Toast Fremantle's 1st Pick: Darcy Tucker

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Moo said:
What's Tucker rhyming slang for?

In a few years WC fans will be going 'wow that Mother Tucker off half back is killing us!'
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Why are you hating on me for no reason?
 

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salim malik said:
It was a play on mau mau but you're obviously to young to remember those naughty boys.:)
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I got it Salim, I'm just playing on the 1 man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
 

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yakka man said:
His athletic profile is almost identical to Andrew Gaff's. Same beep test and 20m sprint results, and very similar 3km time trial result. They both have a tidy left boot also. With his solid build he could play next year.
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Tucker in my humble opinion wont play in our AFL side next year. You can fantasise all you want but in the tapes he is playing against U/18 players and he is still a kid. Sam Collins is 2 yrs out of U/18's footy playing in the VFL and was 5th in Box Hill's F & B and at 19 was in that club's leadership group and he and Yarran are ready to go now but the question for RTB and Maych Committee is who will they replace in current best 22.
Scham said:
Any interesting or useful info about Darcy???:rolleyes:
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Get down to the club at 9 on Monday morning
serial_thrilla said:
Welcome!
Whose going to stand up and say Bondy you and your recruiters have done a great job picking Darcy and the other boys in the draft and the rookie draft. Where's the Bond love for Chris and his team ?

Pick 27 - Darcy Tucker

Club: North Ballarat
Position: General defender
Date of birth: 23 January 1997
Height: 183cm
Weight: 80kg

From the Freo recruiters
Darcy had a terrific bottom-age year in 2014, that earned him selection in the under-18 All-Australian team at halfback. Unfortunately, just after the 2014 National carnival, he suffered a serious ankle injury that meant he was out for the remainder of 2014, and the injury also compromised his 2015 season. Despite this, he was still named captain of the North Ballarat Rebels and was also captain of the AFL Academy in its first game. Athletically, Darcy is sensational across the board. He has got a big leap, has genuine speed and terrific agility. He is also a great endurance runner.
What AFL.com.au says
Tucker's bottom-age season thrust him into top-five calculations at the start of 2015, but he'll fall a bit later than that after a solid year. He played some good games in the midfield but looked most at home across half-back, where he showed his zip, run and carry. Tucker likes to take the game on, stream down the wing and take his team with him. He captained the Rebels this season and is a professional, hard-working prospect who is determined to do well.


Darcy Tucker (VIC – MID/DEF)
Height: 184cm, Weight: 78kg, DOB: 23/01/1997
Recruited from: North Ballarat Rebels
Reminds me of: Sam Docherty
Brief bio: Tucker’s weapon is his run and carry ability. Tucker is not a freakish athlete, but a very good all-round athlete with good pace, endurance and leaping ability. In game he displays good pace and can provide some good run and carry when the space is open in front of him. Tucker is a capable intercept mark and reads the flight reasonably well down back. He has had an excellent junior career and his production has been consistently strong throughout and his numbers again this year have been very good. From a skills perspective Tucker is a reliable kick but is not a penetrator and has limited hurt factor. Tucker is also very much an outside player, as someone who will stay on the outside looking to receive rather than going in and winning his own all, so as a result he will likely remain on a wing or back flank. I also overall see Tucker as a fairly low impact player per possession as someone who tends not to do enough damage with ball in hand, so unless he really develops an inside game, being on the outside he needs to add further hurt factor.



WHEN Darcy Tucker burst onto the scene last year to win All Australian selection as a 17-year-old after a standout under-18 championships for Vic Country, it set up his draft hopes for 2015.

It also created a new level of expectation for what he would achieve this year, which made the season a little more challenging for Tucker.

Tucker, who hails from Horsham in country Victoria but moved to Ballarat where he captained the North Ballarat Rebels, had a solid season in 2015.

But when judging it, it is worth remembering he missed the second half of last year with a serious ankle and leg injury that required surgery and nearly six months of recovery time.

He returned to enjoy some excellent games across the season – including a huge 43-disposal effort against the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup – and played a valuable role in Vic Country's carnival win.

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With his zip and drive from half-back, Tucker can set up play up the ground for his team. He's comfortable with the ball and backs himself with his left foot, and enjoys taking the game on, having a bounce and finding a teammate.

This year he averaged nearly 23 disposals in the TAC Cup, which included five rebound 50s a game. He also picked up nearly nine handball receives an outing, highlighting his ability to attract the ball and provide some run. He likes to baulk opponents, create some room and then take off.

Tucker has the frame and body maturity to step right into an AFL system. He played one game of VFL this year for the Roosters and fitted in seamlessly, gathering 19 disposals at 80 per cent efficiency.

Athletically he is also impressive, having recorded a level 15.3 beep test at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, which was the third best of any player to compete. His best agility score is elite (a leftover trait from his days as a star junior basketballer) and he can leap and take an overhead grab.

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Tucker didn't manage to piece together a really consistent season, which has been a frustration for him. At the championships he had a couple of good games mixed in with some average ones, and he didn't finish the year the way he would have liked with a quiet TAC Cup final.

So far Tucker has shown his best form across half-back, even though he had designs on playing as a midfielder for most of this year. He had some good games in that midfield role, but knows there are a few things to work on before that becomes a more permanent position for him.

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Tucker might start out his career as a Shaun Atley type of half-back flanker who breaks the lines with his run and carry and zigzagging dash. Like the North Melbourne defender, Tucker will eventually progress further up the ground as his career unfolds.

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Likely to fit into the first-round somewhere, but if not taken there, Tucker won't last long in the second round. His range is probably from 12-25 on draft night.

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Tucker has wanted an AFL career for as long as he can remember and won't waste his chance. He looks well suited to the way AFL football is played and is a prospect who loves to put the ball under his arm and go for a run. In space there are few better.

Tucker.jpg
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DannyTheDoorman said:
Tucker in my humble opinion wont play in our AFL side next year. You can fantasise all you want but in the tapes he is playing against U/18 players and he is still a kid.
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I live in the Ballarat area and get along to quite a few Ballarat Rebels [U18's] and Ballarat Roosters [VFL] games. You have drafted an absolute beauty in Darcy, made the U18's All Australian team last year as an under ager after a stellar TAC season as well, not quite as dominant this year but there were very good reasons for that.

What you may not be aware of is the fact he badly injured his ankle late in the 2014 season and missed the TAC Finals, the ankle injury required 2 screws to be inserted and 4+ months rehab and virtually no pre-season in 2015, and whilst his TAC form was a bit patchy in the first half of the season he finished of strongly, still represented Vic Country at the U18 Champs and played well in most games, and once again made the best 22 in the 2015 TAC Team of the year. High character young man with great leadership attributes that captained the Ballarat Rebels this year, captained the AFL Academy side in their one off game against a VFL team and has worked at the club this year as Coach Loader's assistant where his role was doing opposition player strategies and match ups. Very high football I.Q.

Shouldn't be any "go home" factor either if he gets a fair go, has lived away from home [Horsham] for the last 2 years, one as a live in boarder at St. Patricks College as part of their highly regarded elite football program. Darcy also has a very aggressive side to his football and won't take a backward step and because of this I believe he will eventually transition into the midfield rotations, so aggressive he was yellow carded in one of the Championship games for a hit on SA's Stephen Tahana.

Darcy was also a good basket-baller representing Vic Country at the U16's Championships and contrary to your opinion I believe he could very well play AFL this year as he is already well developed body wise as you will see and is a very driven character that has been working towards getting on an AFL list for at least the last 5 years. As part of his development he played a VFL game for the Ballarat Roosters during the season against the "men" and played well gathering 18 possessions.

I look forward to seeing Darcy lighting up the wide open spaces of Subi Oval with his run and carry and lethal left boot.....just not so much against my Crows.;)

My only fear is Ross Lyon's past reluctance to play youngsters when in Premiership mode but I'm hopeful once Lyon sees this kid's preparation and professionalism that will change all that.
 
Bicks said:
contrary to your opinion I believe he could very well play AFL this year as he is already well developed body wise as you will see and is a very driven character that has been working towards getting on an AFL list for at least the last 5 years. As part of his development he played a VFL game for the Ballarat Roosters during the season against the "men" and played well gathering 18 possessions. I look forward to seeing Darcy lighting up the wide open spaces of Subi Oval with his run and carry and lethal left boot.....
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Thanks for your contribution and insight. I too hope Darcy is given every opportunity to play this year as with the other draftees of 2014 and 2015. We are looking to improve and while reverting to the tried and tested might provide a small increment of improvement, the Club has hopefully accepted that it won't be enough to deliver short term glory. Conditioning will be the challenge for Darcy and the 2015 group, but from the prior group, the likes of Ed Langdon showed enough to be given a good run at it. I'm also counting on Weller and Blakely coming back in good shape to put their hands up during the preseason. And before them, a year of reckoning has surely arrived for Brady Grey and Hayden Crozier.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I'm also counting on Weller and Blakely coming back in good shape to put their hands up during the preseason. And before them, a year of reckoning has surely arrived for Brady Grey and Hayden Crozier.
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All those guys looked a million bucks at training last week. Weller is noticeable bigger while Blakely has possibly slimmed a little. Both were live wires during the training drills. Crozier was very vocal in his leadership of the young group and looks in terrific shape.
From the wonder write-up by Bicks above Tucker sounds like a gem but he will have his work cut out jumping the substantial queue forming for a jumper in the seniors this year. I only hope that your assessment that the club has accepted change is nigh proves to be correct.
 
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