Height is a weapon for footballers, says ex-Bomber and Hawk Paul Salmon – as long as you know how to use it.
That’s why he’s so impressed with Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy, whose performance against Collingwood on Friday night had even his opponents in awe as he took six contested marks, kicked four goals and hit teammates with two superb, left-foot kicks to create scoring opportunities.
Sam Darcy threatened to take the game from Collingwood on Friday nightCredit: Getty Images
His game won plaudits from Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury, who told SEN “he’s going to be something that I don’t think this competition has ever seen before”.
Although Salmon, the competition’s first 200-centimetre-plus leading goalkicker, is proof the game has seen something similar, the hall of famer said the 21-year-old Bulldog was at “the start of a great journey” and “has the world at his feet”.
However, the man known as “the Big Fish” said he hoped spectators could recognise it was not just height that made Darcy so dangerous up forward.
“Sam is a huge talent who could write his own script,” Salmon told this masthead.
Sam Darcy has drawn comparisons with Paul Salmon and the champion Bomber/Hawk is enjoying it.Credit: Getty / Archive
“His height is a weapon but unless you know how to use it, it becomes a liability, so I just hope we appreciate him for what he is bringing, his mobility, his athleticism, and his ability to read the play,” Salmon said.
“Body positioning becomes a bit more complex as a tall guy because you can get moved off the ball with your longer limbs [and] your waist to ground length. He is going to learn along the way about how to plant his feet, bend his knees, come into the contest and he will have more bodies around him. There is more complexity about being someone so tall and such a visual presence on the ground.
“We oversimplify the advantage that Sam’s got. He has got an advantage like (170cm Hawk) Nick Watson’s got with his speed and his height. If you can’t use it, it’s useless. That is a skill in itself. You have to use the weapon.”
Darcy is the son of former Bulldogs great and board member Luke Darcy, and the grandson of Bulldog David Darcy and Bomber David Shaw. He has kicked 46 goals in his first 30 matches – compared to Salmon’s 103 – but he looks no less threatening inside 50 as he plays in an era where goalkicking responsibilities are shared.
Father of Sam and Bulldogs great Luke Darcy was part of the club’s 100 year celebrations. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Salmon said the young forward’s ability to fully extend his arms and mark the ball at its highest point was remarkable.
“It’s great to watch,” he said.
Darcy is the tallest of a generation of key forwards taller than 200cm. Adelaide’s Riley Thilthorpe, Carlton’s Harry McKay, Geelong’s Shannon Neale, Hawthorn’s Mabior Chol, and the King brothers, Ben and Max, are all at least two metres tall. “Two-metre” Peter Wright is struggling to get a game at Essendon.
Salmon praised the Bulldogs for their gradual development of Darcy as he battled injury early on, giving him time to refine his game. He was relieved such tall forwards were more common than when he played and was treated as a novelty act.
“The generation has got taller, the training and preparation is much better, the understanding of the emotional requirements as a player and how the Bulldogs are nurturing him seems, from the outside, fantastic, so the burden won’t be on his shoulders alone to carry that side. That is for the club to carry, not him,” he said.
“If he gets that run at it and has years of good health then Scott [Pendlebury] might be only half rating the danger [Sam] might pose.”
