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Josie :)
Our day will come
And we'll have everything.
We'll share the joy
Just like '54 again. -
Hey All,
Just a final note from me on this thread. On reflection I'm too close to the issue and if I had my time again I would've stayed away, so that's a mea culpa. It's a discussion forum and well, what's the point if you can't discuss things.
I stand by my personal sentiment that the speculation is unseemly, I can just imagine his parents stumbling across these things however the moderators here do it better than anyone and the tone here has been reasonable.
All I ask is to take a second to stop and think about the person, a young proud indigenous man who at the age of 21 had already been racially abused at his work place. Made feel unworthy due to his heritage.
Let's not go low with an assumed narrative of a guy who just doesn't care. It's just a job for him at the end of the day and he cares deeply.
To bulldogtragic you triggered me with a couple of posts, however your points were valid. I directly messaged to try and take it off the thread in which I said I was disappointed with your posts directed at me which didn't work, I should have let it go but hey...ego, mixed with work drinks and yep. It's all very high school musical hey !
So I apologise to you.
Take care everyone, and let's hope our young man gets himself back some time soon..
NB ; Thanks for changing the thread title.
Last edited by Grantysghost; 01-02-2025, 10:34 PM.BT COME BACK!
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We don't really know what the issue is for Marra, but the overall suspicion is towards a mental health aspect.
Having just watched the Jelena Dokic story there is some insight into how disabling that can be as an issue.
We just want to see Marra healthy and happy doing what he wants to achieve. We just hope that is contributing to Bulldog Premierships.Life is to be Enjoyed not EnduredComment
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Well it's not the first time BT has quit to be fair. We all pretty regularly express gratitude for his posts and the effort he puts into them so it's up to him if he thinks it's not worth it.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Comment
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Any news on how he is going? When can we realistically expect to see him playing?Last edited by Bulldogs201616; 03-02-2025, 03:38 PM.Comment
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Wow just read the last 10 pages of the thread.
I trust the club and those at the helm to work with Jamarra . Time and space.Comment
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I haven’t been here much and was kind of caught by surprise as I’ve caught up with the way this thread developed. But I can see a lot of reasons for the passion, the concern, the frustration and questions. It IS hard to not know what’s going on, because we want what’s best for our club; we are also encouraged to care about them as humans and individuals which mightn’t always fit in with what we’re also all about, winning games and achieving success.
i found myself remembering something I wrote on my blog when we drafted Jamarra, at a time when I was disillusioned about the Dunkley saga and our connection with the club seemed fragile because of covid and the breaking up of the core of premiership players.
Hope it’s not self indulgent to post some of it - skip on by if it’s not your vibe, but I can’t help feel it’s relevant. The last paragraph now just seems unbearably sad.
“The coming of Jamarra” —- (written in 2020)
….. There was this kid that everyone was talking about, you see....
He had an unusual name, touted as the next Buddy. (Wry smile and shake of the head from The Bulldog Tragician - as if, after decades in this barracking caper, I'd fall for that sort of hyperbole).
An Indigenous young man, the first in his family to complete VCE. (Ok, I admit I'd begun turning to the back-pages of The Age a little more often rather than the front. I was just sick of reading about COVID and the maniac in the White House, that's all).
He revels in, rather than shies away from, the Buddy comparisons, borrows The Bont's jeans, has a megawatt smile, and a charming, naïve confidence. (Apparently we need to have some sort of complicated points strategy to draft him!! This is about all I understand, or need to understand, though I'm supremely confident, because the Bulldogs have always been good at points. Still: 'Don't blow it Bulldogs!. I've heard this kid is the new Buddy!")
He's ours! (When will Jamarra Ugle-Hagan badges be available at the club? )
He's the welcome counterpoint for the post-Josh-Dunkley disillusionment.
He's paraded in our red white and blue colours, a little skinny as the new recruits always are. Within hours he's emblazoned on marketing material, asked if he is daunted by being the number one pick, spoken of being as an Indigenous role model in a code with a fraught history in its dealings with our First Nations players.
Though I have a flicker of motherly anxiety for him, he copes well with all the hype. 'Marra' as we've begun to call him, is blessedly not yet schooled in the dour corporate-speak which has infected our game. Endearingly he doesn't yet see the need for modesty, or studiously bland pronouncements (rest assured, they will soon come) of 'just playing a role and earning the respect of The Boys'. He even - blasphemy! - artlessly calls his new skipper The Bont 'a good kid'.
Everything for Jamarra is gloriously possible. I'm imagining the buzz before his first game. We'll jump from our seats for his first touch, his first goal, his first speckie. Especially if they're all in the same passage of play.
We will invest all our ridiculous hopes in him. There could be a Rising Star award, a Sutton medal. A Brownlow. A Norm Smith. Multiple Norm Smiths!
We're picturing match-saving marks, a heroic run-down tackle in a grand final. I can see it in my mind's eye: an audacious banana kick-goal from the boundary to win us our third premiership!
And yet even as these fantasies unfurl, I know enough of the toll of our game, and how few fairytales actually come true, to feel a stab of fear, and a wish to protect Marra from the less carefree, more heartbreaking days that will surely come.
This is the romance of footy that those who see it as business will never understand: that many of us love and care for the players as people and not just for the success they may one day bring our club.
It's why fears battle with my hopes: praying Marra will never know the crushing despair of injury, hoping I don't have to witness, as I have so many times, that slow leaching away of the sheer love of the game. I want him to keep flying for those exhilarating speckies (even though I already foresee the day that grouchy commentators or stern coaches chide him for unrealistic attempts). I hope he never reads spiteful social media posts, or comes to feel it's an effort to turn up at the footy club; that he doesn't get frustrated when his exuberant game gets dissected forensically in those lengthy video reviews; that our club will nurture and harness, but never subdue, his immense natural talents. That his huge smile never dims.
Marra - may you never encounter the ugliness of racism. May you make your family, community and our club proud. There's a whole army of us now walking beside you on your journey. I doubt the word 'workmanlike' will be ever used about you, and something tells me your career is likely to be more than enthralling.[url]www.bulldogtragician.com[/url] A blog about being a lifelong fan of the Dogs and our quixotic attempt to replicate 1954. AND WE DID
Author of [URL="http://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/mighty-west"]"The Mighty West: the Bulldogs journey from daydream believers to premiership heroes[/URL]"
Twitter @bulldogstragicComment
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So apparently Jamarra is training with the VFL boys this week while everyone is in Queensland (I don't have access to Herald Sun but the URL gives that snippet haha),
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Jamarra Ugle-Hagan trains with Bulldogs’ VFL side in first steps towards return
He may not be up in Queensland with the rest of his Bulldog teammates, but Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has taken the first steps towards a return to the fold at the Dogs.
Western Bulldogs superstar Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has trained with the club’s VFL team in a step towards his return to the top level.
The Herald Sun can reveal the brilliant forward trained with Footscray’s squad at Whitten Oval on Monday night as part of his flexible training program.
The gun goalkicker went through his paces while his AFL teammates continue their training camp in Noosa.
The club is adamant the VFL training is a key part of Ugle-Hagan’s current program, which permits him to complete sessions at the club and also off site.
Ugle-Hagan, who booted 43 goals across 22 games last season, has posted regularly on his social media accounts about his training at various gyms and boxing clubs around Melbourne.
His appearance at the VFL training session is a positive sign in his bid to make his football comeback as he deals with some personal issues.
The club has thrown its full support around the no. 1 draft pick and has said it will give the 22-year-old as much time as he needs to deal with his personal issues.
Some of the Bulldogs’ staff remained in Melbourne to help support the VFL team and Ugle-Hagan’s flexible training schedule.
The club has made clear to Ugle-Hagan it will do everything it can to assist him in his efforts to deal with his personal matters and return to football.
The Dogs are confident Ugle-Hagan can still play a meaningful part as the club attempts to go deep into finals in 2025.
However there have been some major injury blows over the past fortnight, with Liam Jones (hamstring), Jason Johannisen (hamstring), Tim English (abdomen) and Adam Trealor (calf) all sidelined.
Interim football boss Sam Power said this week the club would not rush Ugle-Hagan’s return.
“We’re in constant dialogue with Jamarra, and really the priority at the moment with him is his welfare and what we can do as a football club to support him,” Power said.
“Clearly he’s got some personal issues and challenges that he’s working through. The important thing for us as a Club at the moment is to be able to provide that support to Jamarra, and have regular communication with him, his family and also with his manager (Robbie D’Orazio).
“To be honest, the training and playing side (of things) isn’t the number one priority at the moment.
“The priority really is to support him through these challenges, and deal with the different things he’s facing. Hopefully he’ll overcome those but from a short-term perspective, it’s really the support and the welfare.”
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I had basically resigned myself to never seeing him play AFL football again, and that may still happen, but all of a sudden Jamarra coming back would be massive even if he never plays a game. Just culturally for the club and for himself, integration back into the club is fantastic.Comment
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His Insta account had a pic of him with Charlie Clarke and Baz Smith (Baz with a can in his hand). Not the company I would suggest he keeps. Not sure when the pic was taken but it was up last night.Comment
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Just read a herald Sun snippet that jamarra trained with the VFL team at whitten oval on Monday.The dam wall has busted!Comment
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