Jamarra Ugle-Hagan produced a career-best game in the wake of one of the toughest weeks of his life as he inspired the Western Bulldogs to a gritty win over a wasteful Brisbane.
Ugle-Hagan, who had to take time away from the club on Monday after being racially abused during the Bulldogs’ Round 2 loss to St Kilda, kicked five goals as he made a statement to the AFL — and to the broader community as he lifted his jumper following his first goal.
As the Lions challenged late in a scrappy contest, Bulldogs duo Aaron Naughton and Tim English took a few huge contested marks to help the Dogs hold on to win by 14 points, 10.7 (67) to 7.11 (53).
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER MATCH REPORT
There were no late changes for either side, with Robbie McComb (Bulldogs) and Noah Answerth (Lions) named the starting subs.
It didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to get stuck into former teammate Josh Dunkley, who copped a couple of heavy tackles within the opening seconds. And every time Dunkley touched the ball, he copped jeers from Dogs fans.
Channel 7 commentator Alister Nicholson said the Dogs had placed “a target on his (Dunkley’s) back”.
But it was the Dogs who got the fast start. Debutant Arthur Jones applied terrific pressure on Cameron Rayner to force a turnover, leading to a mark and goal to Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
After kicking the goal, Ugle-Hagan turned to the crowd, lifted up his jumper and pointed to the skin on his stomach. It comes five days after Ugle-Hagan was racially abused by a fan during the Bulldogs’ loss to St Kilda.
The Lions then settled and got on top in the territory battle, winning the inside 50 count 13 to eight for the opening quarter.
But Brisbane couldn’t capitalise, with Joe Daniher kicking two behinds and Charlie Cameron adding another.
Luckily Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale was able to convert, which ensured the Lions held a one-point lead at quarter-time.
Cameron then showed trademark dash and agility, slipping away from two Bulldogs defenders to snap his first goal.
But the Dogs wrestled back the lead through their two recruits. Rory Lobb was the beneficiary of a sloppy Lions turnover before Oskar Baker showed excellent composure to produce a classy left-foot finish.
Ugle-Hagan then kicked his second major — and the Bulldogs’ third on the trot — after snapping a goal from a free kick set-shot from the boundary to give his side a 10-point lead.
Both teams missed crucial opportunities just before half-time, with the Bulldogs holding an eight-point lead.
Daniher’s inaccuracy frustrated legendary Hawks goalkicker Jason Dunstall.
Dunstall: “You need a good goalkicking technique, but 90 per cent of it is above the shoulders and I worry about Joe Daniher’s confidence level,” Dunstall told Fox Footy.
“There’s a set-shot, which is which is pretty regulation truth be told. OK, everyone misses every now and then. Now he goes around the corner and you miss. So what does that do to your confidence? You’re not kicking drop punts well off the boot, you’re not kicking around the corner well. Then you’ve got one where it’s probably in his range, but he kicks it straight to the opposition. He’s lost his conference.
“Then it transposes into efforts like this. That’s just not good enough. I’m sorry Joe, I’m not having a go at you because Eric Hipwood’s been in the same boat and some of his efforts haven’t been good enough either. But those type of efforts and those top performances don’t win games of footy, let alone flags.”
Ugle-Hagan continued his promising game after half-time, booting his third goal as the Dogs kicked out to a game-high 14-point lead.
Enter Jack Gunston, who responded with two crucial set-shot goals to draw the Lions within a kick.
But Ugle-Hagan was awarded a free kick. And with his fourth kick, he nailed his fourth goal as the Bulldogs consolidated their lead.
Then the Lions gave away another holding free kick in defence, with Aaron Naughton capitalising and kicking a goal.
Gunston responded though at the other end, kicking his third goal from, you guessed it, a free kick.
Lobb then kicked his second goal after he was paid a dubious contested mark as the ball appeared to hit the ground. The major gave the Dogs a 15-point lead.
But Gunston kept the Lions in the contest, nailing his third goal of the term to cut the Western Bulldogs’ lead to eight points at the final change.
It was an arm-wrestle of a final term, with both teams struggling to lock the ball in their forward half. There were no goals kicked in the first 15 minutes of the quarter.
Bailey Williams missed a long-range attempt for the Bulldogs before the Lions moved the ball down the other end of the field. Eric Hipwood won a free kick for a hold and calmly slotted his set-shot to make it a two-point game.
Naughton then pulled off a terrific contested mark, which then set up a set-shot goal for Williams to give the Dogs some breathing space.
Ugle-Hagan then marked and goaled on the final siren to seal a 14-point win.
THE 3-2-1 ...
3. MAGIC FROM ‘MARRA
It was a week of enormous adversity for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, but the way in which the 20-year-old responded was something to behold.
Racially vilified reportedly by multiple fans both during and after last week’s loss to St Kilda, Ugle-Hagan spent time away from the club during the week before returning and being welcomed back with open arms.
After declaring himself right to play, Ugle-Hagan returned to the same ground where those comments were made last week … and thrived.
He booted the first goal of the match before turning to the crowd and recreating the iconic Nicky Winmar moment from nearly 30 years earlier, lifting up his shirt and pointing to his skin.
“Unforuntatley it’s almost 30 years to the day since Nicky Winmar did that and we’re still having these issues,” Leigh Montagna said on Fox Footy.
“It was a great start for the Western Bulldogs. First of all Arthur Jones started the turnover and then to finish with Jamarra after the week he’s had, I think it just fuelled the energy.
“It was a special moment.”
Rather than a one-and-done highlight, Ugle-Hagan’s goal proved the first of several, as the former number one draft pick starred throughout the night.
That match in and of itself would’ve been impressive from Ugle-Hagan, but to play like that given the week he’d had is an incredible feat.
It was fitting he finished with the final disposal of the match, which ended in his fifth goal of the night.
2. BONT’S BIG-GAME BRILLIANCE
The heat had come on the Dogs to perform after a lacklustre start to the season and for Marcus Bontempelli to lead the way as captain.
His opening two rounds had been decent enough, but it wasn’t the Bontempelli that had at times stamped himself as the best player in the competition.
With the challenge set, the 27-year-old rose to the task, finishing with 28 disposals, 16 contested possessions, eight intercepts, seven clearances, seven inside 50s and six tackles.
Bontempelli took on former teammate Josh Dunkley at the opening bounce and looked determined from the first seconds.
He was physical when he needed to be and covered a huge amount of ground as he looked to ignite his side.
“Bontempelli for me, heart the size of Phar Lap tonight,” Fox Footy’s David King observed at half-time.
“He’s willing himself to every contest. He hasn’t been clean, he hasn’t been perfect from traffic, but he’s there and his intent is obvious for everyone to see.
“I think he’s just trying to raise an effort to drag his troops across the line tonight, he’s been brilliant.”
It was set up perfectly for the star on-baller to put through one of the goals of the year late in the third quarter, as he burst clear of the stoppage and set sail for home from 50 metres out.
That shot sailed to the left, but the passage was proof of how dominant he was on the night.
Dunkley, meanwhile, had a good night on the stats sheet (23 disposals), but didn’t enjoy the impact of Bontempelli.
1. DANIHER’S DOUR NIGHT AS LIONS CONCERNS RE-EMERGE
There were many things Joe Daniher would want to forget from Thursday night.
The former Coleman medallist booted four behinds, with some of the all-too-common breakdowns in technique from the former Bomber when faced with gettable set shots.
“You need a good goalkicking technique, but 90 per cent of it is above the shoulders and I worry about Joe Daniher’s confidence level,” legendary goal kicker Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy.
“There’s a set-shot, which is which is pretty regulation truth be told. OK, everyone misses every now and then. Now he goes around the corner and you miss. So what does that do to your confidence?
“You’re not kicking drop punts well off the boot, you’re not kicking around the corner well. Then you’ve got one where it’s probably in his range, but he kicks it straight to the opposition.
“He’s lost his confidence. Then it transposes into efforts like this. That’s just not good enough. I’m sorry Joe, I’m not having a go at you because Eric Hipwood’s been in the same boat and some of his efforts haven’t been good enough either.
“But those type of efforts and those top performances don’t win games of footy, let alone flags.”
Another brainfade moment came midway through the final quarter, with the Lions trailing by eight points.
Daniher had teammate Charlie Cameron streaming into goal ahead of him, but appeared to set sail from beyond 50 in the hopes of a goal of his own.
That sailed wide, leaving Cameron – and likely many Lions supporters – pulling their hair out.
