Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan says he doesn't want to get ahead of himself after extending his recent patch of potency in front of the sticks to help his side blow past Sydney to reclaim a spot in the top eight on Sunday.
Now three on the trot and six wins from their last eight outings since a narrow loss to the Swans in within their faultless run post Easter, the Bulldogs will eye off four winnable games to end the home-and-away season after jumping into their best ladder position since round six.
Ugle Hagan had slotted four against both Carlton and Geelong in their previous two outings, matching that figure with another imposing performance at the SCG towards a 12.15 (87) - 7.6 (48) win.
The former no.1 draft pick got his day started early with the first major of the afternoon snapping from the pocket after having two grabs at a contested mark three minutes in.
His second - slotting from 20 out after reading the ball best in the marking contest, equalled his career-best season haul of 35 with four and a half games remaining.
Marra registered this third with long-range snap out of traffic with his best yet to come - fending off Sam Wicks for an open look at goals from 40-odd to push the margin past 40 points four minutes out from the final change.
Jamarra with the fierce fend off and the finish 😮#AFLSwansDogs pic.twitter.com/uHg3yYP5sL
— AFL (@AFL) July 28, 2024
Speaking post match, the 22-year-old said the Dogs' recent success was reward for "dominating" across the park against strong opposition.
"We're playing well, coming together and we're dominating," he said post match.
"Our back six are unbelievable…but just our connection through the forward line."
The Bulldogs tall options up front proved a task too difficult for a Sydney backline lean on size and missing former co-captain Dane Rampe with Ugle-Hagan, Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy all providing marking options.
Cody Weightman and Rhylee West looked equally dangerous in patches.
"Our smalls can be creative and kick goals but if our talls are on, we're on," Ugle-Hagan said.
On return from a knee injury, Liam Jones was impressive in the backline.
The 33-year-old was particularly instrumental cutting off Sydney's early forward movement ending his afternoon with 11 intercept possessions overall in his 100th game as a Dog.
"It's a credit to him for his approach to his rehabilitation...I thought he was outstanding early," Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said post match.
"He just picked up where he left off. He intercepted. It didn't feel like we had our way with being able to rebound from some of his intercepts at times. But late in the first quarter and into the second, I think it worked out a bit better.
"I thought the back end played pretty well together."
Jones is averaging four intercept marks and six spoils across his 16 matches in his second year back at the Kennel.
He and Marra collected seven points apiece, behind only Adam Treloar, in the coaches votes on Monday.
Ugle-Hagan extended the credit to the midfield providing opportunities to score, stating "we're pretty lucky to get on the end…of them" but won't be taking his recent form for granted before another critical content against the 11th placed Demons, who trail by only one game.
"I don't want to get a bit ahead of myself…the boys will get into me," he said.
"A good win against Sydney, (they're) on top of the ladder, but amazing work from us."
The Bulldogs rebrand to their traditional name Footscray to host Melbourne at Marvel for retro round celebrating 70 years since their 1954 premiership on Friday night.
