"Are we sure?": Kane and Kingy on Bevo's Jamarra revelation

Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge has revealed his heartbreak over departed star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan off the back of an incredibly troubled season.

Dealing with a wide range of off-season demons, Ugle-Hagan failed to make a single AFL appearance over the course of the year before being traded to Gold Coast in exchange for Pick 74.

Now, having spent the off-season with the Suns, Beveridge opened up on the club's inability to help the former No.1 Pick, expressing the difficulties faced on a personal note.

“He just lost his way off-field,” Beveridge told News Corp.

“We were obviously really concerned about it, and we are broken-hearted about it to a degree because we cared so much for him.

“So I think all of us just hope he is finding his way. And then he can play.

“Sometimes you can’t control the bad influences in someone’s life. And the vices they end up becoming vulnerable too.

“So we just hope he is going to be able to cleanse himself of all that and find his best footy again, and there will be no one happier than me.”

Given Beveridge's comments, SEN's Kane Cornes wonders whether the disappointment of 2025 has been swept over too comfortably.

“He has been as honest as we’ve probably heard,” Cornes told SEN Fireball.

“I was waiting for this honesty, albeit it was a really difficult situation last year, as we were all going, ‘what is going on with Jamarra?’

“Have we just gone okay, ‘Jamarra looks fit, they’ve put some good social media videos up of him… away we go?'

“Are we being a bit blasé about this just because we focus on the footy, he looks good and happy and all of that? Are we sure? Are we certain?

“This was my point on Friday – for him to spend a month in the VFL, to really make him earn his spot. The mentions of the rehabilitation facility that he was in last year – it was some pretty harrowing stuff from Bevo.”

Co-host David King had a slightly different take.

“You can understand from the Western Bulldogs’ point of view – they tried everything, and they want to tell you what they’ve tried, because in the end it didn’t work and it’s cost them an important piece in their premiership push,” he said.

“They are a better team with him playing seven out of 10 footy for that football club, it frees them up for a key forward to go back as a key defender.

“But I’m coming at this from an opposite angle. I want you to be positive with this. These second chance opportunities… he is not getting a third. This is it. I think he knows that.

“We’ve seen it happen a lot through the course of history – second club players taking their opportunity. All the conversation is, ‘if he could have done this at the Dogs…’ he didn’t do it at the Dogs.

“You’ve got to move on from that. It didn’t work out. Give this kid a chance!”

Cornes: “I want him to earn that second chance.”

King: “He’s doing that, isn’t he?”

Cornes: “I want them to really make him earn it. Beveridge says, we did support him, but there are things that are out of your control. He’s saying a lot without giving too much away here.

“This was a serious, serious issue for this kid off the field, to the point where this footy club with all their resources and everything around him, weren’t able to get him to turn up!

“So just to go bang, one pre-season and it’s all fixed…”

King: He was in a bad place. Things weren’t clear for him. I hope he comes out and speaks publicly like he did last week.

“He had a lot of challenges. Now, he is by no means clear of all of those – they would be a work-in-progress every day, but that’s part of redemption. To just keep fronting up."

Listen to the full discussion below: