Player Watch #27: Jack Darling

[King Corey]

I liked what I saw.

If the least he is is a senior fit AFL key forward body with presence and leadership I'll take it.

It did change the forward line dynamic just watching the ball movement, Larkey able to play the Waite to Darling's Petrie.

 

[SunnyBoner]

What are the North podcasts? There's more than one?

There's 3 or 4....maybe more. Further North, In Clarko we trust, hashtag kangaroos, the Shinboners and North pod. Some are better than others.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Darling isn’t here to change the clubs fortunes, he’s a stop gap. Ideally Maley, W.Dawson, Goad, Whitlock are playing well in the twos and give the coaches something to think about. Im more than happy for Darling to take the heat in the meantime.

Exactly. If the other guys go ahead of him then great but they aren't going to be able to back up for 22 AFL games in a row a few seasons into their careers. Young guys will absorb his knowledge about his forward craft and it will speed up their development instead of learning off Larkey or Teakle who don't know what it takes in finals.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Exactly. If the other guys go ahead of him then great but they aren't going to be able to back up for 22 AFL games in a row a few seasons into their careers. Young guys will absorb his knowledge about his forward craft and it will speed up their development instead of learning off Larkey or Teakle who don't know what it takes in finals.

Darling can teach them how to oversell a phantom holding call to wrestle back the momentum in a tight preliminary final.

 

[Zondor]

How many years is The Wild Child signed up for? :stern look

 

[chubbspeterson]

How many years is The Wild Child signed up for? :stern look

Two years with a trigger for the 3rd year wasn't it? I'm not sure he hits the trigger in that 2nd year fwiw.

 

[Flawed Genius]

So when we play the bullflogs.. he’ll have a VFL defender on him?

No Liam Jones
No Jason Johannisen

Dogs are likely to roll into Rd1 with a setup of tall defenders that might include Lobb, James O'Donnell, Jedd Busslinger, Buku Khamis, etc.

So if Lobb gets Larkey and Darling gets O'Donnell... Then yeah, Zurhaar's probably getting blokes who have played primarily VFL in Busslinger or Khamis. The names aren't the point - the point is that he isn't getting the best defender, nor now is he getting the second best defender.

The more options we have, the better it is for Cam. I don't give a f*** who kicks them, if it's him or Darling or Duursma, but if Beveridge has a headache about who to cover with his better defenders instead of just being like oh yeah if we shut Larkey down then North falls apart ... Mores the better

 

[Secret Arden]

No Liam Jones
No Jason Johannisen

Dogs are likely to roll into Rd1 with a setup of tall defenders that might include Lobb, James O'Donnell, Jedd Busslinger, Buku Khamis, etc.

So if Lobb gets Larkey and Darling gets O'Donnell... Then yeah, Zurhaar's probably getting blokes who have played primarily VFL in Busslinger or Khamis. The names aren't the point - the point is that he isn't getting the best defender, nor now is he getting the second best defender.

The more options we have, the better it is for Cam. I don't give a f*** who kicks them, if it's him or Darling or Duursma, but if Beveridge has a headache about who to cover with his better defenders instead of just being like oh yeah if we shut Larkey down then North falls apart ... Mores the better

Agreed ... I think some folks may under-appreciate the benefit of Darling's experience in how he will also create space via leading patterns and draw defenders away from Larkey and/or Zurhaar. The other thing which coaches have spoken about with him is that he doesn't lose a lot of one-on-ones in the air ... I don't have any stats to back that up and he's getting older but the less often the ball is coming straight back out, the better ... and unlike many KPFs, he's actually still quite handy when the ball is in dispute ... as many here have already pointed out, Darling's value will not be measured by stats alone ...

 

[7577969923]

Darling can teach them how to oversell a phantom holding call to wrestle back the momentum in a tight preliminary final.

Every little bit helps...

 

[backtothedraft]

Pleasantly surprised. Flys for the ball and predictably brings it to ground for fellow forwards. I was indifferent on his acquisition but I think he’ll be a big help to Larkey and co.

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

Pleasantly surprised. Flys for the ball and predictably brings it to ground for fellow forwards. I was indifferent on his acquisition but I think he’ll be a big help to Larkey and co.

One of the rare 'wins' today. Led up - took marks - and allowed us to move the ball forward.

 

[Zondor]

How good was the Wild Child? Patch Adams was glowing in those .69%ers Darling excels in that nobody notices. So ignore the dropped mark and minimal impact on the game. Just take into account how he brought that ball to ground and applied that pressure act. After all that’s what great CHFs do. Just ask Wayne Carey.

 

[scottywiper]

Clogger of the list.

 

[Devington]

That dropped mark was something special.

Other than that I liked a lot of his involvements.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Should never be pinch hitting ruck
Never did at the eagles and shouldn’t here
Just stay forward

And play teakle or Finnbar as the second ruck third tall off the bench

 

[ferball]

Should never be pinch hitting ruck
Never did at the eagles and shouldn’t here
Just stay forward

And play teakle or Finnbar as the second ruck third tall off the bench

He won a couple of ruck contests in the middle and we benefited, even against Campbell. Just made it a wrestle and backed his strength.

 

[Shinboner1]

Should never be pinch hitting ruck
Never did at the eagles and shouldn’t here
Just stay forward

And play teakle or Finnbar as the second ruck third tall off the bench

by not taking a genuine 3rd tall it opens up a lot more options in terms of smalls and meduims.
I dont think dursma plays with teakle in the team.
No space.
Darling has to 2nd ruck.
Bit rough with him being only 190cm though.

 

[The Nostradamus]

by not taking a genuine 3rd tall it opens up a lot more options in terms of smalls and meduims.
I dont think dursma plays with teakle in the team.
No space.
Darling has to 2nd ruck.
Bit rough with him being only 190cm though.

The best teams play 3 genuine talls refer to last years premiership team (Daniher, Hipwood, Morris) plus their ruck fort

The grand finalist (Amartey, McLean, McDonald) with Grundy

Gives better structure around the ground allows 2 KPF targets at all times so that you don’t get out marked in the air as easily going forward

I’d rather teakle play over RHJ

 

[Horizons_00]

He did what he needed to do

 

[shintemaster]

Was fine and played his role IMO.

 

[Sphynx]

Thought he was better than Parker in all honesty.

 

[krakouers]

Interesting in the paper today:

 

[Makeshift Park]

Interesting in the paper today:
View attachment 2237616

Reads like a legal threat was sent, but it seems a bit late for that.

 

[krakouers]

Reads like a legal threat was sent, but it seems a bit late for that.

WA law doesn’t just mean Law in Western Australia… you wait awhile

 

[roos_fanatic08]

The best teams play 3 genuine talls refer to last years premiership team (Daniher, Hipwood, Morris) plus their ruck fort

The grand finalist (Amartey, McLean, McDonald) with Grundy

Gives better structure around the ground allows 2 KPF targets at all times so that you don’t get out marked in the air as easily going forward

I’d rather teakle play over RHJ

I’d prefer that setup as well, but I’m not sure it works with our current lack of defensive intensity.

The two teams you mention have elite defensive pressure in their forward half whereas we don’t. They also have elite ground level crumbers, which we currently have none of.

Brisbane - Cameron, Lohmann, Bailey, McCarthy

Sydney - Papley, Hayward, Heeney, Jordan.

We really need Zurhaar, Curtis, and the likes of Konstanty, Ford and co to really step it up a notch in that department.