Opinion Buckley: Sam Darcy could be the best player in the AFL next season

[Mofra]

Absolute riches that dogs forward line could end up being the Franklin/Roughead combination if they can keep them together.

We need another quality small to be truly dangerous. All of Marra/Sam/Naughton are pretty good at ground level but a full time crumber is still a desperate need. Weightman plays more of a general forward role.

 

[Cleansweep17]

Heard he is injury prone. Pass

 

[Flags_In_The_Bag]

Bucks is a surprisingly good analyst … as in easy on the ears as well as insightful

As player i thought he was arrogant, but i guess that's what made him the player he was. I love listening to him now a lot

 

[Flags_In_The_Bag]

Darcy is very good - very promising. Every team would love to have him.

But Calsher Dear will be the better player.

i really can only reply with WOW

 

[Sentinel]

It’s obviously a big net win to get access to two top prospects that we wouldn’t have otherwise, so can’t complain about it and you’d do it every time.

It’s a trade off though in that we used most of our draft capital to get them and outside of them drafted no 2nd rounders, one 3rd rounder and two 4th rounders (5th last selection overall both years) across those two drafts combined. And as JUH and Darcy were project talls that took 3 years each to be effective (as opposed to AFL ready mids), the bottom half of our 23 went to shit a little bit as a result and stagnated for a couple years. We probably could have made other moves that would have better helped us contend in 2021-23 if we weren’t chasing a huge amount of draft points. The three other players we drafted in those two drafts have played 22 games total and only 2 this year between them. But it’s obviously paying off massively for us now 3-4 years later and in the longer term.

That being said, I personally think the academies should generally be AFL run with the majority of players in the open draft pool. Instead we have a typical AFL ‘bob each way’ approach.

One thing to offset this in 2020 with the JUH pick shuffling is that Treloar landed in our lap effectively for free in the same offseason.

We still basically sat out the rest of the draft that year after pick 1, but it meant the off-season with the (discounted) selection of Jamarra had less of an impact on the list than it might have otherwise - but obviously didn't help our gap in mid-range younger talent which still persists.

 

[Osho]

Darcy is a bewdy. I would rather not mozz the young gun with talk of rare skill sets, as was done in another "well known" thread. However, we could with under statement say at his size he can do things many much smaller players cannot. I think he has a very high footy IQ and he often knows what to do instinctively in given situations. So he has physical prowess coupled with footy smarts. It must be a big kick for Dogs fans seeing the son of being so good. I'm all for father sons, it continues the club attachment romance for fans. My club will be due some sons of in the coming decades, fingers crossed.

 

[Cyclops]

As player i thought he was arrogant, but i guess that's what made him the player he was. I love listening to him now a lot

He is very misunderstood. Many pie players hated (not disliked, hated) him before he joined us, only d/hs didn;t like him once he was there.

Very intense, and very hard on himself, so he got seen as sulky or arrogant, but AFAIK very fair and generous guy.

 

[Flags_In_The_Bag]

He is very misunderstood. Many pie players hated (not disliked, hated) him before he joined us, only d/hs didn;t like him once he was there.

Very intense, and very hard on himself, so he got seen as sulky or arrogant, but AFAIK very fair and generous guy.

I like him a lot, think his a smart guy football wise.

 

[Flags_In_The_Bag]

Darcy is a bewdy. I would rather not mozz the young gun with talk of rare skill sets, as was done in another "well known" thread. However, we could with under statement say at his size he can do things many much smaller players cannot. I think he has a very high footy IQ and he often knows what to do instinctively in given situations. So he has physical prowess coupled with footy smarts. It must be a big kick for Dogs fans seeing the son of being so good. I'm all for father sons, it continues the club attachment romance for fans. My club will be due some sons of in the coming decades, fingers crossed.

His aggressive and confident in himself without being to arrogant. Has a great football smarts IQ like you mentioned yes.

 

[Osho]

His aggressive and confident in himself without being to arrogant. Has a great football smarts IQ like you mentioned yes.

FInals will be great, a great test for the young blokes, who can astand up under extreme pressure? It may help that Hawks are a tad small down back.

 

[QuietB]

I’m sure it won’t be smooth sailing for Darcy. There’s always heaps of growing pains with young key forwards. The Kings were meant to be the next big things. Hogan looked like becoming an all time great after his first season, Daniher too looked incredible at times when he was young. I’m sure it won’t be as fluent as a lot of people are saying.

That being said, he’s probably the player with the highest ceiling to come through in the last 10 or more years. I’m pretty confident saying that

Ottens was next big forward - he ended up a ruck at Geelong. Hale ended up a ruck/forward at Hawthorn. Tipett ended up rich. Lobb ended up a back at the Dogs. And there are plenty that ended with not much at all.

These ruck sized forwards are always the next big thing. No-one has actually pulled it off since Paul Salmon and even he ended up a ruck at Hawthorn.

 

[Golden_6]

FInals will be great, a great test for the young blokes, who can astand up under extreme pressure? It may help that Hawks are a tad small down back.

So far Darcy has shown a steely resolved under pressure. The first big test in his career was the Pies game where he hit Maynard late and made a couple of errors early before being dragged. He came back to kick 3 goals including the sealer.

Friday night will be the next big test.

 

[janty]

Is doing Naughton and English's job combined so far.

 

[SSSSSS]

Best of the talls for the Dogs today.

Will be a seriously good player. Minus two bad kicks thought he had a good game with limited supply.

 

[MightyHawks]

Darcy is very good - very promising. Every team would love to have him.

But Calsher Dear will be the better player.

Very good game by Darcy.

But Calsher Dear was better.