The hard decisions facing the Dogs after painful wait

AS TOM Petty once mused, the waiting was the hardest part.

For the Western Bulldogs, it is an ugly, awkward, hard conversation-delaying waiting that is hovering over operations this week.

As the club passes time until Wednesday night’s 207th and final home-and-away match of the season, and hopes for a miracle on the Gold Coast in the form of a Bombers defeat of the Suns, which would provide them with an unexpected and maybe undeserved finals spot, beginning the process of addressing its failures during the year needs to be placed on hold.

While there remains a lot to like with the Bulldogs’ list, including a brilliant midfield and an envied array of marking forward talent, there are also glaring problems: primarily a weak backline which has been regularly exposed against the best forward lines.

There is another massive Bulldogs issue which will remain in “the waiting” category, well beyond this week’s player exit meetings: the Jamarra Ugle-Hagan mess.

Ugle-Hagan, like all senior-listed players, will have his season-ending discussion with the Bulldogs late this week. While he has been regularly absent from club requirements since this time last year, there is an expectation that he will attend that gathering. He will likely be accompanied by his representatives in both AFL support and personal management.

Ugle-Hagan, the overall No.1 selection in the 2020 AFL Draft, has not played at any level since a tumultuous lead-in to a 2024 elimination final loss. Even with prolonged absences from his football contract to deal with personal issues, he has regularly been in the headlines. As recently as last week, he revealed he was “lucky to be alive” when a bullet fired at 2.30am outside a Prahran nightclub missed him by a metre. Last month in an incident which had nothing to do with him, his car was used in an alleged drive-by shooting.

The AFL itself remains in control of the medical and welfare programs attached to Ugle-Hagan’s rehabilitation, which have included a 40-day stint at a NSW wellness retreat in May, and his personal issues and need for care have been at the forefront of all the Bulldogs’ considerations this year.

But there has been an understandably growing level of unrest among coaches and senior players from the pure football perspective. And trust – the most important commodity in an elite sports team sense – has been all but erased.

When this waiting is over, I don’t see a way in which Ugle-Hagan will be on the Bulldogs’ list next year, despite a $900,000 contract taking in the 2026 season, regardless of any interest in him from a rival club.

Some people close to Ugle-Hagan feel that if he is to resume a once-promising football career, he may need a fresh football start. But they also know that there will not be 17 opposition AFL clubs prepared to offer him a new home.

He will only need one, obviously, and these possibilities will ramp up in the official player exchange period that runs from October 6-15. The Sydney Swans will be seeking a key forward, primarily Charlie Curnow. If that falls over, it will not surprise me if they explored Ugle-Hagan possibilities. And I wouldn’t be falling off a chair if the Gold Coast Suns were to become interested, too, once their 2025 season is finished.

The Bulldogs have done a lot of waiting this year. Their board waited until June before it re-contracted coach Luke Beveridge to the end of 2027. They have held off on new deals for Adam Treloar and Jason Johannisen. They are looking for an answer to their big pitch to Blues backman Jack Silvagni. They are desperately hoping Zak Butters says yes, either in October this year or next.

While Bulldogs players and coaches went through the motions at a training session at Whitten Oval on Tuesday, two days after a dismal final-round loss to Fremantle – their ninth loss of the year from 11 matches against the top nine teams – officials were planning strategies around exit meetings and recruitment.

The waiting may be the hardest part right now. Some of the decisions that this club needs to arrive at in coming weeks may be even harder. But unless they make hard calls and attempt to fix the many evident problems, there is no reason to expect 2026 to be any different to 2025, or 2024, or 2023, or 2022.

The Bulldogs have done a lot of waiting this year. Their board waited until June before it re-contracted coach Luke Beveridge to the end of 2027. They have held off on new deals for Adam Treloar and Jason Johannisen. They are looking for an answer to their big pitch to Blues backman Jack Silvagni. They are desperately hoping Zak Butters says yes, either in October this year or next.

While Bulldogs players and coaches went through the motions at a training session at Whitten Oval on Tuesday, two days after a dismal final-round loss to Fremantle – their ninth loss of the year from 11 matches against the top nine teams – officials were planning strategies around exit meetings and recruitment.

The waiting may be the hardest part right now. Some of the decisions that this club needs to arrive at in coming weeks may be even harder. But unless they make hard calls and attempt to fix the many evident problems, there is no reason to expect 2026 to be any different to 2025, or 2024, or 2023, or 2022.