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Sport Nation
Why Hogan is proof that there’s still hope for Jamarra
Andrew Slevison • May 13th, 2025 12:21 pm
There is proof that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan can get his life and football career back on track.
That proof comes in the form of Jesse Hogan who has become the AFL’s premier key forward just years after things appeared unsalvageable.
GWS star Hogan has tread an unusual path to the top, starting out as a Rising Star at Melbourne, dealing with tragedy and health issues, struggling both on and off the field at Fremantle, before completing his remarkable renaissance as a Coleman Medallist with the Giants.
As Western Bulldog talent Ugle-Hagan enters rehab in a bid to get his life and career back, footy greats Tim Watson and Garry Lyon commented on the redemption story that is Hogan.
“We all know Jesse Hogan’s footy form now and we know where he’s been and we know his journey,” said Watson on SEN Breakfast.
“He started at Melbourne, went to Freo, got effectively booted out after a couple of unsuccessful seasons and found himself in the wilderness. He ended up at the Giants – anyone could have taken him at that stage.
“It’s probably a combination of the right environment, the right stage of his life, a new level of maturity he’d reached. He’s been able to fulfil the potential we all saw in him as a youngster.”
Demons great Lyon is such a massive fan of what Hogan has been able to achieve in his late 20s and into his 30s after seeing a career full of potential teeter off the rails.
Hogan’s seven-goal haul in the weekend’s epic win over Geelong is testament to the hard work he has done.
“I watched Jesse play (against the Cats) and saw how formidable he was. How big a presence he is and how in this day and age to see a big full-forward like that who plays in the hardest spot and takes big contested marks and kicks straight,” said Lyon.
“I’m thinking, wow what a valuable product that is. Any club in the competition would give anything to have someone like that. He was gone, Jesse Hogan. This is what has led me to talk about it.
“So when we talk about Jamarra and trying to work out whether or not he still has a footy career and what it looks like if he has, and would clubs take a chance on him. All those questions which are absolutely legitimate and what it means for the Bulldogs and where they go and if they were to trade him what they’d (get), all that stuff.
“The Jesse Hogan story is the greatest.
“If he wants to, I don’t know if Jamarra is in this headspace or not, but I know Jesse wasn’t either for a long time, he was as lost as Jamarra is right now.”
Lyon delved a little further into Hogan’s path to absolution, citing his time spent living with Shane Mumford after making the move to western Sydney from his hometown of Perth.
“After 90 games his career had stalled, he’d been at Melbourne and his time at Freo was pretty much a disaster,” he continued.
“90 games 170 goals, he can play but no one really wants him. He’s available to everyone, everyone can have a crack and not one club wanted him until the Giants said we’ll give you (Pick) 50 for him, I think it was a third-rounder. Everyone sort of shrugged their shoulders and said good luck with that.
“He went there, and either good fortune or good management, they put him in a house with Shane Mumford, a good stable family environment, lived in the back of the house. Shane’s got a young family, so Jesse had a great routine.
“He starts to play footy and here we are in 2025 and if he’s not the most valuable player in the comp then he’s top five. This is a player that every single club could have had a crack at. So don’t give up on Jamarra is what I’m saying."
Lyon is not necessarily saying that Ugle-Hagan must leave the Bulldogs to achieve something similar.
All he knows is the 23-year-old former No.1 draft pick has way too much talent to throw it all away.
“I’m not saying that, but I suspect it will come to that. If and the Dogs can come together and make peace that would be fantastic, but we do know sometimes it does need a different environment,” he said further.
“I suspect it might be somewhere else (where he plays), I don’t know for certain.
“But I just think he’s too big a talent to sit there and say I’m not prepared to have a crack at this.
Lyon concluded: “We hope he can get his life back on track first and foremost, and then the footy stuff can follow.”
