but again, tell the club what you are doing.

The club should have not picked him for the EF as a disciplinary measure - so there is the blame.

[MrMahatma]

I'm not sure footy clubs need to be full of angels do they? I'm not sure where the line needs to be, and would expect that IF he went to Bali, there would've probably been a discussion with, at least, the leadership group (players) on whether he should play, and they would've decided we're better with him in than out.

I don't see this ending well for the dogs though. We're a small club. He's a talent. He'll go. Which is why we need to train Croft as a forward.

[bulldogtragic]

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.

I don’t think it does any harm. But surely his coach, captain and team mates, club staff and AFLPA staff/specialists would be more influential. Even his manager is surely conveying he’s hurting his long term earning potential with this too. I imagine his family aren’t sitting back without trying to help him. Everyone is in his corner including every fan and member.

Hence I just don’t see Buddy changing him from thinking everything’s fine to things must change now when those in his immediate life haven’t. Sure it doesn’t do any harm, but I’m skeptical that’s going to the moment of clarity. He knows what he has to do, we just has to find the want to. I hope he finds that and fulfills his potential.

[Grantysghost]

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

I think it's an interesting reminder that even the best of the best had issues when they were younger. There were plenty of rumours floating around Buddy and he turned out ok. Marra will be ok, I just hope it's with us.

[bulldogtragic]

I think it's an interesting reminder that even the best of the best had issues when they were younger. There were plenty of rumours floating around Buddy and he turned out ok. Marra will be ok, I just hope it's with us.

To be fair, I don’t think anyone is as advocating baby/bathwater. Young men learn quickly or slowly, sometimes not at all. Hopefully this is just some slow learning about expectations when you demand $1,000,000 a season in a professional club. Hopefully he has his moment of clarity, or Sam Power will give it to him one way or the other.

Also to be fair, the club should’ve dropped him for the EF and shouldn’t have bent over backwards every time BS wanted to not attend game or go to Europe mid season either.

I have a sneaking suspicion that leadership was a big thing at our draft picks in addition to skill recently.

[SonofScray]

Assuming the validity of it all and looking to the least favourable outcome : The landscape as it is now, there’ll be a club that sees themselves as a bigger destination than us licking their lips, ready to pounce on a bargain when he’s framed as damaged goods at the trade table, or when he runs his contract down to walk because of this issue, or that issue at the club.

Fingers crossed it’s just part of the story of an exceptionally talented footballer dealing with the challenges of being a star professional athlete and maturing as he goes. If he walked to pursue a boxing career, because he has discovered that’s his passion and opportunities are there for him, fair play to him, so long as he left with some good will in the bank.

a few alarm bells to be honest, after reading this thread.

[bulldogSimmo]

Quite frankly I don't have any more of a clue about what the issue is and probably never will. Really it is most likely for good reason it's not in the public domain. Must be really hard to deal with personal challenges in such a heavily scrutinized industry. I get that is what the players sign up for but they are after all kids when they get drafted. I expect that Marra is getting a lot of understanding and support from the club, it will be up to him to find a way through

[Dogs 24/7]

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.

I've tried to be as fair minded with approaching a confronting topic.
I knew going into it that some people will find this a difficult topic but reading through the responses I'm really pleased with the vast majority of them because they have been done in the right way.

[kruder]

I just hope the circuit breaker isn't Marra leaving the club at the end of the year, he is worth the investment and we have to pull out all stops to get him on the right track.

[The Pie Man]

I had/have a similar view - that he can have a year like 24 while not necessarily looking after himself is crazy. Imagine what he could do if he really knuckled down? Insane ceiling

I am however doubtful we’ll see it - I was filthy with his EF, and knowing what we do now…..absolutely fuming

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.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Well the silver lining is that we actually have time with Marra right now. i know that the club will see him as a person first and do what ever they can. They should actually speak to his manager and say along the lines of,

We see a few issues and have raised concerned around XXXX. We are not in the position to wait until the end of 2026 for him to walk for nothing, so heres is a new 6 year deal or we shop him around at the end of 2025.

[Dogs 24/7]

I just hope the circuit breaker isn't Marra leaving the club at the end of the year, he is worth the investment and we have to pull out all stops to get him on the right track.

Hopefully it doesn't even get to that stage where it's even an option. I want him to stay but it also needs that he wants to be with us.

[ledge]

Surely he sees we have babysat him since he was 13 or 14 , that must count for something in his head.
Early in his career he seemed like a genuine good kid with love and drive for footy .
Maybe it’s the big city offerings that have lead him astray as happens with some of the indigenous players.
Sadly usually this isn’t good news when you burn a bridge more than once it collapses . The media will love this Bailey Smith now JUH . The “bad” culture will make a great story.

[angelopetraglia]

Buddy was wayward early wasn't he?

Yes. He was. He had some troubles, but he kicked 73 goals in his 3rd season and 113 goals in his 4th season!!!!

[GVGjr]

Surely he sees we have babysat him since he was 13 or 14 , that must count for something in his head.
Early in his career he seemed like a genuine good kid with love and drive for footy .
Maybe it’s the big city offerings that have lead him astray as happens with some of the indigenous players.
Sadly usually this isn’t good news when you burn a bridge more than once it collapses . The media will love this Bailey Smith now JUH . The “bad” culture will make a great story.

I don't think we can say with any certainty that he doesn't love the club and the players and he seems to be a good and kind person.
At the moment it appears he is struggling a bit with the professionalism required and he can recapture that quickly enough with some minor changes.
I'm going to remain hopeful that we can sort it out.
To be honest I don't really care what the media says about it.