Player Watch #27: Jack Darling

[Better Loosen Up]

Do we take what Simpson says about Darling that seriously?

Darling wasn’t dropped by WC until Schofield took over.

I think there's a pretty good chance that he would know better than literally everyone!

 

[DocSholl]

yep and buys us time to get a Cadman type in 12 months when we look more attractive to high end talent

Your entirely baseless optimism for attracting good players every year is genuinely admirable

 

[PokerRoo]

I think the 3 starting tall will be Comben, Darling and Larkey with Comben chopping out in the ruck when needed.

 

[Poopybum22]

if you want to extend your career and life after footy you do

Is it worth extending the career for $100k before tax? With the cross country move he’d probably lose money.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Is it worth extending the career for $100k before tax? With the cross country move he’d probably lose money.

plus match payments and then whatever coaching gig after

vs him having nothing lined up in 2026

 

[BlueandWhiteinmyBlood]

Do we take what Simpson says about Darling that seriously?

Darling wasn’t dropped by WC until Schofield took over.

Strange by Schofield, I mean gotta do what you gotta do but with the season well and truly over surely you give a club champion his 300th

 

[Frank Thring]

No disrespect intended FT but are you 100 pct sure its because your a North fan????

No I'm not.

 

[My Left Foote]

Strange by Schofield, I mean gotta do what you gotta do but with the season well and truly over surely you give a club champion his 300th

Not if you're trying your best to get the vacant coaching gig you don't.

 

[DuckYeah]

Simmo very diplomatically saying he's cooked. Terrific

“probably played him more than I should have”

 

[DuckYeah]

If you've earned in excess of 10m in your career? Makes no sense at all.

I agree with ya. Unless he had absolutely NOTHING to fall back on, no money, struggling, gambled it all away. You aint moving for 100k. He’ll be given 500k minimum.

 

[Junk yard]

I agree with ya. Unless he had absolutely NOTHING to fall back on, no money, struggling, gambled it all away. You aint moving for 100k. He’ll be given 500k minimum.

Country footy teams line up ex WAFL players with 200k+ jobs, this would make more sense than taking 100k for a year.

 

[Masked Avenger]

Simmo very diplomatically saying he's cooked. Terrific

Not even the most ardent of the Darling to North crew - could come away from Simpson's responses with any positivity.

He'd make a terrible referee.

Speaking of terrible, paying him 800K as a 33 yo was a bad decision. Not sure why we want to clean up their mess. We've got a few of our own.

 

[Devski]

I'm a believer that you don't just take someone for the sake of taking someone.

If the RIGHT players aren't willing to come then you keep working with what you have.

Sorry but that's just not how the world works.

We won 3 games of football this year. There is not a good key forward out there right now, or in the next century, who is licking their lips at the prospect of taking Toby Pink's role at a club that wins 3 games a season.

If you're not in a process on continuous improvement, making incremental upgrades over time, you will never build success.

If you keep things the way they are maybe you get lucky and win 5 games next season off the back of LDU and Sheez carrying the team. You're still just as attractive as a pile of dog shit.

If we can make some small improvements and snag 7-8 wins next year suddenly it looks like we're building and we aren't the career death sentence we currently seem.

I am confident if Darling can kick his 20 goals, and we snag Parker, that will drive our improvement to that 7-8 win mark.
We don't win 7-8 games next year with Pink playing as a key forward.

 

[Event Horizon]

Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Better Loosen Up]

Sorry but that's just not how the world works.

We won 3 games of football this year. There is not a good key forward out there right now, or in the next century, who is licking their lips at the prospect of taking Toby Pink's role at a club that wins 3 games a season.

If you're not in a process on continuous improvement, making incremental upgrades over time, you will never build success.

If you keep things the way they are maybe you get lucky and win 5 games next season off the back of LDU and Sheez carrying the team. You're still just as attractive as a pile of dog shit.

If we can make some small improvements and snag 7-8 wins next year suddenly it looks like we're building and we aren't the career death sentence we currently seem.

I am confident if Darling can kick his 20 goals, and we snag Parker, that will drive our improvement to that 7-8 win mark.
We don't win 7-8 games next year with Pink playing as a key forward.

Sorry, but I don't believe Darling improves us at all. I'm not suggesting Pink is the answer either.

Most of the top teams are moving away from having 3 talls in the forward line. Larkey, Teakle and Zurhaar is no worse than having Darling in that mix. In fact I would much rather play Teakle and Zurhaar ahead of Darling.

 

[Passmore]

Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

 

[Black Diamond]

I think there's a pretty good chance that he would know better than literally everyone!

Then why did Simpson keep playing him right to the end?

 

[Orange Peanut]

Strange by Schofield, I mean gotta do what you gotta do but with the season well and truly over surely you give a club champion his 300th

 

[scottywiper]

Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

What's good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

 

[Better Loosen Up]

Then why did Simpson keep playing him right to the end?

Dunno. Ask him? I mean, we play LMac every week...

 

[Event Horizon]

I was feeling generally positive about this. As many have said, we've got very little to lose, and any upgrade on Pink/CCJ has to be a good thing, while our new draftee (hopefully) takes time to develop.

Then I had a quick look at Jack Darling

27

Jack Darling

Age

33

Ht

191cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.1

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.2

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

4.3

2star

HB

3.7

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.4

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

14.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.0

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

4.0

5star

G

1.4

5star

's draft year to double check when he was selected. Seeing names like Ben Jacobs, Shaun Atley

18

Shaun Atley

Age

33

Ht

189cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.3

4star

K

8.5

3star

HB

8.8

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.2

4star

MG

273.1

4star

D

15.0

4star

K

7.9

3star

HB

7.1

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

2.0

3star

MG

246.4

4star

D

13.6

4star

K

6.2

3star

HB

7.4

5star

M

1.6

2star

T

3.0

5star

and Kieran Harper

Kieran Harper

Age

33

Ht

187cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.9

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

3.3

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

3.4

5star

G

0.9

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.2

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

3.2

5star

G

0.8

4star

didn't make me feel any better

 

[B4Bear]

The same Waite naysayers and campaigners are recycling their whining complaints.

Welcome aboard Jack, the team will be better for having a Jack back in it.

 

[perplexed]

Whilst Simmo is saying that Darling is cooked and we would be idiots to offer him a contract, on the other hand, it would be good for Jack. He would be able to extend his career and we would be helping WC out. Tough call.

 

[My Left Foote]

I for one welcome Jack Darling

27

Jack Darling

Age

33

Ht

191cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.1

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.2

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

4.3

2star

HB

3.7

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.4

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

14.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.0

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

4.0

5star

G

1.4

5star

to North Melbourne if only for the fact that he might actually be the most divisive player on our list and that might mean some respite for Will Phillips.

 

[El Capuano]

I was feeling generally positive about this. As many have said, we've got very little to lose, and any upgrade on Pink/CCJ has to be a good thing, while our new draftee (hopefully) takes time to develop.

Then I had a quick look at Jack Darling's draft year to double check when he was selected. Seeing names like Ben Jacobs, Shaun Atley and Kieran Harper didn't make me feel any better

Tbf his body has held up better than all of them, but I'm not really sure how to feel about it either. Hopefully his experience helps the forward structure