Why Jamarra needs to seize Suns opportunity

Gold Coast Suns have nothing to lose in the deal they have done for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan who is on his final chance at a career in AFL, according to Sam Edmund.

After a truly torrid 16 months, the former Bulldog, who has struggled with numerous off-field and mental health issues this year, will relocate to the Gold Coast for a final shot at redemption.

Ugle-Hagan will live with Sun’s Indigenous Programs Coordinator, Jarrod Harbrow as he looks to turn his life around on a 12-month contract littered with clauses to protect the club from any repeat of the disruptions he caused the Bulldogs.

The former No 1 draft pick has taken a pay cut upwards of $700,000 to get his life back on track with his every move set to be scrutinised between now and the start of the 2026 season.

The Suns have not shied away from acknowledging the 23-year-old’s challenges and insist they did a significant amount of investigating the risks that he brings with him.

But the pressure is all on him.

“If things don’t work out for Jamarra, it won’t reflect poorly on Gold Coast, it will on Jamarra,” Edmund said on SEN Breakfast.

“It’s up to him; it’s always been up to him. He has to seize this opportunity, and it will be his last.

“It could be a redemption story we all love.

“This has been Damien Hardwick’s project for months. He is glass half full.

“There are a lot of protection mechanisms in place. It’s a 12-month contract with a trigger for a second.

“How much can go wrong in 12 months? If it goes wrong, they sack him.

“There are things in the contract that we are not privy to but that protects the club to ensure they can cut the cord and not have this bleed out and become a multi-year problem as it did at the Bulldogs.”

Earlier this week, Suns list manager Craig Cameron lifted the lid on why the club had pursued the key forward.

“The big thing is we are giving Jamarra a second chance and it’s now up to him to commit to that second chance but also use all the structures that we are going to put around him to give himself the best chance to return to footy,” Cameron told Trade Radio on Thursday.

“It takes a fair bit to work through with someone like Jamarra in terms of some of the issues that we had to investigate and also work out what his position was with the Bulldogs, given he was contracted.”

Should Ugle-Hagan rediscover his past form, the deal could prove an incredible coup for the Suns in their pursuit of a flag.

He could also force a teammate to leave, according to Kane Cornes.

“What does it do to the forward line? You’ve got Ethan Read, Jed Walter, Ben King and Jamarra,” Cornes said on SEN.

“You can’t play all four. if it works then one of Walter or King is playing at a new club.”