Western Bulldogs youngster Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is not ready for AFL football, according to Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton.
Last year’s No.1 draft pick went goalless in his long-awaited Bulldogs debut against Sydney on Sunday, finishing with seven disposals, one mark and one tackle.
“Nobody knows better than the coach. That boy showed some signs that he’s going to be a very capable player, but he’s not ready,” Brereton told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“He’s simply not ready.
“If you ever wanted to debut in a game, there’s no easy games in league football, but if ever you wanted to play as a forward, the one thing you’d be praying for is a 15-3 win in centre bounce clearances.
“You’d think if you were ready and you had your wits about you and your body is moving well, you’d think you can cash in a bit.
“The boy is just not ready yet.”
Should the Dogs give the 19-year-old forward a run of games at senior level, despite his quiet debut performance against the Swans?
“No. You’d say, ‘That’s the standard’,” Brereton said.
“A couple of times he got gobbled up and had a bit less time than perhaps he might have thought.
“He’s had a taste of it now, he knows the level. He’ll go back to the reserves and be a better player.
“He had an assortment of opponents on the weekend … and all of them pretty well covered him – that goes from (Robbie) Fox, (Dane) Rampe, (Tom) McCartin.
“The best thing he did on the weekend was bring the ball to ground which Caleb Daniel kicked the goal from, because he made contact with McCartin, broke the contact and was still able to run and jump at the footy.”
Without spearhead Aaron Naughton, the Bulldogs lost to the Swans by 19 points at Marvel Stadium.
They next face Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.