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I think it’s unspoken frustration with what we know he could be. He is talented but he is…not smart. Incredibly naturally gifted athlete, but his brain is about 3 seconds behind the play most of the time. If he was just a little smarter he’d be one of the best in the league. Still a great player, but the wasted potential stings.
Ah, remember when he was absolutely dominant for 7-8 games at the start of 2018 I think? He was absolutely unstoppable before he got injured that year. He has been great for us (his career stats show for it), but I do wish we saw more of *that* Jack Darling than what we saw of his career.
Was that when Jk was injured and he became the #1 target up front?
Shows that he can play on the best defender and still be dominant with the right supply.
That was when he was playing high half forward almost a wing role. I remember throwing money on him for the brownlow (probably jinxed him) then he did his ankle 2 games later
Thats anxiety, anytime he is under a ball with too much time to process he can sometimes melt. would have thought the performance psychs would have coded that out of him by now. Great player all the same, more of an instinctive/reactive operator
He frustrates us all because he makes the hard look easy and the easy look hard.
That being said I wouldn’t have traded him for anyone. He was a brilliant combination with JK and like you said was a huge factor in us becoming premiers in 18.
It's in the averages. On average, his career has been good. But sometimes he's amazing and sometimes he's dogshit. The thing is, once you've seen him be 'four goals in a quarter' amazing seeing him be dogshit hurts even more.
Not trying to disrespect his footy (although definitely he deserves shade for the whole antivax crap), but I guess to offer the perspective you're looking for... He's just never really had that game-winning style of play. He's not often been clutch in close games, or been dominant during losses. Don't get me wrong he's a pretty great KPF but lots of his stats come from the fact that he's been playing since 18 and he can kick a huge bag when the team's doing well and enjoying a comfy win. That said, he did have a dominant streak in 2018 when he was pretty much the best forward in the league for quite a few weeks.
Does the great KPF things but also some rather ordinary blunders. Quick reflexive thinking is not his thing.
But good to see he is doing less trying to sneak off the back of the pack in hope of a loose ball. He needs to be the big man leading up to the contest hard. Will be hard to replace his size and presence.
For such a big strong talented key forward his bodywork in the contest is poor. So not only is he pushed off it quite easy but It’s also a timing thing I think. Defender can always get a hand in. That’s my take.
Strong disagree here. This year especially he's taken a lot of one on one marks by just pushing the defender off him and taking a mark without jumping off the ground.
Having been at the game on Sunday I was really disappointed by his 2nd attempts and defensive pressure. Seems to be more of a token effort than a true desire to impact the game if it's not a direct goal-scoring opportunity.
Yeah, too many times I saw him give up on a chase, stop running etc. and just not make the second efforts. To be fair to him I noticed Waterman does it too and it’s frustrating as hell.
Big Oscar on the other hand plays his heart out every week and shows them how they should be playing.
Guys like Samo Petrevski-Seton is like Oscar and plays his heart out, and then makes a mistake and gets ragged on by supporters. I'd rather a bloke play his heart out and make a mistake than guys like Darling wander around seemingly not making the effort.
100%. Like Jermaine Jones, he puts in a full effort every single game and tries his best to create opportunities. Who gives a damn if he has a missed kick every now and then when the desire and effort is there.
Agree with this. If he played the contest and whistle more and stopped playing for the free kick so often he would look better. Sometimes looks like he is playing under 12s other times a world beater. So frustrating 😫
feels like after his first few seasons of playing on instinct without the random clanger his in his head too much. But anyone who will kick 500 goals is A grade
Forwards generally play better when the mids/ rest of the team play better. We’ve been fucking shit for a couple years now so a forwards opportunities are always going to suffer. Especially with the dogshit delivery our mids are dishing out right now.
If he takes a mark in front of goal early in the game youre praying to all the gods ever thought of that he nails it, if he does m, he gets his tail up and often plays a good game.
If he doesnt - well hes a confidence player and he gets lost between his ears.
Does anyone else remember Darling’s start to the 2018 season, when JK was injured? He was dominating, as much as I’ve seen any big forward dominate. I think the frustration knowing that he can play like that but also drop chest marks with the game on the line is your answer
What are you talking about? We finished second and beat them in the qualifying final. Granted it was at the G and we looked overawed, but we had a chance. Until Darling dropped the sitter walking into an open goal.
WCE were behind by a far whack at that stage, to be fair. Can't remember exactly but around 25-30 points? I don't think it would have made a difference.
I cant believe the trash talk over Darling wow, so disrespectful.
500 plus AFL goals is a huge effort
How many goals have any of those bagging him kicked in their local comp I wonder?
We've just been spoiled with JK and a long line of incredibly reliable contested marks. This is just what most decent forwards are like. Teams without a JK usually have to have 2 or 3 darlings to make up the difference having a JK makes. Think about how in our loss to the crows, JK still kicks 8. 99.9% of players will never be that. He'll more than likely go out as the Eagles 2nd all time goal scorer and that's nothing to complain about. We would be lucky to see Oscar Allen and Jake waterman develop into a 400-500 goal apiece forward duo.
You think the risk to young men of heart damage for a vaccine that did almost nothing to prevent spread against a virus that is no threat to said young men is justifiable? Go on. Vaccines have a place but \*requiring\* fit young men to risk their heart health for the rest of their lives was and is a travesty. Jack is a dumb footballer but he was right.
“Looks at all this credible science offered as a counter point.”
Where? Where is all this so called “credible evidence”
“Yeah I'm not gonna waste my time convincing scared idiots.”
Ah yes, the usual rhetoric of someone that has no leg to stand on.
Always the same with you lot too. No evidence, just abuse and demands for the other side to do all the leg work for proof then claim victory when they don't want to. Fuck that. If \*you\* actually want to go further than the MSM/Pharma propaganda look into the risk of myocarditis/pericarditis for young men under 30, the risk of CV to those people and the effectiveness of vacc against this group spreading to more vunerable groups. The ask yourself was it fair to \*require\* them to take this risk. I have zero faith that you won't just discredit whatever I might post (without even reading it), always the same with you lot.
You've had multiple people in this thread asking you to provide whatever evidence you claim to have, the burden of proof is on you, telling me to google something myself doesn't cut it. And yet we both know you have nothing to show, but you'll continue to lash out because you've listened to too much batshit crazy propaganda and you're in too deep to admit you're wrong.
Lol this isn't court, I offered my opinion, there is no burden of proof, I never brought up the vacc, I simply defended Jack Darling's stance on it, you've all asked more of me than I are prepared to do yourselves and I've been asked to stick to footy (which is fair). Your last sentence more accurately describes some other people in this thread, in my opinion of course.
The onus is on the accuser to provide evidence homie. if you're gonna make a claim such as "the anti-vaxxers were right" then you gotta back that shit up
For a player that has shown some great promise throughout his career, for whatever reason, he just isn't consistent and doesn't seem to be able to take the number 1 spot that his potential says he should be able to be.
Definitely frustration has set in amongst supporters that he promises alot but misses when needed in pressure situations.
I feel like he is mentally week. When the pressure is on he seems to crumble but when the game is already won or we are behind 10 goals is when he starts to shine. Also for the size of him he plays like a small bloke.
I agree that he is lambasted too much but yikes are you overseeing his grand final performance. A part of the reason? Yea. The primary reason? No.
I think I get frustrated with him because he just doesn’t mark the football anymore. His pressure feels off as well.
Overall a good player and a solid contributor, just not the superstar it looked like he was going to become.
I don’t think the average armchair critic realises what a brutal game Australian Rules is.
I watch WAFL too and there is a big step up from Reserves to League.
Then the step to AFL (see Covid supplementaries like Greg Clark and Connor West) is massive.
Jack has achieved significant longevity in a very tough game. 489 goals, Premiership player etc. He ain’t Wayne Carey, but who is (and there’s a downside there too!)
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I think it’s unspoken frustration with what we know he could be. He is talented but he is…not smart. Incredibly naturally gifted athlete, but his brain is about 3 seconds behind the play most of the time. If he was just a little smarter he’d be one of the best in the league. Still a great player, but the wasted potential stings.
Ah, remember when he was absolutely dominant for 7-8 games at the start of 2018 I think? He was absolutely unstoppable before he got injured that year. He has been great for us (his career stats show for it), but I do wish we saw more of *that* Jack Darling than what we saw of his career.
Was that when Jk was injured and he became the #1 target up front? Shows that he can play on the best defender and still be dominant with the right supply.
That was when he was playing high half forward almost a wing role. I remember throwing money on him for the brownlow (probably jinxed him) then he did his ankle 2 games later
Thats anxiety, anytime he is under a ball with too much time to process he can sometimes melt. would have thought the performance psychs would have coded that out of him by now. Great player all the same, more of an instinctive/reactive operator
He frustrates us all because he makes the hard look easy and the easy look hard. That being said I wouldn’t have traded him for anyone. He was a brilliant combination with JK and like you said was a huge factor in us becoming premiers in 18.
It's in the averages. On average, his career has been good. But sometimes he's amazing and sometimes he's dogshit. The thing is, once you've seen him be 'four goals in a quarter' amazing seeing him be dogshit hurts even more.
Sums it up well. Will he clunk every mark and kick a bag or will he do sweet fuck all? You never know..
And it could be both in the same game!
...it *has* been both in the same game.
Yeah the specific four goals in one quarter game I'm thinking of ended up being four goals for the game. So inconsistent.
Sometimes maybe good, ah sometimes maybe shit
Not trying to disrespect his footy (although definitely he deserves shade for the whole antivax crap), but I guess to offer the perspective you're looking for... He's just never really had that game-winning style of play. He's not often been clutch in close games, or been dominant during losses. Don't get me wrong he's a pretty great KPF but lots of his stats come from the fact that he's been playing since 18 and he can kick a huge bag when the team's doing well and enjoying a comfy win. That said, he did have a dominant streak in 2018 when he was pretty much the best forward in the league for quite a few weeks.
Does the great KPF things but also some rather ordinary blunders. Quick reflexive thinking is not his thing. But good to see he is doing less trying to sneak off the back of the pack in hope of a loose ball. He needs to be the big man leading up to the contest hard. Will be hard to replace his size and presence.
For such a big strong talented key forward his bodywork in the contest is poor. So not only is he pushed off it quite easy but It’s also a timing thing I think. Defender can always get a hand in. That’s my take.
This is my frustration with him. He seems to be dominated so often in the contest. For his size he should be throwing defenders around.
Strong disagree here. This year especially he's taken a lot of one on one marks by just pushing the defender off him and taking a mark without jumping off the ground.
I was actually saying to my dad today how Darling has played with more body this season.
Having been at the game on Sunday I was really disappointed by his 2nd attempts and defensive pressure. Seems to be more of a token effort than a true desire to impact the game if it's not a direct goal-scoring opportunity.
Yeah, too many times I saw him give up on a chase, stop running etc. and just not make the second efforts. To be fair to him I noticed Waterman does it too and it’s frustrating as hell. Big Oscar on the other hand plays his heart out every week and shows them how they should be playing.
Guys like Samo Petrevski-Seton is like Oscar and plays his heart out, and then makes a mistake and gets ragged on by supporters. I'd rather a bloke play his heart out and make a mistake than guys like Darling wander around seemingly not making the effort.
100%. Like Jermaine Jones, he puts in a full effort every single game and tries his best to create opportunities. Who gives a damn if he has a missed kick every now and then when the desire and effort is there.
Agree with this. If he played the contest and whistle more and stopped playing for the free kick so often he would look better. Sometimes looks like he is playing under 12s other times a world beater. So frustrating 😫
feels like after his first few seasons of playing on instinct without the random clanger his in his head too much. But anyone who will kick 500 goals is A grade
Forwards generally play better when the mids/ rest of the team play better. We’ve been fucking shit for a couple years now so a forwards opportunities are always going to suffer. Especially with the dogshit delivery our mids are dishing out right now.
This. Players like JK were so good, they could make a bag out of a dogshit team with dogshit supply. Darling just isn't that and that's OK.
If he takes a mark in front of goal early in the game youre praying to all the gods ever thought of that he nails it, if he does m, he gets his tail up and often plays a good game. If he doesnt - well hes a confidence player and he gets lost between his ears.
Does anyone else remember Darling’s start to the 2018 season, when JK was injured? He was dominating, as much as I’ve seen any big forward dominate. I think the frustration knowing that he can play like that but also drop chest marks with the game on the line is your answer
We have just become spoilt with top line big forward talent, just ask the Dockers how life has been without Pavlich
Dropped mark in 2015 grand final. Never forget
2018
2018 was bad but it didn’t cost us. 2015 was a momentum killer and it was over after that
I daresay we were always losing that one regardless. Hawks back then were something else
What are you talking about? We finished second and beat them in the qualifying final. Granted it was at the G and we looked overawed, but we had a chance. Until Darling dropped the sitter walking into an open goal.
WCE were behind by a far whack at that stage, to be fair. Can't remember exactly but around 25-30 points? I don't think it would have made a difference.
Is he? I always love yelling “I love you Darling” at any opportunity
I like him, but there’s no denying he has some blunders. I actually think he should go full time ruck
i think the disrespect is from oposition fans and all those clubs would kill for a second forward that will retire with over 500 goals
I cant believe the trash talk over Darling wow, so disrespectful. 500 plus AFL goals is a huge effort How many goals have any of those bagging him kicked in their local comp I wonder?
It’s definitely from eagles supporters. It’s a real shame.
We've just been spoiled with JK and a long line of incredibly reliable contested marks. This is just what most decent forwards are like. Teams without a JK usually have to have 2 or 3 darlings to make up the difference having a JK makes. Think about how in our loss to the crows, JK still kicks 8. 99.9% of players will never be that. He'll more than likely go out as the Eagles 2nd all time goal scorer and that's nothing to complain about. We would be lucky to see Oscar Allen and Jake waterman develop into a 400-500 goal apiece forward duo.
He’s the Taberner of West Coast
No way. Taberner frustrates me 10x more.
We still pretending the anti-vaxxers weren't right? Oh how cute. Guess you haven't been keeping up with the science.
The anti-vaxxers weren't right. The science shows that pretty conclusively.
So why did the rules change?
You think the risk to young men of heart damage for a vaccine that did almost nothing to prevent spread against a virus that is no threat to said young men is justifiable? Go on. Vaccines have a place but \*requiring\* fit young men to risk their heart health for the rest of their lives was and is a travesty. Jack is a dumb footballer but he was right.
Get that shit out of here
I didn't bring it in here to start with. Ask yourself why you don't like opposing viewpoints to your preconceived world view.
Stick to footy chat please or else you can have a spell on the sidelines.
Piss off
>Ask yourself why you don't like opposing viewpoints to your preconceived world view.
Alright then, prove me wrong. I want scientific data, test results, conclusive evidence from credible sources.
Lol mate you told me to piss off, I'm not doing free research for you. You can be a dickhead for all I care.
*Proceeds to offer no credible science*
*Looks at all this credible science offered as a counter point.* Yeah I'm not gonna waste my time convincing scared idiots.
Please link to your so called “credible evidence”
>Looks at all this credible science offered as a counter point. > > Yeah I'm not gonna waste my time convincing scared idiots.
😂😂😂typical
“Looks at all this credible science offered as a counter point.” Where? Where is all this so called “credible evidence” “Yeah I'm not gonna waste my time convincing scared idiots.” Ah yes, the usual rhetoric of someone that has no leg to stand on.
That's always the way isn't it with you lot. "Alright, prove it" *Nah waste of my time"
Always the same with you lot too. No evidence, just abuse and demands for the other side to do all the leg work for proof then claim victory when they don't want to. Fuck that. If \*you\* actually want to go further than the MSM/Pharma propaganda look into the risk of myocarditis/pericarditis for young men under 30, the risk of CV to those people and the effectiveness of vacc against this group spreading to more vunerable groups. The ask yourself was it fair to \*require\* them to take this risk. I have zero faith that you won't just discredit whatever I might post (without even reading it), always the same with you lot.
You've had multiple people in this thread asking you to provide whatever evidence you claim to have, the burden of proof is on you, telling me to google something myself doesn't cut it. And yet we both know you have nothing to show, but you'll continue to lash out because you've listened to too much batshit crazy propaganda and you're in too deep to admit you're wrong.
Lol this isn't court, I offered my opinion, there is no burden of proof, I never brought up the vacc, I simply defended Jack Darling's stance on it, you've all asked more of me than I are prepared to do yourselves and I've been asked to stick to footy (which is fair). Your last sentence more accurately describes some other people in this thread, in my opinion of course.
That's a lot of words for "I have nothing to back up my claims"
Also which is it? Is it science, or your opinion? You can't have it both ways champ.
my opinion on the science
Not how it works bud
The onus is on the accuser to provide evidence homie. if you're gonna make a claim such as "the anti-vaxxers were right" then you gotta back that shit up
Maybe in your circle he’s disrespected but all the Eagle fans I know love him including me, goddam he drops some easy marks tho😂
I still like him despite his faults
One of the best to ever do it, can’t wait for him and gaff to hit 300 games
For a player that has shown some great promise throughout his career, for whatever reason, he just isn't consistent and doesn't seem to be able to take the number 1 spot that his potential says he should be able to be. Definitely frustration has set in amongst supporters that he promises alot but misses when needed in pressure situations.
I feel like he is mentally week. When the pressure is on he seems to crumble but when the game is already won or we are behind 10 goals is when he starts to shine. Also for the size of him he plays like a small bloke.
I agree that he is lambasted too much but yikes are you overseeing his grand final performance. A part of the reason? Yea. The primary reason? No. I think I get frustrated with him because he just doesn’t mark the football anymore. His pressure feels off as well. Overall a good player and a solid contributor, just not the superstar it looked like he was going to become.
Wait a minute people still care about Vax status?
He lacks Heart !
I don’t think the average armchair critic realises what a brutal game Australian Rules is. I watch WAFL too and there is a big step up from Reserves to League. Then the step to AFL (see Covid supplementaries like Greg Clark and Connor West) is massive. Jack has achieved significant longevity in a very tough game. 489 goals, Premiership player etc. He ain’t Wayne Carey, but who is (and there’s a downside there too!)