Luke Beveridge won't confirm that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will feature at all for Footscray at AFL level in 2025, and hasn't ruled out the Bulldogs making a call on the young forward at season's end.

The coach admitted "there's a lot of unknowns" unlikely to become clear until the end of the year amid ongoing arrangements afforded to Ugle-Hagan as he deals with personal circumstances, and resulting scrutiny.

Ugle-Hagan, 22, has been granted flexible training arrangements from preseason and into the opening rounds of the season, with increasing speculation he might have played his final senior game for Dogs.

The former no.1 draft pick has been linked to a number of potential new homes by footy pundits, including Geelong and more recently Sydney, without concrete indications he is keen to switch allegiances.

He is currently contracted to Footscray until the end of the 2026 season.

Speaking on Nine's Footy Classified on Tuesday, Beverdige said Ugle-Hagan's place at the kennel going forward will ultimately be "his choice".

"The expectation around his movement into the future is that it'll be a bit rubbery," he said.

"He'll train in the club here and there. There'll be times when he's absolutely not expected to be in different places, and it'll be his choice.

"So we're working with him on that, and sometimes there will be a tolerance to it."

Within club walls, the focus is on what they can control and on-field performance while Ugle-Hagan is "not on campus, most of the time", Beveridge said, and might be an example of a player, still young in his career, with progress to come around his maturity in an elite footy environment.

Hope remains "we'll get him back at some point, but he's got some challenges ahead," Beveridge added, stating he has had "minimal" contact with the key forward.

"Third parties" have helped with ongoing contact with the player, with the AFL "helping the football club with trying to influence things in the right direction", he said.

The Dogs' coach couldn't say he was confident in response to queries of the likelihood Ugle-Hagan will play AFL football this year.

Beveridge had previously said he couldn't "definitively" give an answer around the chances he would slot into the side 2025.

"We would love to just see that the week to week consistency of training at the club and building up towards playing some state league footy, and then maybe there's an opportunity to play some AFL footy at the end of the year. That'd be great," he said on Tuesday.

Beveridge said "the more I know about 'Marra, the more I understand".

The Bulldogs celebrated their 100th birthday in Friday night's narrow loss to Collingwood.

Amid the celebrations, including involvement from past players and club icons, Ugle-Hagan did not appear.

Attention has been drawn to a string of social media posts at outings made by the forward last week, including attendances at NBL and NRL matches ahead of the Bulldogs' birthday.

Rumours of unrest amongst the club's playing group have been reported.

Teammates "with big hearts" have been "inquisitive and at times they may get a bit frustrated" but are better understanding the circumstances facing Ugle-Hagan, Beveridge said.

"We're dealing with someone who we've got to try to understand from a maturity perspective. We've got to understand, as far as the limelight goes and dealing with notoriety and fame to a degree, he's going through a period where he's challenged with that, and he's trying to work through it."

"Now all they're trying to do is help him in life, more than trying to get him back as a teammate."

Despite the club's person-first approach, they could be forced into making a decision on Ugle-Hagan's football future there at some stage - though Beveridge ruled out making the call himself.

"It'll be a group-think," the Bulldogs coach said.

"Ultimately, probably similar to what's happened with one or two players in the past, It's what's best for the player and ultimately, what's best for our football club as we move into the future."