Western Bulldogs use inspiration from club saviour Irene Chatfield for milestone clash with Collingwood

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge reinforced the club’s fighting history by reading a letter from saviour Irene Chatfield to his players this week, seeking extra motivation for Friday’s clash with Collingwood in which the club will play as Footscray as part of 100-year celebrations.

As he walked back from a statement earlier this week suggesting troubled star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan may not play in 2025, labelling it just one of a myriad possible outcomes as he battles personal challenges, Beveridge revealed the “magnificent” contents of a letter from Chatfield that boosted his frame of mind.

Chatfield was one of the faces of the 1989 “Fightback” campaign, which stopped the club from going under, emerging as the Western Bulldogs and growing into the powerhouse club it is now, a journey that included the 2016 premiership.

That journey will be celebrated against the Magpies, and Beveridge said it was part of the current players’ story too.

“When you think of her place in the club’s history, I said to the players this morning, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Irene,” Beveridge said on Thursday.

“Even in Australian society that’s significant, let alone in our football club.

“Irene writes me a letter every week, and she expects that I read that out to the playing group, and I read her letter out this morning.

“She hasn’t been so well, her friend emailed me a scanned letter.

“It was magnificent, quite beautiful, her words, quite quirky.

“And so we soaked that up a little bit, just to pay tribute to Irene as much as anything.”

The Bulldogs toppled North Melbourne in round 1 playing without captain Marcus Bontempelli, Adam Treloar, Cody Weightman and Liam Jones, who all remain sidelined through injury.

Defender James O’Donnell will also miss Friday night’s game, having required surgery to fix a broken jaw and also losing a wisdom tooth, while Luke Cleary remains in concussion protocols after the collision that resulted in a three-game suspension for Kangaroos youngster Jackson Archer.

“Luke is up and about and in good spirits,” Beveridge said.

But Ugle-Hangan remains sidelined and while Beveridge said again he “can’t be definitive” when the former No.1 pick would be back, there was “evidence” he was “self-starting better than he had been”.

He said trust was not the issue.

“The trust aspect, I suppose that’s in the language and the messaging between ‘Marra’ and the club, and I don’t think we’ve ever said anything about that,” he said.

“We’ve just appreciated the fact that he’s got some life challenges that then present as impediments to him playing at this level and so it’s not really a trust situation.

“It’s just (about) how do we, as far as motivating an individual and then helping them become a self-starter again.

“That’s where we’re at, and there’s evidence that he’s self-starting better than he had been. Now we need a sustainable run with that.

“Once he can sustain a period of time with that, he’ll be a candidate to make a return on the field.”