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Darling, Brownless, Roughead, Loewe as a super quick response. There'll be better players but those guys have all been very good second fiddles.
Toast Jack Darling - 250 AFL Games
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I daresay that's what leads to some of the opinions of JD. He burst on the scene and was dominant in those early years. The expectation may have been 'well if he's doing this at 19-22, he could be anything by 25-26'.
The more likely outcome is that he just reached his ceiling quite early and has rewarded us with durability and consistency that is almost unmatched in terms of KPFs.
His ceiling was the middle part of 2018 and 2019 where there were periods where he was the most dominant forward in the competition.
Interestingly it's possible that Darling will end his career with more goals than Charlie Curnow (27, 253 goals), Harry McKay (26, 232 goals) or Nick Larkey (25, 26 in June, 209 goals).
In fact it's entirely possible that no key forward currently between the ages of 23 and 30 atm beats Darling's goal tally in their career. Maybe Naughton or one of the King boys. However, they'd need some luck and have form well into their thirties to make it possible. Plus both Naughton and Ben King will have strong competition to be the no. 1 forward target at their clubs with the younger key forward talents coming through.
JD went beast in 2018 but statistically how much variance is there between that year and the year JK missed with injury? I'm guessing it's higher in contested marks in 2018 but his potency remains fairly consistent over time.
Where his peak is wasn't what I was referencing at all, but more that his career is less bell curve and more table top. Reached a peak early and largely maintained it for an incredible amount of time as opposed to a gradual rise, short peak, gradual decline. In that regard bell curve is probably not the right reference point but it's late...
I agree, his consistency is commendable (up to the last couple of years), and relatively unusual for a key forward.
Keys
Looking for a cloud to yell at
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Below are his career statistics by totals and by averages
Two things standout.
1) He’s been incredibly durable. By my count he’s missed just 23 games, 10 of which were in 2015 (the only full season he played less than 20 games) due to a fractured foot that delayed his start to the season until R11
2) He’s been incredibly consistent. From 2012 to 2022 his goals per game average ranged from 1.62 to 2.49. Has kicked at least one goal in 237 of his 284 games which is a strike rate of a goal or more in 5 out of every 6 games
Two things standout.
1) He’s been incredibly durable. By my count he’s missed just 23 games, 10 of which were in 2015 (the only full season he played less than 20 games) due to a fractured foot that delayed his start to the season until R11
2) He’s been incredibly consistent. From 2012 to 2022 his goals per game average ranged from 1.62 to 2.49. Has kicked at least one goal in 237 of his 284 games which is a strike rate of a goal or more in 5 out of every 6 games
UseR2006
Premiership Player
- Aug 2, 2020
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Big Eagle overcomes injury, form to head back to best
Jack Darling is back and ready to play his role in West Coast's rebuild
www.afl.com.au
His arm injury last year and into the pre-season sounds much worse than we heard.
Big Eagle overcomes injury, form to head back to best
Jack Darling is back and ready to play his role in West Coast's rebuild
His arm injury last year and into the pre-season sounds much worse than we heard.
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HoneyBadger35
The Big Kahuna
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Jack suffers from people not understanding that progress isn’t linear.
If you’re good as a kid, you’re expected to be great.
If you’re great as a kid, you’re expected to be generational.
That patch in 2018 where he was the best player in the comp for two months was a preview into what might have been if he’d done that consistently, but also doing that consistently means he’d have won Brownlows from the goal square.
I think we’ll reflect on just how phenomenal he was once he’s gone, and have a chuckle about some of his real head scratching moments that he peppered in amongst well over a decade of being a true top 10 KPF in the league.
If you’re good as a kid, you’re expected to be great.
If you’re great as a kid, you’re expected to be generational.
That patch in 2018 where he was the best player in the comp for two months was a preview into what might have been if he’d done that consistently, but also doing that consistently means he’d have won Brownlows from the goal square.
I think we’ll reflect on just how phenomenal he was once he’s gone, and have a chuckle about some of his real head scratching moments that he peppered in amongst well over a decade of being a true top 10 KPF in the league.
Isn't that the truth.
It's funny, because he has proven to be a ridiculously good contested mark at various times in his career. But on the odd occasion (and perhaps it's happened a bit more in the last couple of years) he just gets a rubber chest while in some space. But he is actually a very brave forward, particularly given his size and has taken some great marks in the past, not the least of which the last goal at Subiaco (which was a vitally important goal at the time):
Incidentally, Yeo mentioned that Jack was one of his two best mates at the club this week.
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