Jamarra Ugle-Hagan set to return to training following reports of skipping sessions

Western Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is set to return to training this week following a period of absence from the club spanning much of the off-season.

Ugle-Hagan has been ruled out of the Bulldogs' first-round match against the Kangaroos on Saturday night and his availability after that remains unknown.

According to Nine's chief AFL reporter Tom Morris, Ugle-Hagan informed the club that he would return to training on Thursday.

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Morris' report follows claims that the youngster missed scheduled sessions at the club over two consecutive days following Victoria's Labour Day long weekend.

Giving an update on the situation, Morris explained that the Bulldogs were aware that Ugle-Hagan would not be at training.

"What I can tell you tonight is the club knew about this; the club knew he was not going to come to training on Monday and Tuesday," Morris told Nine's Footy Classified.

"What this proves is that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan ... remains a work in progress. It's not linear."

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The 2020 No.1 draft pick has been training away from Whitten Oval. The club confirmed in January that the 22-year-old is "undertaking flexible training arrangements" to manage "personal issues".

While Ugle-Hagan previously declared that he was ready to return to training with his teammates, he will require a longer training block before he is considered for selection in the senior side.

"He has told the club that he will be back at training on Thursday," Morris said.

"This is not going to be a smooth process for anyone. This is why football is secondary, and his emotional and mental health is the most important priority.

"But if he gets back to training on Thursday and puts in a good block of work for two, three, four weeks, he'll be available for selection.

"But if he keeps missing training, he's every chance not to play until midway through the year."

Ugle-Hagan has previously discussed that personal struggles and family issues have kept him away from the game. The club is supporting him through these challenges.

"[I've] definitely had my ups and downs with family loss and then I struggled with that and the balance of training," he told Seven last month.

"Psychologist stuff, which is, I don't know, it's a bit difficult, but right now I'm just enjoying my footy and training hard."

Speaking to Fox Footy's AFL 360 on Tuesday, Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli addressed the situation without going into too much detail given its personal nature.

"I understand there's public interest, and we've got, as a football club, due diligence to talk to it on whatever level we can, but the priority is he's a young human being who's really working through some challenges in his personal space," he said.

"With the delicacy of things, all I can say is that there's a lot of people putting a lot of hard work to support him. I'm doing that. There're a lot of people at the football club and outside the football club who are doing their best to help him, and so is he.

"It's a tough one, but it's just the world we live in at the minute."

Ugle-Hagan also took a period of personal leave last season where he missed two matches to return home to south-west Victoria.

He has played 63 senior games and kicked 103 goals since his debut in round 17, 2021.

Ugle-Hagan signed a two-year contract extension last May, committing to the Bulldogs until the end of 2026.