Player Watch #27: Jack Darling

[Kanga Glory]

All aboard the Darling train. Toot toot

 

[GDUB07]

When was his last bag? 5+?

Round 20 - 2022 v Gold Coast

He’s done.

To be fair. The eagles have been crap for 4 years. So not surprising no big bags.

Put it another way, who and what were the bags of goals kicked by an eagles player over the last 4 years?

 

[DuckYeah]

All aboard the Darling train. Toot toot

View attachment 2112635

 

[zoomba23]

When was his last bag? 5+?

Round 20 - 2022 v Gold Coast

He’s done.

Not a snowball's chance in hell we're getting him cos we think he's gonna contribute a great deal on the scoreboard. We'd be looking for:
1. Someone who can reliably bring the ball to ground
2. Someone who can take a contested mark with more regularity than Larkey
3. Someone who knows where and when to lead
4. Someone who will apply pressure

Unfortunately, we're also gonna be getting:
1. Someone with the agility of a sloth
2. Someone who drops uncontested marks similar to what Larkey drops
3. Someone whose disposal numbers just get worse and worse

But something does need to change in our forward line. No use having all that talent when Larkey is the only one with a shred of leading intelligence, and Curtis is the only one who (sometimes) chases. So for those reasons hopefully Darling can bring some benefits

 

[Krakouer Bonar]

Merlin007

* the 'never been a leader' argument doesn't quite compute for mine. Whether he's had leadership "roles" is one thing, but Darling has averaged more than 20 games a season for more than a decade - that is extraordinary durability, and nobody does it in the AFL without being absolutely elite in terms of training standards, post-match rehab and game preparation, esp. based in Perth with long haul flights every second week

AHEM - Luke McDonald, every club has a player that should have been let go but somehow keeps on going around.


* while he's probably on a promise about a post-playing role, he's uprooting a young family and bringing them the other side of country, and I don't think anybody does that without being fully invested in the project they're embarking on

Its for a million dollars? At the pointy end of the career, a million+ is worth uprooting the family.

* he might be 33 next year, but his I50 tackle count this season was better than anyone at North bar Paul Curtis, and that speaks to me of someone who can still cover the ground

Thats because he took ruck contests inside 50 and ours were split between 5 other players. False equivalence

* somebody else posted that Marvel might suit him, and I think that's a reasonable theory

Meh. We are gluttons for punishment

Not overthinking this are we, Misery-guts!!

You really must be fun at parties.

 

[GoRoos2023]

pink is a depth player only. What is this fascination with replacing pink? i havent got pink in my best 25?

Who you got as his upgrade? Dursma? If you I agree we are going to have injuries though and Zane is the only upgrade with have on Toby imho

 

[roo blitz]

We have nothing to lose. Wont cost us much and lets be honest we don't have many other options. At least he has a strong body and will take an opposition tall and comes with experience.He will know where to position himself on the field and if he kicks a few bags of 2 goals is an upgrade . Couldnt be any worse than the other options we have tried and who have failed.

 

[amaz199]

Boomer's kicked more than them all combined too, I'd rather bring him back

Funny you say that. Clarko touted the idea to Boomer but he declined lol.

 

[amaz199]

3. Someone who knows where and when to lead

This is it. This is the main reason we are getting him.

Our forwards do not listen to the coaches and don't work hard enough. They just stand around and wait for a contest.

Comben in his brief stint as a forward last year and this year, showed us how it gets done but his injuries were killing his progress.

 

[Ocha905]

Meh we need to try something and he's achieved more than any of our players now that Shiels has hung up the boots.

 

[the big lebowski]

Round 1

HF Curtis Larkey Zuhaar

F Dursma Darling Simpkin

- Darling rucks inside 50

- Chom intercepting/attacking CHB and 5 mins a qrt in the ruck

- sheez and hopefully Parker rotate through the forward line when not in the midfield

- Hansen Jnr/small forward to be drafted off the bench

 

[DuckYeah]

Not overthinking this are we, Misery-guts!!

You really must be fun at parties.

Donald!! Welcome to the darling thread, Hows ya son, happy meal going? Ruffling some hair? Smiling as he turns a ball over? You know who would be fun at parties, Luke McDonald.. he’d come up with all sorts of childish juvenile games like, RooLotto pfff

 

[DuckYeah]

To be fair. The eagles have been crap for 4 years. So not surprising no big bags.

Put it another way, who and what were the bags of goals kicked by an eagles player over the last 4 years?

I dunno, Larkey has kicked a few bags and we are shit. It was only mentioned because the fearless leader said Darling has done more than all our forwards combined.

 

[Flawed Genius]

AFL tables has him at 532 goals? Whered the other 70 come from?

Larkey averages 2 goals a game, he duckling averages 1.79?

Strange hill mate. He aint gonna do anything for us.

No stranger a hill than the other one I'm trying to die on regarding Phillips playing another eight years at the club.

The other 70 goals are coming from Round 1 through Round 24, 2025 by the way.

Boomer's kicked more than them all combined too, I'd rather bring him back

I am trying to contact Gordon Coventry right now to see if he'll come back. I'll let you know if I have any luck

FWIW I would still have Boomer on the list today.

Might teach them something about leading patterns

As long as he’s fit he takes a defender away from Larkey

No brainer for me, come on down Darling

I wonder if it has anything to do with the club thinking creatively around the soft cap/coaching. We have a forwards coach, maybe we petitioned the AFL to increase the soft cap and they said no. Whats the next best option? You go out, and with your extreme amounts of salary cap, you pay a veteran who wants to extend his career another two years to stand around in the forward line and draw a defender away from your younger forwards, to essentially act as an on-field coach for a few years, and maybe get 20-30 goals out of him a season. All "outside" the footy department cap.


Oh well. We should abandon our pursuit of him and then see how many people are lamenting our lack of an established key forward the first time Larkey gets triple teamed, or when Armstrong has a Jack Watts-type debut.

 

[see see]

Good chance nearly all who have played close to 300 games might have a similar highlight or two like this during their career.

Those who've played close to 300 for North? Greig, Schimma, Dench, Blakey, Simmo, Stevo, Archer, Dish, Boomer, Spud, Goldy. Would be lucky to find "a similar highlight or two" among the lot of them.

Will "Mr Elite Training Standards" go each and every time it's his turn? If not, what sort of example does that set?

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Small forward = Jy Simpkin

I would much rather we draft someone with genuine speed to go with defensive intent.

 

[Black Diamond]

No because I would be playing Tess over Darling. Darling and tess in and out of the twos? Wow what a recruit. FFS.

You asked why we would want to upgrade Pink. You state you have him outside the best 25.

So why not upgrade a player like that?

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

No stranger a hill than the other one I'm trying to die on regarding Phillips playing another eight years at the club.

The other 70 goals are coming from Round 1 through Round 24, 2025 by the way.


I am trying to contact Gordon Coventry right now to see if he'll come back. I'll let you know if I have any luck

FWIW I would still have Boomer on the list today.



I wonder if it has anything to do with the club thinking creatively around the soft cap/coaching. We have a forwards coach, maybe we petitioned the AFL to increase the soft cap and they said no. Whats the next best option? You go out, and with your extreme amounts of salary cap, you pay a veteran who wants to extend his career another two years to stand around in the forward line and draw a defender away from your younger forwards, to essentially act as an on-field coach for a few years, and maybe get 20-30 goals out of him a season. All "outside" the footy department cap.


Oh well. We should abandon our pursuit of him and then see how many people are lamenting our lack of an established key forward the first time Larkey gets triple teamed, or when Armstrong has a Jack Watts-type debut.

It would be novel to actually post a forward as a forwards coach. I’m all for it.

 

[DuckYeah]

You asked why we would want to upgrade Pink. You state you have him outside the best 25.

So why not upgrade a player like that?

Pink is on bare bones minimum wages. If rumours are true and its a 2 year deal on 800k and then 500k.. how do you think others feel about this? Same as dyl stephens. Thats culture crippling.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

It's staggering how some people don't see just how bad this Darling idea is.

I’m more concerned about the lucrative and lengthy signing of Zurhaar than Darling.

As we go forward and actually acquire forwards in the draft and our younger guys improve, Zurhaar’s contract will be a gun to the selection committee’s head. We saw this year just how poorly he played when underdone and unfit, despite being selected for as many games as possible.

 

[CURVE]

Darling it hurts to see down Arden Street next year.

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

As long as we’re not giving up a top 40 pick, there’s no down side here IMO. Our forwards are hardly AFL quality, and he’ll be a big help to grow Duurs, Chom and our new KPF. It is a bit embarrassing we gotta go for a player like him after all these years, but putting your head in the sand thinking our FWD line will just work itself out is just madness.

 

[buttox]

Pink is on bare bones minimum wages. If rumours are true and its a 2 year deal on 800k and then 500k.. how do you think others feel about this? Same as dyl stephens. Thats culture crippling.

The current rumour is 900k over the next 2 years.
Effectively 100k for the second year.

 

[buttox]

Our forward system is crap.
It's worth a try.
I'm not excited about it but I have no problem with the idea

 

[Black Diamond]

Pink is on bare bones minimum wages. If rumours are true and its a 2 year deal on 800k and then 500k.. how do you think others feel about this? Same as dyl stephens. Thats culture crippling.

That isn’t the point you made.

Nonetheless, it is true you pay better players more money.

We also don’t know what we would be paying (salary or draft picks).