By Justin Chadwick
The ruck battle between Fremantle big men Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson is already heating up, with the duo keen to push each other to even greater heights.
Fremantle’s bid for premiership success in 2023 received a huge double boost when they secured Jackson and Jaeger O’Meara during the trade period.
Jackson won a flag at Melbourne in 2021 and is touted as a future superstar, while O’Meara brings a wealth of midfield experience following stints at Gold Coast and Hawthorn.
Former Demon Luke Jackson in action against his new Dockers teammate Sean Darcy at Optus Stadium on July 29, 2022.Credit:AAP
Darcy has been one of the competition’s best big men over the past two years, but the arrival of Jackson has raised questions about who will assume the lead ruck role.
Fremantle are still formulating a plan about how Jackson and Darcy will split their time between the ruck and forward line, and the pair have been enjoying the training battles against each other.
“It’s good fun. Lukey’s a character. He’s an extremely good athlete. He pushes me in training,” Darcy said.
“He’s a really good runner. He covers the ground extremely well. If I’m ball watching a little bit, he’s spreading out wide. It’s really helping me a lot.
“He’s pushed me every day.”
Darcy said it would take time for him and Jackson to build their on-field chemistry.
“It’s see and feel at the moment. It’s coming along really nicely,” Darcy said.
“We’re finding what he likes and what I like [with] running patterns and things like that together.”
Another player who is effectively a new recruit is captain Nat Fyfe, who was restricted to just seven underwhelming games last season.
The two-time Brownlow medallist is injury-free and primed for a big 2023 campaign, and Darcy can’t wait to see the 31-year-old work his magic again on the fiel
“It’s exciting having a full Nat Fyfe back,” Darcy said.
“And with Jaeger coming in … we’ve got basically two new recruits with Nat and Jaeger, so it’s really exciting.
“They’re two A-graders of the competition.”
Fremantle broke their six-year finals drought last season, but Darcy isn’t satisfied.
“We haven’t achieved anything,” he said.
“Our goal is to hold the cup up. That’s our goal every day, so we’re training really hard and going after it each day.”
