Player Watch #27: Jack Darling

[Zondor]

David King just totally against the thought on SEN a few moments ago. Had a swipe at Clarkson on the way though. Said basically why are North going after Darling - has done little for two years. Leadership? Standards? We are heading into the 3rd year of Alistair Clarkson - hasn't that been done?

He should be having a swipe at his mate. The truth is staring you all in the face. :stern look

 

[Passmore]

I would rather take a punt and recruit Richards and Owies and put them all at the feet of Larkey & Chom/Teakle along with Jy, RHJ and Curtis while our 2024 ND KPP develop in the VFL.

Instead of going short and sharp we’re going big and plodding..

Awesome..

The problem we have at the moment is that these blokes have to want to come here. Richards has an offer from Port. He’s hardly knocking them back to come here.

 

[FlyHigh18]

Lachie Young

17

Lachie Young

Age

27

Ht

189cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.5

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

220.3

3star

D

9.0

2star

K

5.5

2star

HB

3.5

2star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.0

3star

MG

210.0

3star

D

11.2

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

219.6

4star

with pick 62 generated more excitement than this

 

[Zondor]

Listen to Simpson closely. The truth is staring you all in the face. :stern look

 

[RossHenshaw]

That's all that matters:

View attachment 2113525View attachment 2113526

Great …another knob in our club to reminisce about his past glories with another club …
Maybe Clarko can bring him to the “we know where we at” after match pressers next year ….

 

[travelli]

Intriguing move by Clarko. Are we that desperate and shite? Probably.

We really are. Right at the arse end of a team build.

 

[travelli]

Listen to Simpson closely. The truth is staring you all in the face. :stern look

What's that? To bring experience and forward stability to the club for a couple of years?

 

[Zondor]

What's that? To bring experience and forward stability to the club for a couple of years?

You’re struggling to see the truth brother. Listen Closely. :stern look

 

[travelli]

You’re struggling to see the truth brother. Listen Closely. :stern look

Played him too much over the last 2 years?

Dont make me listen to it anymore

 

[travelli]

Guy doesn't look too thrilled with the camera in his face lol.

Or is it embarassment? Im not feeling the enthusiasm...

 

[Flawed Genius]

In peak off-season shape too is the big fella. Exciting times

 

[ferball]

I slung so much shit on him when he ducked his head in a grandfinal. He cant come here.

He probably just read your user name and thought it was advice.

 

[ferball]

Scotty, what are the alternatives for a experienced KPF between now and next year?

I will suggest a couple, Gollant, Tabener.

Tabener is much the same without the tackle count. Don't mind the idea of Gollant.

 

[Garibaldi82]

The only thing that even marginally excites me about this is that no one expects this bloke to have anything left in the tank, and therefore there are absolutely bottom of the barrel expectations. Under promise, over deliver and all of that.
Anything he does will be a bonus.
(But yes, the same argument could be made about my nonna)

 

[Zondor]

Played him too much over the last 2 years?

Dont make me listen to it anymore

LOL. O.K. I won’t. Once you hear the message it is very disturbing. :stern look

 

[Tas]

Who cares, I don't understand this obsession to hating this, Greenwood goes off the list, Darling comes in for probably next to nothing... or pick 2 if Brady is dealing with this alone. :stern look

I don't think it changes much. We are going to sink or swim based on if the midfield functions next year and I think we need more forwards who are consistently leading out towards the mids so we can transition from a dumb bombing the ball inside 50 side into one that hits players on the lead or in space.

I don't care if Darling is only 10% of the player he once was... as long he is in a good enough condition to lead into space and draw players with him. Teakle wasn't a big leader and in certain games Larkey just stopped leading and we stopped scoring.

We shouldn't need to bring him in but I can count on two fingers the numbers of games where Larkey and Zurhaar showed any kind of presence when the chips were down this year. If the bozos you have aren't getting the job done you have to look at other experienced options. It was either going to be him or Membrey, those two were experienced and open to moving, Tim showed less enthusiasm so here we are.

We picked up Greenwood, we picked up Tucker, Shiels and others and when the good quality kids showed they were capable of stepping up these players didn't get in the way of the kids getting games and I don't expect it to be any different with Darling.

This isn't on Rawlings or Clarkson, it is on the players who have just gone nowhere. I don't expect everyone to have the talent of Sheezel, but if the others had his work ethic then they would be far better players than the rest of them are currently.

 

[Shermanator]

The problem we have at the moment is that these blokes have to want to come here. Richards has an offer from Port. He’s hardly knocking them back to come here.

Money talks. Especially to blokes on the bones of their arse..

 

[Tas]

Money talks. Especially to blokes on the bones of their arse..

It doesn't. Everyone we threw the cheque book at signed for less to stay where they were. The club has to generate the vibe that it is going somewhere, we haven't demonstrated that yet.

 

[Shermanator]

It doesn't. Everyone we threw the cheque book at signed for less to stay where they were. The club has to generate the vibe that it is going somewhere, we haven't demonstrated that yet.

Who have we thrown the cheque book at apart from Mr Darling’s retirement fund?..

 

[Tas]

Who have we thrown the cheque book at apart from Mr Darling’s retirement fund?..

In recent times, nobody, but when we chased Kelly, Chopsticks, DeGoey, Gaff, etc nobody left for more money.

 

[Shermanator]

In recent times, nobody, but when we chased Kelly, Chopsticks, DeGoey, Gaff, etc nobody left for more money.

Yeah but they were all stars of the comp on huge coin, no comparison to Owies and Richards who are probably on the minimum wage.

Throw an extra $100k each on top of Ports/whoever offer and watch them climb over their respective Agents to grab a pen to sign on.

We could save a few hundred thousand on Mr Darlings retirement fund and in turn have a more dynamic forward line for once.. probably since boomer and Lindsay run amok at Etihad Stadium..

 

[hilly]

Who have we thrown the cheque book at apart from Mr Darling’s retirement fund?..

Dusty, Gaff, Heeney, De Goey.

 

[hilly]

Yeah but they were all stars of the comp on huge coin, no comparison to Owies and Richards who are probably on the minimum wage.

Throw an extra $100k each on top of Ports/whoever offer and watch them climb over their respective Agents to grab a pen to sign on.

We could save a few hundred thousand on Mr Darlings retirement fund and in turn have a more dynamic forward line for once.. probably since boomer and Lindsay run amok at Etihad Stadium..

Let me tell you something Stifler, this is exactly what we need to do. Make it happen Redfoo.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Collective freak out is way overblown. We need experience, he’s durable, very good defensive pressure numbers for a taller forward, premiership player, etc. It’s fine for where we’re at.

Agree it’s fine as a stop gap

But his second year should be vfl mainly

Pretty much. It isn't something I saw coming, or as a key for building to genuine competitiveness. But I can see how it can make sense.
Especially if the decision has been made to mostly play Comben in the back half next year, where he does the crashing rather than has his body crashed into; then we want someone more reliable than Teakle, CCJ or Pink taking a defender away from Larkey. Or, god forbid, taking the spot if Larkey gets injured.

Front-load the contract leaving space for others to get new deals, on the understanding that he will largely be depth second year unless form is red-hot. We have to pay salary floor, it might be better overpaying veterans whose space will be freed up than over-paying kids who then expect to be overpaid with a pay rise their next contract.
The only concern is, why would he do that if its really one year at AFL level? Unless that first year is massive overpayment.

Not concerned either way on this one. Yes, its short term when we need long, but its not really getting in the way of longer term development either.

 

[Tas]

Yeah but they were all stars of the comp on huge coin, no comparison to Owies and Richards who are probably on the minimum wage.

Throw an extra $100k each on top of Ports/whoever offer and watch them climb over their respective Agents to grab a pen to sign on.

We could save a few hundred thousand on Mr Darlings retirement fund and in turn have a more dynamic forward line for once.. probably since boomer and Lindsay run amok at Etihad Stadium..

I don't think cap space is an issue for us, i think the main reason we gave Sheezle such a lucrative long-term extension was to find ways to reach the TPP in the short-term.

The biggest issue we have had imo has been the lack of direction and Clarkson has burned 2 years of his 5 year deal and we have treaded water to date. If Owies is given the option of Port or us with a bit more money he is most likely going to pick Port as they are some small chance to win a flag, we are no certainty to break out of the bottom four after so many years.

Hawks have more appeal than us because they look like they are on the right track, I am not convinced they have the talent to go all the way and may peak in the Brad Scott zone, but they are winning games and playing finals which seems a long way away for us.

I don't even know if we have shown any interest in Owies, every year people list players our club hasn't seemed interested in chasing.

Regardless, Darling isn't a hindrance to chasing other players imo, unless we are looking for someone else with the same garbage pick we are going to use for Darling.