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Training 2026 Preseason

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AstonSouffle said:
Does a minor calf injury and you'd be think he's been inhaling 40 mega pints of beer a week, and living off nothing but short cut bacon the way everyone has gone at him.

As for the Meek chat, Jackson was obviously coming, Darcy was first choice at the time, and so Meek leaves in anticipation. Feel anyone saying otherwise just wants to have a giant sooky sook.
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There are certainly some weirdos here. Maybe they are able, by looking in the mirror, what fat looks like.
Maybe, get off their fat rses and look at training instead of trying to shame one of our players.
 
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Piggy Smalls said:
Darcy and Ryan are the gifts that keep on giving in this department. Rinse and repeat every pre season.

Over time, I've learned from Big Footy that Ryan (our most experienced AA) is perpetually a fat, lazy slob that reeks of stale ciggies, and Darcy eats a bucket of KFC and drinks 12 beers every night because he's unprofessional.
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Key difference is Luke Ryan has missed 2 games in last three years. Sean Darcy has missed 28. Last year he was nursed through games with 65% time on ground. The year prior 71%. It's not just Bigfooty. Duffield has pointed out Darcy needs to get his professionalism on body right to give it one last crack. Six foot eight 110 kg professional athletes with historical knee problems don't generally have long careers, without taking some pressure off the levers.
 
It’s astounding the cognitive dissonance this board has about Darcy. Straight up fingers in the ears type stuff.

Below is a list of the known injuries Darcy has sustained over his time at the club:
  • April 2018 - torn PCL in left knee, missed 10 weeks
  • Pre-season 2019 - hamstring/back injury
  • May 2019 - right ankle injury, missed 1 month
  • June 2020 - hyperextension of left knee, soft tissue damage, missed 3 weeks
  • January 2021 - ligament damage in left knee, missed 1 month of pre-season
  • January 2022 - injured calf in pre-season, missed 1 month of pre-season and round 1
  • March 2022 - right ankle injury, missed 1 game
  • July 2023 - right ankle injury, ligament damage requiring surgery, missed rest of season
  • March 2024 - left knee injury, requiring arthroscope, missed 2 months
  • July 2024 - concussion, missed 1 week
  • August 2024 - left knee injury, requiring second arthroscope, missed rest of season
  • February 2025 - infection in right ankle from screw inserted during July 2023 surgery, required surgery, missed first 5 games
  • May 2025 - knee soreness vs Collingwood, subbed out and missed 3 games
  • January 2026 - calf strain, TBA
In his 9 seasons in the AFL he’s only had 2 seasons where he’s played over 20 games! So yes, a “minor” calf strain is cause for concern when it comes to Darcy.

AND he’s contracted for another 5 years! I got savaged when I suggested we should look to offload him last year.

For a player who’s so pivotal to the way we play, we cannot afford to keep having him missing significant portions every year. Even in the best case scenario, he’ll be going into round 1 underdone.
 
chaosball32 said:
It’s astounding the cognitive dissonance this board has about Darcy. Straight up fingers in the ears type stuff.

Below is a list of the known injuries Darcy has sustained over his time at the club:
  • April 2018 - torn PCL in left knee, missed 10 weeks
  • Pre-season 2019 - hamstring/back injury
  • May 2019 - right ankle injury, missed 1 month
  • June 2020 - hyperextension of left knee, soft tissue damage, missed 3 weeks
  • January 2021 - ligament damage in left knee, missed 1 month of pre-season
  • January 2022 - injured calf in pre-season, missed 1 month of pre-season and round 1
  • March 2022 - right ankle injury, missed 1 game
  • July 2023 - right ankle injury, ligament damage requiring surgery, missed rest of season
  • March 2024 - left knee injury, requiring arthroscope, missed 2 months
  • July 2024 - concussion, missed 1 week
  • August 2024 - left knee injury, requiring second arthroscope, missed rest of season
  • February 2025 - infection in right ankle from screw inserted during July 2023 surgery, required surgery, missed first 5 games
  • May 2025 - knee soreness vs Collingwood, subbed out and missed 3 games
  • January 2026 - calf strain, TBA
In his 9 seasons in the AFL he’s only had 2 seasons where he’s played over 20 games! So yes, a “minor” calf strain is cause for concern when it comes to Darcy.

AND he’s contracted for another 5 years! I got savaged when I suggested we should look to offload him last year.

For a player who’s so pivotal to the way we play, we cannot afford to keep having him missing significant portions every year. Even in the best case scenario, he’ll be going into round 1 underdone.
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Yeah, but other than that he's been pretty injury free
 

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chaosball32 said:
It’s astounding the cognitive dissonance this board has about Darcy. Straight up fingers in the ears type stuff.

Below is a list of the known injuries Darcy has sustained over his time at the club:
  • April 2018 - torn PCL in left knee, missed 10 weeks
  • Pre-season 2019 - hamstring/back injury
  • May 2019 - right ankle injury, missed 1 month
  • June 2020 - hyperextension of left knee, soft tissue damage, missed 3 weeks
  • January 2021 - ligament damage in left knee, missed 1 month of pre-season
  • January 2022 - injured calf in pre-season, missed 1 month of pre-season and round 1
  • March 2022 - right ankle injury, missed 1 game
  • July 2023 - right ankle injury, ligament damage requiring surgery, missed rest of season
  • March 2024 - left knee injury, requiring arthroscope, missed 2 months
  • July 2024 - concussion, missed 1 week
  • August 2024 - left knee injury, requiring second arthroscope, missed rest of season
  • February 2025 - infection in right ankle from screw inserted during July 2023 surgery, required surgery, missed first 5 games
  • May 2025 - knee soreness vs Collingwood, subbed out and missed 3 games
  • January 2026 - calf strain, TBA
In his 9 seasons in the AFL he’s only had 2 seasons where he’s played over 20 games! So yes, a “minor” calf strain is cause for concern when it comes to Darcy.

AND he’s contracted for another 5 years! I got savaged when I suggested we should look to offload him last year.

For a player who’s so pivotal to the way we play, we cannot afford to keep having him missing significant portions every year. Even in the best case scenario, he’ll be going into round 1 underdone.
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Fingers in ears only cos it’s boring having the same discussion reheated every year. Like it’s been four years and we’re still
talking about Meek.
 
s_wd6 said:
Fingers in ears only cos it’s boring having the same discussion reheated every year. Like it’s been four years and we’re still
talking about Meek.
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Have to say , it p!553$ me off with thesedrop kick. They would look really great in Yella. And, they would only have to move up the road a bit.
As I said previously, most probably know what fat is, because they see it every day of the year. If they feel comfortable trying to fat shame any one , I say... fck you all you morons.
 
Rucks on average over their career tend to be under the average of 20 games per season.

Only current ruck who has a 20 game per season average is McInerny of Brisbane over 8 seasons but he's 31yo, so he's debuted at 23 - and you have to factor in that Brisbane have played multiple finals in 7 of those 8 seasons.
 
I don’t get this laziness thing; we all saw Darcy work his ring off last year and then get derailed by bad luck with an old surgery wound. That is not an injury and just a real “shit happens” thing. Most of the time those screws stay there forever no worries.

To claim he’s not worked hard enough on the basis of having crap luck when he worked like a dog… that is seriously going too far.

OTOH, great news about the beer at Optus!!
 
The good news now is we can keep our structure if Sean misses games.

Last year Reidy was a liability when he played.

Mason Cox will surprise a few I think.

He got a kick up the arse when Collingwood let him go and he has really applied himself in his time at the club.

Sometimes a change is good for older players.
 
stax on the mull said:
Rucks on average over their career tend to be under the average of 20 games per season.

Only current ruck who has a 20 game per season average is McInerny of Brisbane over 8 seasons but he's 31yo, so he's debuted at 23 - and you have to factor in that Brisbane have played multiple finals in 7 of those 8 seasons.
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I mean you can cherry pick stats to suit your argument, but it's complete hogwash.

Max Gawn has averaged 22 games a year for the last 4 years, and 20 games a year for 8 years.. Grundy 22 games a year for the last two years and also the majority of his career. Tim English has played 23 games a year for the last 3 years, and averaged almost 21 games a year for seven years. Jarrod Witts has averaged 20 games a year for the last four years. Hell, even Reilly O'brien has averaged 21.8 games a year for the last 5 years.

It is possible to be durable and a quality ruckman - the two aren't mutually exclusive. If you look at the Gawn, Grundy and English, the common denominator is their match preparation has long been exemplary. The fact is Sean was drafted with question marks about his off-field habits and the way it reflected on his conditioning. He has now had a long career with injury issues. He has had plenty of time to take some torque off his pivots. Hopefully this season the penny has dropped.
 
lint said:
I mean you can cherry pick stats to suit your argument, but it's complete hogwash.

Max Gawn has averaged 22 games a year for the last 4 years, and 20 games a year for 8 years.. Grundy 22 games a year for the last two years and also the majority of his career. Tim English has played 23 games a year for the last 3 years, and averaged almost 21 games a year for seven years. Jarrod Witts has averaged 20 games a year for the last four years. Hell, even Reilly O'brien has averaged 21.8 games a year for the last 5 years.

It is possible to be durable and a quality ruckman - the two aren't mutually exclusive. If you look at the Gawn, Grundy and English, the common denominator is their match preparation has long been exemplary. The fact is Sean was drafted with question marks about his off-field habits and the way it reflected on his conditioning. He has now had a long career with injury issues. He has had plenty of time to take some torque off his pivots. Hopefully this season the penny has dropped.
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Chaosball is the one that is using the entire "9 years" of Darcy's career as a guide to highlight how many (or how few) seasons he's played 20 plus games. This includes the 2020 season where Fremantle played 17 games, and the first three years when Aaron Sandilands was still on our list and a season where Rory Lobb was the preferred No 1 ruck. Just a reminder that Sean made his AFL debut at 18yo (Edit: oops 19y13d - big difference) and has played a season's worth of games in the WAFL over this time - heck, he's a WAFL premiership player.

It's cherry picking also when you use as a comparison the last 5 years of rucks that were drafted in 2009, 2011 & 2012 as Gawn, Witts and Grundy were - and further to your example - Grundy's 2022 season - 6 games, 2023 - 17 games as Gawn's back up.

At 27yo, the 17 games Sean played in 2025 is about the average for a ruckman per season over a career. Currently Sean is mid 14 games per season, so of course he needs a few seasons in a row where he has a 20 game season to get that average up - but he's also at the age where ruckman get their bodies right, so what's the point of calling him out over injuries.
 
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Looking at games played for the likes of Darcy is a bit misleading too. On the face of it he played a decent number of games last year. But he was a pale shadow of himself until maybe the last 6 weeks or so. He’s a player who needs 4 or 5 games in a row to get anywhere near resembling his best - and start providing the output that matches the investment in him by the club. Someone like Hayden Young is different - he can come back after a long layoff and hit his straps immediately. Games played totals never demonstrate this when comparing players such as this.

That’s where these recurring injuries are such a nuisance. Darcy sits out for a few weeks, then gets back rusty and takes a month to hit the proper pitch of AFL intensity but gets injured again just when it looks like he’s finally moving well. That has happened frequently since 2021, the last time he was truly injury free and won a B&F.
No point debating it anyway as the time has passed to move him on. We are locked into him now for the next few years so he just needs to play as much as possible and hope for the best.

Not sure why people are comparing him to Luke Ryan either. Ryan is one of the most durable players in the comp. Will hit 200 games this year, drafted same year as Darcy, but I can easily see Ryan playing 100 more career games when both are all done in the game.
 
largebus said:
Karl Worner stars in the newest episode of Training The House Down
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His courage is Glenn Archer like, if he could improve his general awareness and decision making with ball in hand by like 10-20% he would be a genuine top level player.
 
stax on the mull said:
Chaosball is the one that is using the entire "9 years" of Darcy's career as a guide to highlight how many (or how few) seasons he's played 20 plus games. This includes the 2020 season where Fremantle played 17 games, and the first three years when Aaron Sandilands was still on our list and a season where Rory Lobb was the preferred No 1 ruck. Just a reminder that Sean made his AFL debut at 18yo and has played a season's worth of games in the WAFL over this time - heck, he's a WAFL premiership player.

It's cherry picking also when you use as a comparison the last 5 years of rucks that were drafted in 2009, 2011 & 2012 as Gawn, Witts and Grundy were - and further to your example - Grundy's 2022 season - 6 games, 2023 - 17 games as Gawn's back up.

At 27yo, the 17 games Sean played in 2025 is about the average for a ruckman per season over a career. Currently Sean is mid 14 games per season, so of course he needs a few seasons in a row where he has a 20 game season to get that average up - but he's also at the age where ruckman get their bodies right, so what's the point of calling him out over injuries.
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Brother come on. He’s had 14 known injuries in less than 8 years. Countless surgeries including 4 in the last 2 and a half years alone, recurring injuries to his left knee and right ankle. Longest he’s gone without getting injured is 12 months since he’s been on our list.

This is not an attack on his work ethic or his character, the guy is just injury prone. And as Dockeroo pointed out, even when he has played he hasn’t been anywhere near the calibre he used to be. He did have that one good game against the Saints where he looked like the Darcy of old, in a similar vein to how Fyfe had the 3 vote game against the Bulldogs a couple of seasons ago, but never got close to that level again. The wear and tear he’s endured has undoubtedly affected him.
 
I would suggest that the Mods/ Admin have a good look at some of those that are attempting to fat shame one of our players. They seem to have a certain💩💩 smell emanating from their posts. A smell I associate with the Yellas.
Beginning to get that feeling from a long time ago and why I left. Far too many lunatic alleged Docker fans.
 
anchor man said:
I would suggest that the Mods/ Admin have a good look at some of those that are attempting to fat shame one of our players. They seem to have a certain💩💩 smell emanating from their posts. A smell I associate with the Yellas.
Beginning to get that feeling from a long time ago and why I left. Far too many lunatic alleged Docker fans.
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Can you please point out where I fat shamed him?

You won’t be able to because I didn’t.

chaosball32 said:
This is not an attack on his work ethic or his character, the guy is just injury prone.
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chaosball32 said:
Brother come on. He’s had 14 known injuries in less than 8 years. Countless surgeries including 4 in the last 2 and a half years alone, recurring injuries to his left knee and right ankle. Longest he’s gone without getting injured is 12 months since he’s been on our list.

This is not an attack on his work ethic or his character, the guy is just injury prone. And as Dockeroo pointed out, even when he has played he hasn’t been anywhere near the calibre he used to be. He did have that one good game against the Saints where he looked like the Darcy of old, in a similar vein to how Fyfe had the 3 vote game against the Bulldogs a couple of seasons ago, but never got close to that level again. The wear and tear he’s endured has undoubtedly affected him.
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OK let's catastrophise it and say he's finished. For the sake of relevance let's move any further discussion to another board.
 
I find myself not so concerned about Sean Darcy, who is a wonderful tap ruck, having an injury issue now that Mason Cox is available to contest the ruck a bit.

I do not see these players as the same, but the structural opportunities will remain the same. Cox is more lippy. He's a fair bit bigger - but he will do far better than Liam Reidy.

The rushing him back has been problematic before, but I do remember the days where Darcy would go down like someone shot him from the stands and he would jog out five minutes later like nothing happened.
 
People are losing their minds over a single minor calf injury to a senior player in match simulation, 6 weeks before round 1. Back in the late Lyon years we had half the team going off the rails at this point of the season. I think we need a bit of perspective here, and we really really need some actual football to talk about

I don't understand why our fan base is so desperate to look for things to melt about
 

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