There is one mark in the Gold Coast SUNS record books that is probably never going to be broken - the 1,379-day break Rory Thompson had between his 103rd game in 2018 and his 104th game in 2022.

But it’s a pointer to the enormity of what Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has been through prior to his first game for the SUNS in Launceston on Saturday.

He was 596 days between his 67th game for the Western Bulldogs in the 2024 Elimination final in September 2024 and his return to football on Saturday.

If he’d been a SUNS player from the outset, it’s an absence that would see him ranked ninth on the club’s ‘longest time between games’ list, which includes 10 players who were a full season out of the game.

Ugle-Hagan would slot in behind Thompson (1,379), Tom Nicholls (778), Josh Hall (730), Jy Farrar (714), Jack Hutchins (644), David Swallow (630), Sam Day and Ben King (574), and ahead of Chris Burgess (587).

But to the former No.1 draft pick, it’s been much more than just time. He’s had to overcome off-field battles, then move interstate to reignite his football.

Ugle-Hagan’s emotion when told of his selection by coach Damien Hardwick last week was a pointer to what he has been through, and how much it meant to him.

And the joyful celebration among teammates when he pulled down a clever one-handed mark and kicked his first SUNS goal 26 minutes into the first term was an understanding of his journey, and confirmation he’s very definitely now one of ‘them’.

Ugle-Hagan, who wore jumper No.22 and No.2 at the Western Bulldogs, became player No.158 on the SUNS’ all-time list and just the third player to wear jumper No.9.

He follows inaugural captain Gary Ablett Jnr, who played 110 games in the red and yellow No.9 from 2011–17, and Ben Ainsworth, who added 145 games in the number from 2018–25 after starting his career in jumper No.27.