Young Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve prodigy Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has kept the Western Bulldogs' season alive with a coming-of-age final quarter to help his side to an upset 10-point win over reigning premiers Melbourne Demons on Saturday night.
Ugle-Hagan, 20, booted three goals in the final quarter as part of a career-best five-goal haul to lift the Dogs to victory in the grand final rematch.
Having trailed at every break and going into the final quarter down 13 points, the Bulldogs piled on five goals to one in the final term, with the sealer kicked by Ugle-Hagan to close the game 17.8 (110) to 15.10 (100).
"One hundred per cent I'm happy with that, but hopefully it's just the start," Ugle-Hagan told Channel 7.
"I'm obviously a No. 1 draft pick and I'm not coming out and (dominating), but it's just going to take little steps at a time and I'm going to get better and better as it comes - especially with the group of boys we have."
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The result marked the first time since late 2019 the Demons had conceded 100 points and adds to their late-season concerns, having wlost five of the past eight games after going undefeated for the first 10 rounds.
It also lifts the Bulldogs back into the top eight, two points clear of Richmond and four behind Carlton in seventh.
For Ugle-Hagan it marked a critical point in his 17-game career after booting three goals in the previous game against St Kilda, slotting a major in each of the first three quarters.
"This just might be the game that catapults this kid," North Melbourne legend Wayne Carey told Channel 7 after the game.
"He's been building and building, but to kick it on a night like tonight against the reigning premier is pretty special and the match-winner."
The performance against the Demons brings his season goal tally to 15 and career tally to 22 as the tall forward shows glimpses of what he is capable in his second season at the top level.
Having being dubbed the heir apparent to Indigenous AFL legend Buddy Franklin in 2018 as an 18-year-old heading into the national draft, Ugle-Hagan has shown glimpses of his potential but so far struggled for consistency.
In 2020 he became the first Indigenous footballer since Des Headland in 1998 to be selected as pick one in the draft.
It was fitting then that Ugle-Hagan's breakout game came during the same round the man he has been compared to, Franklin, jumped Gary Ablett Snr into fifth spot on the all-time goalscoring list with his 1033rd career major.
The Bulldogs have a tough run to the finals, with games against Geelong, Fremantle, the GWS Giants and the Hawks to come.
