AFL Media journalist Josh Gabelich remains confident that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will re-sign at the Western Bulldogs, though they may need to get creative with their remaining salary cap space.
It was reported on Wednesday night by 7AFL’s Mitch Cleary that Hawthorn is chasing the former number one draft pick.
Ugle-Hagan is out of contract at the end of the season, with many expecting the key forward to have a breakout year in 2024 and command quite the pay rise.
“I found it interesting. Hawthorn has been really aggressive in this space,” Gabelich told SEN’s Sportsday.
“They’ve looked at a number of different options in recent years – Todd Marshall being one of them, even Hayden McLean was someone they went after last year in a tier below Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
“The Western Bulldogs have been confident this summer that Jamarra will sign. They were hopeful he would do that before Round 1, time will tell, but I feel the Aaron Naughton situation has just squeezed the salary cap.
“They’re going to have to find a little bit more wriggle room in that cap.
“All indications out of Whitten Oval are that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is very happy, very settled, coming off a career-best year to launch into this year.
“I would be surprised if he leaves. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t re-sign in the first-half of the season, but who knows, they’ve got a lot on their plate with Tim English and Bailey Smith as well.”
Kane Cornes agrees, suggesting Hawthorn would have to offer Ugle-Hagan significantly more than the Bulldogs to lure him 45 minutes down the road.
“It’s a great story. I wasn’t expecting it. I thought it would be Sydney, if he was to go anywhere,” Cornes said.
“Would the difference in dollars need to be? You pay half in tax on everything, so if it was an extra $200,000, you pay an extra $100,000 in tax for the hassle of moving away from a very good team to a rebuilding team, is it worth it? But if it’s $600,000 difference and we’re talking $800,000 to $1.4 million, which is not unrealistic, is that the sort of difference in salary that would have to convince him?
“I’d be surprised if he left as well. It would need to be that $600,000 difference in contract for him to seriously think about it.”
Ugle-Hagan booted four goals and took seven marks against the Hawks in his side’s dominant 57-point victory in the Community Series last weekend.
The Western Bulldogs take on Melbourne next weekend at the MCG to kick off their 2024 campaign.