Jamarra gets back on track

Brittany Busch and Jon Pierik

Star forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has returned to the Western Bulldogs after a months-long absence.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan training with the Bulldogs on Monday.

The 23-year-old, who hasn’t played any football this season, was at the Whitten Oval on Monday where he addressed his teammates, a club source confirmed.

The Bulldogs have continued to embrace Ugle-Hagan. He is re-integrating into the football program, and took part in a light training session on Monday. But there is still no definitive time-line on when he will play a game.

AFL industry sources acknowledge Ugle-Hagan’s return remains a delicate matter, and it’s likely he’ll need up to a month of consistent training before he can be considered for selection at any level.

He is following a mental health plan made in collaboration with the AFL’s head of mental health and wellbeing, Dr Kate Hall, and Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains.

A source close to Ugle-Hagan told this masthead he was keen to return to the VFL this season to show he remained committed to football.

Ugle-Hagan in the thick of the action at training.

The troubled forward checked into a health retreat last month.

Coach Luke Beveridge said last week the club was working on reintegrating Ugle-Hagan into the team, after conceding in March that he may not play at all this season.

“He’s come back from a month of doing everything he can to sort of refocus and work out what’s next in his life and the next steps, and the proposition of playing some football is there,” Beveridge said last week.

Ugle-Hagan, who was the No.1 pick in the 2020 draft, is contracted until the end of next season, but speculation over his future at the club has been rife.

A playing return this season not only help the Bulldogs, particularly if he can join emerging star Sam Darcy inside attacking 50, but it would help his bid to seek a fresh start elsewhere, should he and his management pursue that option.

Ugle-Hagan booted 43 goals from 22 appearances in 2024, having delivered 35 goals in a breakout 2023 campaign. The Bulldogs thumped St Kilda by 72 points last Thursday, but they still sit outside the eight in ninth spot, a game behind Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast.

Another key figure departs AFL headquarters

Sam McClure and Jon Pierik

The shake-up at AFL House continues, with football operations boss Josh Mahoney opting to leave his post.

Josh Mahoney will depart his job at the AFL.

A league source on Monday confirmed Mahoney, an experienced operator at club and league headquarters, had quit, coming after league chief Andrew Dillon last week appointed Greg Swann as football department chief.

Mahoney, 47, has a long history in the game, having been a premiership player with Port Adelaide before becoming an assistant coach at Melbourne. He then shifted into the football department with the Demons and Essendon, before joining the AFL.

In February, Mahoney was named as the league’s new general manager of football performance.

McKay to visit knee specialist

Jon Pierik

Carlton forward Harry McKay will have his troublesome knee inspected by a specialist this week, while the Blues await scan results on Charlie Curnow’s calf, as they look to keep their finals hopes alive.

McKay has missed the past two matches after he received a knock to the knee late in the clash against Greater Western Sydney last month.

In what would be a major blow, McKay is facing surgery, depending on what the specialist advises. Surgery would mean he is sidelined for at least a month.

Harry McKay will hope to avoid knee surgery.

Coach Michael Voss said the knee had not improved as quickly as hoped.

“We need to investigate it further and seeing the specialist is one of those steps we’ll make decisions based off the back of that sometime this week,” Voss said.

“We were hopeful it would turn a corner, but it hasn’t, so we’ll have to investigate some more and take it from that.”

Now with a 6-7 win-loss record, the Blues are two wins adrift of the top eight. But they face a shortage of forward height heading into Saturday’s clash against North Melbourne at the MCG.

Curnow (calf) was substituted at half-time of Sunday’s 34-point point win over West Coast. Fellow tall Hudson O’Keeffe (hamstring) had his second game of senior football cut short, and is also awaiting scan results.

The latest woes follow the revelation on Saturday that Sam Walsh will miss six weeks because of a foot injury.

“We’ve shown that the next man in can come in and play a role for us, and we’ve been able to do that pretty well over the last couple of weeks,” Voss said.

“Coming out of the bye, we had a couple of good wins, so the boys should be feeling pretty good about themselves, about how we’ve handled ourselves post-bye.”