Jack Darling

[Extramile]

I see Darling as a guy who has never really developed past a certain point. He had a lot of potential, reached a certain point and kind of stopped at that point. He's the type of guy that is a good 2nd or 3rd forward. I don't like his chances of being the number 1 forward when Kennedy retires. I don't think he has it in him to consistently perform against the number 1 defender of opposition teams.

You don't rate Darcy Moore?

 

[kerrazy]

I see Darling as a guy who has never really developed past a certain point. He had a lot of potential, reached a certain point and kind of stopped at that point. He's the type of guy that is a good 2nd or 3rd forward. I don't like his chances of being the number 1 forward when Kennedy retires. I don't think he has it in him to consistently perform against the number 1 defender of opposition teams.

I think you need to look at how he performed when Kennedy was out for an extended period.

 

[Power Raid]

I think you need to look at how he performed when Kennedy was out for an extended period.

was that positive?

 

[ConcreteWaters]

He'll end his career having kicked 500-600 odd goals as a premiership player, all australian and club leading goalkicker (so far twice). I can see why people say he hasn't developed, he's been consistently very good from day 1.

 

[nineteen eighty]

He'll end his career having kicked 500-600 odd goals as a premiership player, all australian and club leading goalkicker (so far twice). I can see why people say he hasn't developed, he's been consistently very good from day 1.

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

My impression (and it's not like I watch all his games), is that he's a "flat track bully". Beats up on lesser opponents or in home games and tends to fall away in the bigger games. Happy to be proven wrong. Just my impression based on the little I watch of the Eagles.

And you are right, he will end up with a fantastic footy record. Very impressive cv.

 

[Forward Press]

was that positive?

In 2012, when Kennedy missed 15 games, Darling kicked 50 as a second year player with a support cast like Josh Hill and Quinten Lynch on his last legs.

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

My impression (and it's not like I watch all his games), is that he's a "flat track bully". Beats up on lesser opponents or in home games and tends to fall away in the bigger games. Happy to be proven wrong. Just my impression based on the little I watch of the Eagles.

And you are right, he will end up with a fantastic footy record. Very impressive cv.

Like all other forwards, they tend to perform better against weaker defences.

He's acquitted himself decently enough in finals - last weekend was a loss and he kicked three and hauled down the contested marks. His third quarter in the 2018 GF is also the stuff of legends - 5 contested marks and a goal.

 

[nineteen eighty]

In 2012, when Kennedy missed 15 games, Darling kicked 50 as a second year player with a support cast like Josh Hill and Quinten Lynch on his last legs.



Like all other forwards, they tend to perform better against weaker defences.

He's acquitted himself decently enough in finals - last weekend was a loss and he kicked three and hauled down the contested marks. His third quarter in the 2018 GF is also the stuff of legends - 5 contested marks and a goal.

I do remember that 3rd quarter well. He was under the pump coming out of half time and he delivered.

 

[Coaster2012]

I see Darling as a guy who has never really developed past a certain point. He had a lot of potential, reached a certain point and kind of stopped at that point. He's the type of guy that is a good 2nd or 3rd forward. I don't like his chances of being the number 1 forward when Kennedy retires. I don't think he has it in him to consistently perform against the number 1 defender of opposition teams.

He'd be the number 1 forward in 60% of the teams in the league. He's averaged over 40 goals a year pretty much and is on point to kick over 600 when all i said and done. There isn't many of those around. People severly underrate him. He's 4 years younger than Hawkins, and will basically have kicked around what he has if he keeps the average up, and Hawkins is the AA FF. Darling has just been overshadowed by one of the best forwards of the last 15 years in the same side.

 

[Bestbird]

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

My impression (and it's not like I watch all his games), is that he's a "flat track bully". Beats up on lesser opponents or in home games and tends to fall away in the bigger games. Happy to be proven wrong. Just my impression based on the little I watch of the Eagles.

And you are right, he will end up with a fantastic footy record. Very impressive cv.

Has been fairly good in finals in general including 5 games where he has kicked 3 or more goals

 

[Kwality]

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

My impression (and it's not like I watch all his games), is that he's a "flat track bully". Beats up on lesser opponents or in home games and tends to fall away in the bigger games. Happy to be proven wrong. Just my impression based on the little I watch of the Eagles.

And you are right, he will end up with a fantastic footy record. Very impressive cv.

Genuine answer: 2018 GF with the game up for grabs beats the couple of mistakes he made in other games/finals.

His contested marking is a feature: https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Jack_Darling.html

 

[Ok Boomer]

I see Darling as a guy who has never really developed past a certain point. He had a lot of potential, reached a certain point and kind of stopped at that point. He's the type of guy that is a good 2nd or 3rd forward. I don't like his chances of being the number 1 forward when Kennedy retires. I don't think he has it in him to consistently perform against the number 1 defender of opposition teams.

I think he stagnated a lot from 2014-2017 and if you look at his stats they say that he did stagnate, and at times in 2017 he was quite poor. He went to another level early 2018 and has largely remained there, though his start to this season wasn't great.

 

[Punt Road Feral]

You don't rate Darcy Moore?

Very true.

Moore is an elite KPD and Darling got the better of him on Saturday night.

Usually Moore dominates in the air with intercept marking but Darling nullified this while clunking his fair share of contested marks himself.
Was a very good game against a very good opponent.

 

[Eaglespur]

Darling is a star . Any other opinion is redundant. Will be very interesting to see how deep into his 30s he plays as he looks to be an incredible athlete.

 

[nineteen eighty]

Genuine answer: 2018 GF with the game up for grabs beats the couple of mistakes he made in other games/finals.

His contested marking is a feature: https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Jack_Darling.html

I appreciate his 3rd quarter in that game.

With regards to his contested marking, am I reading the stats correctly...only one year where he has averaged over 2 contested marks??

 

[WCE_phil]

If darling was 2 inches taller he'd be the best key forward in the league. He plays as an undersized CHF and is still averaging 40+ goals a season. I'm not sure what more people want.

 

[Forward Press]

I appreciate his 3rd quarter in that game.

With regards to his contested marking, am I reading the stats correctly...only one year where he has averaged over 2 contested marks??

Not many players average over 2 per game anyway.

In that year (2018) where he averaged 2.57, only eight players (not a typo) in the competition averaged more than 2 per game. This year, there were only four - Dixon, Taberner, Cox and Lobb. Champion Data have fairly strict criteria if I remember correctly on what is counted as a contested mark.

Source - footywire.com

 

[Americanpies]

Darling is a star . Any other opinion is redundant. Will be very interesting to see how deep into his 30s he plays as he looks to be an incredible athlete.

however he is not a superstar... There are a lot of stars around. Josh Bruce numbers over the years are not that far behind Darling (except for this year). Jack Darling was compared to Carey at the start of his career, but he has never been able to move past a certain point. He's got to the point of being a good player, but never gone to being a superstar. He has the athleticism and skill to be up there with someone like Buddy as one of the best forwards of this generation, but why isn't he at that level? JK is higher in the stratosphere of stardom than Darling, but JK is a one dimensional lead/mark/goal player. Darling is more athletic than JK and on the surface should be able to match him + more, and that's what makes it strange to me. Either he is just complacent being known as a good player or playing as no 2 behind Kennedy has hindered his career from a positional and mental aspect?

 

[Kwality]

I appreciate his 3rd quarter in that game.

With regards to his contested marking, am I reading the stats correctly...only one year where he has averaged over 2 contested marks??

Yep, & thats what the stats show.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

however he is not a superstar... There are a lot of stars around. Josh Bruce numbers over the years are not that far behind Darling (except for this year). Jack Darling was compared to Carey at the start of his career, but he has never been able to move past a certain point. He's got to the point of being a good player, but never gone to being a superstar. He has the athleticism and skill to be up there with someone like Buddy as one of the best forwards of this generation, but why isn't he at that level? JK is higher in the stratosphere of stardom than Darling, but JK is a one dimensional lead/mark/goal player. Darling is more athletic than JK and on the surface should be able to match him + more, and that's what makes it strange to me. Either he is just complacent being known as a good player or playing as no 2 behind Kennedy has hindered his career from a positional and mental aspect?

So the critcism is that he hasn't turned out to be as good as Franklin.

 

[Americanpies]

So the critcism is that he hasn't turned out to be as good as Franklin.

Go back to his early days. They were saying he is the next Carey. So yes, he hasn't reached the heights he was predicted to reach. He's not as tall as Buddy, but he has similar attributes. And I would think Darling is better overhead than Buddy.

I dont know... I suppose I keep thinking he is going to take that next step and be the next big thing, but it hasn't happened. And I only just today saw he was 28. I actually thought he was about 25... which is credit to him for his athleticism.

Edit - With the Buddy comparison... I just pictured Darling being one of those big guys that can take a huge mark, and immediately play on ,just accelerate away from HF and kick big goals...

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Go back to his early days. They were saying he is the next Carey. So yes, he hasn't reached the heights he was predicted to reach. He's not as tall as Buddy, but he has similar attributes. And I would think Darling is better overhead than Buddy.

I dont know... I suppose I keep thinking he is going to take that next step and be the next big thing, but it hasn't happened. And I only just today saw he was 28. I actually thought he was about 25... which is credit to him for his athleticism.

Edit - With the Buddy comparison... I just pictured Darling being one of those big guys that can take a huge mark, and immediately play on ,just accelerate away from HF and kick big goals...

So really the criticism should be directed at the muppets who said he was going to be as good as Carey.

Otherwise the game is to establish an impossible standard and then criticise a fine player for not meeting it.

 

[nameless]

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

Just to give you some examples.

Last year in a loss at the MCG against Geelong he kicked 3 goals took 4 contested marks and also had 5 tackles, so a very good performance.

In 2017 at Adelaide Oval against Port Adelaide he also kicked 3, 10 contested possessions, 3 contested marks and 7 tackles.

Kicked 2 of our 7 goals against the bulldogs in the loss in 2016.

He's also played well in other games where we've dominated as expected and early on his career especially he was around 1 goal away from home against good opposition.
That's just a basic view though, as even in the 2018 GF he only kicked 1 goal, but had a pretty profound impact on the game.

His final record is pretty good overall from 17 games he's kicked 34 goals (2.0 per game).

 

[Kwality]

however he is not a superstar... There are a lot of stars around. Josh Bruce numbers over the years are not that far behind Darling (except for this year). Jack Darling was compared to Carey at the start of his career, but he has never been able to move past a certain point. He's got to the point of being a good player, but never gone to being a superstar. He has the athleticism and skill to be up there with someone like Buddy as one of the best forwards of this generation, but why isn't he at that level? JK is higher in the stratosphere of stardom than Darling, but JK is a one dimensional lead/mark/goal player. Darling is more athletic than JK and on the surface should be able to match him + more, and that's what makes it strange to me. Either he is just complacent being known as a good player or playing as no 2 behind Kennedy has hindered his career from a positional and mental aspect?

fair questions & Darling is not a superstar, had a good career & he's got a few years left in him.

 

[ConcreteWaters]

Genuine question...how do you rate his finals record?

My impression (and it's not like I watch all his games), is that he's a "flat track bully". Beats up on lesser opponents or in home games and tends to fall away in the bigger games. Happy to be proven wrong. Just my impression based on the little I watch of the Eagles.

And you are right, he will end up with a fantastic footy record. Very impressive cv.

I don't think it's as bad as it's made out. He averages 1.9 goals per game, and 1.94 in finals. He's never had doughnuts in a final.
People talk about his 2018 GF. Without his 3rd quarter we don't win the flag. He was average on GF day in 2015, but he had another 20 mates there in the same colours that don't get the stick he does.

I don't know why finals in Perth are illegitimatised over east. No other team gets that. A bit sick of the narrative that teams have no chance in perth because the travel is difficult while simultaneously saying that travel shouldn't affect us so what is done by eagles players at home doesn't count. If you're good enough, you win anywhere as the Pies proved the other night. JD has played some good away finals- Geelong last year, Port in the away EF in 2017. The finals he's been average in, the team has generally been belted (hawks 2015, GWS 2017).

Edit* as a poster pointed out, add in this year and he's 2 goals a game in finals.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

however he is not a superstar... There are a lot of stars around. Josh Bruce numbers over the years are not that far behind Darling (except for this year). Jack Darling was compared to Carey at the start of his career, but he has never been able to move past a certain point. He's got to the point of being a good player, but never gone to being a superstar. He has the athleticism and skill to be up there with someone like Buddy as one of the best forwards of this generation, but why isn't he at that level? JK is higher in the stratosphere of stardom than Darling, but JK is a one dimensional lead/mark/goal player. Darling is more athletic than JK and on the surface should be able to match him + more, and that's what makes it strange to me. Either he is just complacent being known as a good player or playing as no 2 behind Kennedy has hindered his career from a positional and mental aspect?

Jesus Christ. You’re embarrassing yourself now.