Jamarra Ugle-Hagan set to leave Western Bulldogs in blockbuster move

Hawthorn Hawks are the latest AFL club to enter the race for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s signature. 

Just when news about the future of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had quieted down, things have ramped back up. Reports emerged on Wednesday that Hawthorn Hawks have entered the race to sign Jamarra Ugle-Hagan from Bulldogs before the start of the 2025 AFL season.  
 
Ugle-Hagan is out of contract after this season, and is free to agree to a deal with any other club before the start of next season. His Bulldogs teammate Bailey Smith is also out of contract.  

Swans and Hawks want Ugle-Hagan 

The AFL closed period got off to a flying start at the end of last year when news broke that Swans were preparing to offer a big-money contract to Bulldogs’ Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.  
 
Ugle-Hagan is one of the AFL’s brightest young stars. Sydney were prepared to offer the 21-year-old a 10-year contract worth $11 million. If signed, it would have been the biggest contract in AFL history. Swans made a similar offer to his Bulldogs’ teammate Aaron Naughton.  
 
Both players turned down Swans, but the Sydney club is reportedly still interested in signing Ugle-Hagan to be their next Lance Franklin. 
 
News about Ugle-Hagan’s future died down once he rejected Swans, but it now seems his future is up in the air again.  
 
Channel Seven reporter Mitch Cleary revealed on Wednesday night that Hawthorn’s are ready to make a big push for Ugle-Hagan in the coming weeks.  
 
“Hawthorn has entered the race to sign Jamarra Ugle-Hagan,” said Cleary. “We know that they’re after a key back, they’re also after a key forward. They also have salary cap space. They went after Todd Marshall in recent times, Ben King, they missed out on Aaron Naughton as well. The Hawks are well and truly in the race for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.” 
 
Cleary also revealed that Collingwood were interested in Ugle-Hagan, but they were not “in the race” in the way that Swans and Hawks are now.  

Bulldogs confident of keeping Ugle-Hagan 

Despite all the rumours, Bulldogs are reportedly not concerned about losing their young forward.  
 
According to Cleary, “the Dogs are extremely confident that he will re-sign and that they are in a good place [right now].” The veteran AFL reporter also added emphatically amid all the rumours that “The Dogs though are confident [Ugle-Hagan]’ll be their man for the future.” 
 
Other reports say Ugle-Hagan does not want to leave, provided that he can get a new long-term deal worth more than $1.5 million per season.  
 
“I think there’s no reason why [Ugle-Hagan] won’t be the highest paid player or get the biggest deal we’ve ever seen in AFL history next year,” said former St Kilda star Leigh Montagna.  

Ugle-Hagan says he wants to stay 

Speaking to the press last offseason about the rumours linking him to Swans, Ungle-Hagan said “I love the Dogs – they’ve obviously looked after me since I was 15. I always love to give back to the club.” 
 
Ungle-Hagan continued, “We’ve got such a good opportunity to win a couple of flags together. We’ve got a really talented list.” When asked what he would like to do, he said “Definitely [to] stay at the Dogs.” 

This saga could linger on for the rest of the 2024 AFL season. According to the betting sites, Bulldogs are expected to struggle a bit this season. Hopefully for their sake, these rumours do not provide a distraction throughout the season.