How Good Is Jack Darling

At the start of 2010, Darling, now 19, was touted as a potential first pick in that year’s AFL draft. He’d starred for Western Australia at national junior championship level, been through the system at the AIS-AFL Academy and proven himself a man-boy among men playing for West Perth in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL). He’d long been a very prominent blip on the recruiters’ radar; as a 14-year-old he once booted 22 goals in a club game.

But last year he ran off the rails. Everyone’s Darling (NB: sports hacks are required to include at least eight puns on Jack’s name in any profile article published) was quickly re-branded and re-assessed as Jack The Lad after a series of bad off-field incidents; the most dangerous being a king-hit from behind after a night out in a Perth pub. That assault left him with a minor skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. It also, perversely, might have acted as his professional wake-up call. As his

stocks fell, Darling carted around a copy of the police report from that night to club interviews, desperate to prove to AFL decision-makers he was still a

blue-chip investment.

Happy Jack

Still, come draft day in November, clubs weren’t buying. Darling fell all the way to pick 26, where fortune finally worked in his favour: he was selected by the West Coast Eagles, the team he had supported all his life. Notably, it was the Eagles’ second pick (Gaff was chosen at number four) and came after every club in the competition except for premiers Collingwood had had the chance to recruit him.

Since then, things could hardly have gone better for the 191cm, 87kg teenager whose parents and three sisters are also staunch Eagles fans. Entrenched as a hero at home, Darling has quickly endeared himself to the broader West Coast family this season, slotting into the line-up from round one as a mobile marking forward with a rare blend of speed, size and strength. With other big bodies in Quinten Lynch and Josh Kennedy, and quality goal sneaks Mark LeCras and Mark Nicoski, Darling has helped make the Eagles’ forward line one of the most feared in the competition.

“I’ve learned a lot from my team-mates and coaches since I came to the club,” says Darling. “When you’re younger, you look at these guys in the AFL like they are superheroes. Now I know they’re just normal people and that they really want to help me get my career started. That gives you a lot of confidence.”

Darling earned an early NAB Rising Star nomination after kicking three goals in a polished performance against Melbourne in round six. But, fitness permitting, it will be in the heated atmosphere of September finals footy where he can stamp himself as a prototypical player of the future: a big-sized forward with the aggression to play defence and the versatility to move to the midfield if required.

“We’ve surprised a lot of people after the wooden spoon last year,” says Darling. “We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, but everyone is working hard and we’re on the right page. It’s just been a really good time to join the club.”

Jack of most trades

If Australian rules hadn’t won his heart early, Darling could’ve pursued other sporting interests. He has a black belt in taekwondo and on the track was a Western Australian junior champion athlete at every distance from 100m to 1500m.Such natural athleticism and speed serves him well, but he has also quickly learned that preparation is vital should he want to build on his promising first year. “The AFL players are bigger and stronger than the blokes I’d been playing against, but what you really notice is just how much fitter they are. They run so much and so well that building up your aerobic capacity is a must.”

‒ Travis Cranley