Remember where you were when Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had his breakout game on Saturday night.
The 20-year-old, taken with Pick 1 in the 2020 National Draft, won the game for the Bulldogs off his own boot with five goals straight to down Melbourne.
He also booted the sealing goal with a thumping kick from outside 50. The prestigious talent has copped some heat throughout his young career, but he played a big part in what Luke Beveridge described as the club’s best win “for a while”.
The key tall was dropped to the VFL after Round 6, but has improved in every game since returning in Round 14.
As Kane Cornes told AFL.com.au’s The Round So Far: “Every time he’s played, he’s added something to his game and now he’s broken out.”
With Josh Bruce out earlier in the year with an ACL injury, Beveridge resisted the temptation to rush Ugle-Hagan back to the seniors.
And, according to former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, it now appears he pulled the right reign.
“It takes time to actually develop and to learn and to understand and appreciate yourself and where you fit,” Buckley began on SEN Breakfast.
“One thing that’s really hard to do from the outside in is to assess a situation like that. (People said) ‘why is Ugle-Hagan not playing. Clearly, you need another forward… why isn’t this kid, who went at Pick 1, why isn’t he (playing)’?
“(But) there’s so many different layers to that, but only the people in each club that are making these decisions… and clearly, it seems like the Bulldogs have got the timing right with this.”
The five-goal game for Ugle-Hagan backs up his three majors last week. He’s only had one goalless game in his last six.
Buckley suggested the footy world had been “impatient” with the youngster, and was happy to see his talent shine through.
“The kid has taken the feedback in the right doses, he’s felt supported, and now his talent is starting to come through,” he continued.
“There’s no guarantee on what’s going to happen going forward, but his last six-week period has looked good, and the timing of when to put him back in (to the AFL side), it looks like it’s right.
“Which is great to see, because you like to see talent coming on and showing that resilience that underpins it.
“We get impatient, we get really impatient. Things don’t cure like that, you need time.”
The Dogs’ 10-point win on Saturday moved them into the top eight for the first time since Round 15.