Thomas Bugg was born to Jim and Kerry Bugg (née Ramage) in Melbourne, Victoria; and played his junior football career with the Gembrook-Cockatoo Junior Football Club and Beaconsfield Football Club before joining the Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup as a bottom-aged player in 2010 where he played eight matches and kicked two goals, including the grand final loss against the Calder Cannons. He received state honours in 2009 when he played for Vic Country in the under 16 championships, and received a scholarship within the prestigious AIS/AFL Academy as part of their 2009 intake. He was again selected for Vic Country in 2010, this time in the AFL Under 18 Championships and played his best game for the series against NSW/ACT, where he was named in the best players. In October 2010, he signed a three-year contract with the Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) as an underage recruit, which was a special recruitment process allowed by the AFL Commission where GWS could sign twelve players born between January and April 1993. As GWS wouldn't compete in the Australian Football League (AFL) until 2012, he moved to Melbourne in 2011 to complete year twelve at Caulfield Grammar School as a boarder.
