"He's definitely the man" - Western Bulldogs forward backs Luke Beveridge after shaky start to season
Western Bulldogs key forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan expressed his support for coach Luke Beveridge. Beveridge has come under fire for his team’s chaotic start to the season.
However, Ugle-Hagan believes the Western Bulldogs coach shouldn’t be blamed for the Bulldogs’ inconsistency. He voiced his opinion at the launch of the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round, stating;
“It would be a tough job as a head coach, especially when we’re not as consistent as we should be, but he’s doing really well.
“I love him as a coach, just the way he goes about it with the culture stuff, and the love and care he has for us as players outside the football game- he’s just a genuinely good bloke.
“He’s definitely the man. I’ve never had another AFL coach before at the high level. At the moment he’s my coach, and I love the way he goes about it.”
The former no 1 draft believes that the Western Bulldogs players have an equally important role to play in the success of the team, one just as important as that of the coach.
“We’ve just got to find a good consistency at the moment. We need to be a lot better with that.
“We’ve definitely tweaked a lot of things. We’ve just got to know that we’re obviously three good targets down in the forward line. We’ve got a couple of really good midfielders to get us the ball.
“We’ve just got to work together. Obviously, we all want the win at the end of the day. It doesn’t really matter about the performance, as long as we get that win.
“So we’ve kind of gone a selfless look at it - it doesn’t matter who’s kicking the goals.”
“I was pretty close to signing for four years” - Ugle-Hagan reveals contract dilemma with Western Bulldogs
Ugle-Hagan went on to discuss his plans for his future with the Western Bulldogs. He revealed that he almost signed a longer deal with the club but decided to hold back for some time and enjoy the game without the pressure of looming negotiations.
“I was pretty close to signing for four years until the end of 2028 but we’ll see what happens after this year,” he said.
“It was a massive decision, but I’m glad I got it done. I feel a lot lighter, I feel like I can just go out and have fun now and play some football instead of having that stress on the back of performance.”
Ugle-Hagan is one of the biggest prospects in the AFL and has shown his dedication to the Western Bulldogs by re-signing until the end of 2026.