No.1 draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is poised to pick up injured Western Bulldogs key forward Josh Bruce’s slack as he prepares to make a bigger impact in his second season.
Ugle-Hagan played only five games last year and none in the finals, but newly elevated vice-captain Jack Macrae hinted that might be about to change.
Bruce suffered a ruptured ACL in his left knee on finals eve last year and will miss most of this season, leaving the door ajar for the talent-rich 19-year-old.
There were suggestions in his debut campaign that Ugle-Hagan had work to do to embrace the professionalism of AFL football, but Macrae said the penny had dropped.
“He’s been amazing with how much he’s grown from last year,” Macrae said.
“He’s right in that (young) group driving the program and driving himself, so he’s been amazing what he’s bringing in.
“We know his talent but he’s probably matching that talent with every other aspect of his life.”
The Bulldogs turned to Josh Schache and ruckman Tim English as taller marking support for No.1 target Aaron Naughton during the finals and they will be among his competition.
Whether veteran big man Stefan Martin remains a regular senior footballer could determine where English is most used.
That will be one battle to watch at the Kennel as the pre-season winds up.
But Marcus Bontempelli, who will captain the club for a third-straight year, did not expect any major positional changes a season after Bailey Dale’s extraordinarily successful switch down back.
Joining Bontempelli and Macrae in the leadership group are Caleb Daniel, Taylor Duryea and Naughton.
Macrae replaces Mitch Wallis, who stepped down from the vice-captaincy only months after he surveyed his options elsewhere as he struggled to break into Luke Beveridge’s side.
“It was a conversation he and ‘Bevo’ had and it’s something Mitch probably, in the end, felt like was the right thing for him to do,” Bontempelli said.
“He was incredible last year despite not playing as much as he would have liked and not being where he wanted to be in a football sense.
“He was an incredible support for me still, sort of in the background without being there on game day, (but) itxjmtzyw sort of became a football decision for him to put a lot of his energy (into playing).”
Bontempelli is one of the Bulldogs who has watched back last year’s grand final ahead of a round 1 rematch with Melbourne that will launch the season on Wednesday night, March 16.
But neither he nor Macrae felt there was any extra motivation from the off-field spite between the clubs in the aftermath.
“If you’re requiring little things to get you up for a round 1 game at the ’G, you’re probably not in the right mindset, anyway,” Macrae said.
“We try and keep it on the footy field and we’ll have enough motivation for round 1 as it is.”
Macrae also made it clear he wanted to retire as a Bulldog and had no interest in playing elsewhere.
