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Sport Nation
Is Jamarra good enough to dictate his trade destination?
SEN • June 5th, 2025 8:42 am
Is Jamarra Ugle-Hagan a good enough player to be able to dictate the club he’s traded to this off-season?
That was the question on SEN host Adam White’s mind after Channel 9’s Tom Morris reported that the troubled forward wants to play for Sydney.
While Luke Beveridge made it clear on Wednesday that Ugle-Hagan was still the Bulldogs’ player and has no thoughts that he won’t see out his contract at the Whitten Oval until the end of 2026, he’s yet to play football at any level in 2025 as he deals with personal issues.
Even though we haven’t seen Ugle-Hagan since 2024, what he produced in that season when kicking 43 goals certainly excited some, but clearly not White who isn’t sure he’s a player of enough quality to expect that every club would be in line for his services.
He discussed the Ugle-Hagan report with his SEN Sportsday co-host Gerard Healy, with the Brownlow Medallist also agreeing that it’ll be hard for the Bulldog to name a club of choice this trade period.
White: “We heard Tom Morris talking last night on Channel Nine about the fact that Jamarra would like to play in Sydney.
“Is he good enough to sort of demand this? ‘I choose to play in Sydney’. Particularly considering he's a contracted player until the end of next year.”
Healy: “Well, that doesn't happen (choosing where you go while contracted). We know that Chris Judd wanted to go to Collingwood, and Chris Judd's a hell of a lot better than Jamarra, but he ended up at Carlton.”
White: “Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has played 67 games in his career averaging 1.5 goals a game. He did kick 43 goals last season, which is an average of 2, but we're not talking about Barry Hall or Tony Lockett going to Sydney.”
Healy: “No, Jamarra's upside is enormous, but ultimately, it's hard to know what you're buying because he's still, in football terms, a baby. His best we’ve seen, but he only got Coaches votes in four games last year.
“A top ender that plays in that position would (have an average Champion Data rating) of around 12 to 14.
“But last year, in a year where he had four pretty good games, he averaged 6.62.
“He had a couple of games where he rated 18 and another one in Round 19 where he rated even better with a 19, but the reality is he rated less than 5 in five games and rated in the negatives in four games.
“He's a very incomplete package. The gap between his best and worst is way too large, but his best is exciting.
“That's why he's tempting. But to me, his best spot is back at the Bulldogs. Bevo is such a great coach and hopefully, he can make that happen.”
