Five goals in a VFL practice match won't be enough for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to earn an AFL debut against West Coast, with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge adamant the No.1 draft pick isn't yet ready for senior football.
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Ugle-Hagan booted five majors in three quarters against Collingwood's VFL side on Friday but the Bulldogs are keen for the youngster to build form and fitness at state league level, rather than throwing him in the deep end.
The 18-year-old was among the Victorian draftees who played no football in 2020 and given the Bulldogs' tall options there is no urgency to rush him into their senior team.
"To see some of his specific gifts and traits in his game come out that allowed him to rise to the top of that draft order was really exciting for all of us to see," Beveridge told reporters on Tuesday.
"He's still got a fair way to go and we've got to make sure that he's ready to be productive in winning games of footy for us
"It was a step in the right direction but he definitely won't be in the team this week."
The Bulldogs also got their first look at the new VFL density rules - where at boundary throw-ins and kick-ins, three players from each team are required to be inside each 50m arc, with one in the goal square.
Beveridge said VFL density rules would hurt young key talls' hopes of breaking into senior teams, given they weren't doing the running loads required at AFL level - and he hoped to see the goal square requirement scrapped.
"Even in this game Jamarra didn't run anywhere near like he's going to be required to run in an AFL game," Beveridge said.
"So it's actually going to hold a player like Jamarra back because we can't get that match conditioning that he needs at AFL level."
Defender Easton Wood also featured in the VFL game, after recovering from a hamstring injury, but Beveridge played down the defender's chances of facing the Eagles.
"To keep Collingwood to the lowest score of the round was a big win for us and the back seven were a critical part of that," Beveridge said.
"So it'll be difficult to change that and Easton's aware of that but he got through the game which was really important after he had a couple of hiccups.
"So we'll see but he might spend another week or two playing state league and getting cherry ripe for his return."
Australian Associated Press
