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West Australian
3 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Fremantle Dockers manage Sean Darcy out of Thursday night clash against Essendon as Nathan O'Driscoll returns
Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy has been managed out of their clash with Essendon and debutant ruckman Vigo Visentini. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE TEAMS The Dockers will leave athletic big man Luke Jackson to take on the teenage first-gamer head-to-head in Thursday night's primetime clash at Optus Stadium. Sam Switkowski is also out with a hamstring injury, but the Dockers have not recalled impressive first-year small forward Isiah Dudley. They have instead recalled Nathan O'Driscoll and versatile small James Aish. It means O'Driscoll is in line for his first match at AFL level since he suffered a syndesmosis injury in the round four defeat to Western Bulldogs. Aish has played just two games this season, against West Coast in round four and Melbourne in round seven. The pair have both been named on a five-man bench that also includes Nat Fyfe. The Dockers are weighing up whether or not to give the two-time Brownlow medallist a full game after he came on as an effective final-quarter substitute in their past two matches. Darcy has played seven times for the club this season. He missed the first part of the season in the final weeks of his recovery from off-season knee and ankle issues. He was then subbed out of their loss to Collingwood in round 10 and missed another two weeks. The breather will give Darcy a second fortnight-long break inside a month, after the Dockers' round 14 bye. He had 23 hit-outs and was influential in Fremantle's ruck battle with North Melbourne's Tristan Xerri. The Dockers' high-priced ruck combination has been at the centre of great debate this season, with many experts suggesting Jackson should be used as a solo ruck, while others — including The West Australian columnist and former senior coach Danielle Laidley — believe Darcy being in the side allows Jackson to impact other parts of the game. Jackson has started as the No.1 centre-bounce ruckman in both games since he returned in the win over Gold Coast. Coach Justin Longmuir has played both rucks and three key forwards in all of those matches. O'Driscoll had 24 touches in Peel Thunder's win over West Coast in the WAFL at the weekend. Aish was effective with his own 24 disposals down back in that victory. The Dockers confirmed on Tuesday Switkowski had suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday night's win over North Melbourne. Since round nine, the damaging forward had been the fourth-highest rated player in the competition, according to Champion Data. Visentini is one of two inclusions for the injury-ravaged Bombers, alongside midfielder Ben Hobbs. Todd Goldstein — who has been shouldering the ruck load for the Bombers since both Sam Draper and Nick Bryan went down injured — has been given a long-awaited rest of his own. Archer Day-Wicks has been omitted. Visentini is Essendon's 11th debutant this season, which also includes Lachie Blakiston and Archer May, who have both been retained in the side from their debut against Geelong last week, less than a month after they were plucked from the WAFL in the mid-season draft. B: L Ryan, J Draper, B Cox HB: H Chapman, K Worner, J Clark C: J Sharp, C Wagner, M Johnson HF: M Frederick, S Bolton, B Banfield F: P Voss, J Treacy, J Amiss R: L Jackson, C Serong, A Brayshaw IC: J Aish, N Erasmus, N Fyfe, N O'Driscoll, M Reid EMG: W Brodie, O McDonald, L Reidy B: A McGrath, J Laverde, A Roberts HB: Z Johnson, J Prior, A Clarke C: X Duursma, Z Merrett, L Lual HF: A Perkins, N Caddy, N Martin F: A May, P Wright, I Kako R: V Visentini, J Caldwell, D Parish IC: B Hobbs, J Gresham, W Setterfield, M Guelfi, L Blakiston EMG: D Shiel, R Unwin, A Day-Wicks
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Freo fan favourite returns as Darcy goes out again
Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy has been managed out of their clash with Essendon and debutant ruckman Vigo Visentini. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE TEAMS The Dockers will leave athletic big man Luke Jackson to take on the teenage first-gamer head-to-head in Thursday night's primetime clash at Optus Stadium. Sam Switkowski is also out with a hamstring injury, but the Dockers have not recalled impressive first-year small forward Isiah Dudley. They have instead recalled Nathan O'Driscoll and versatile small James Aish. It means O'Driscoll is in line for his first match at AFL level since he suffered a syndesmosis injury in the round four defeat to Western Bulldogs. Aish has played just two games this season, against West Coast in round four and Melbourne in round seven. The pair have both been named on a five-man bench that also includes Nat Fyfe. The Dockers are weighing up whether or not to give the two-time Brownlow medallist a full game after he came on as an effective final-quarter substitute in their past two matches. Darcy has played seven times for the club this season. He missed the first part of the season in the final weeks of his recovery from off-season knee and ankle issues. He was then subbed out of their loss to Collingwood in round 10 and missed another two weeks. The breather will give Darcy a second fortnight-long break inside a month, after the Dockers' round 14 bye. He had 23 hit-outs and was influential in Fremantle's ruck battle with North Melbourne's Tristan Xerri. The Dockers' high-priced ruck combination has been at the centre of great debate this season, with many experts suggesting Jackson should be used as a solo ruck, while others — including The West Australian columnist and former senior coach Danielle Laidley — believe Darcy being in the side allows Jackson to impact other parts of the game. Jackson has started as the No.1 centre-bounce ruckman in both games since he returned in the win over Gold Coast. Coach Justin Longmuir has played both rucks and three key forwards in all of those matches. Nathan O'Driscoll returns for his first AFL match since round four. Credit: Paul Kane / Getty Images O'Driscoll had 24 touches in Peel Thunder's win over West Coast in the WAFL at the weekend. Aish was effective with his own 24 disposals down back in that victory. The Dockers confirmed on Tuesday Switkowski had suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday night's win over North Melbourne. Since round nine, the damaging forward had been the fourth-highest rated player in the competition, according to Champion Data. Visentini is one of two inclusions for the injury-ravaged Bombers, alongside midfielder Ben Hobbs. Todd Goldstein — who has been shouldering the ruck load for the Bombers since both Sam Draper and Nick Bryan went down injured — has been given a long-awaited rest of his own. Archer Day-Wicks has been omitted. Visentini is Essendon's 11th debutant this season, which also includes Lachie Blakiston and Archer May, who have both been retained in the side from their debut against Geelong last week, less than a month after they were plucked from the WAFL in the mid-season draft. B: L Ryan, J Draper, B Cox HB: H Chapman, K Worner, J Clark C: J Sharp, C Wagner, M Johnson HF: M Frederick, S Bolton, B Banfield F: P Voss, J Treacy, J Amiss R: L Jackson, C Serong, A Brayshaw IC: J Aish, N Erasmus, N Fyfe, N O'Driscoll, M Reid EMG: W Brodie, O McDonald, L Reidy B: A McGrath, J Laverde, A Roberts HB: Z Johnson, J Prior, A Clarke C: X Duursma, Z Merrett, L Lual HF: A Perkins, N Caddy, N Martin F: A May, P Wright, I Kako R: V Visentini, J Caldwell, D Parish IC: B Hobbs, J Gresham, W Setterfield, M Guelfi, L Blakiston EMG: D Shiel, R Unwin, A Day-Wicks
West Australian
12-06-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Jordan Clark is underrated because he doesn't play in Victoria, says North Melbourne coach Alistair Clarkson
Master coach Alastair Clarkson believes Fremantle dasher Jordan Clark is underrated because he does not play in Victoria. Ahead of his North Melbourne side's clash with the Dockers on Saturday, Clarkson gave a glowing review of the unheralded half-back, who is in the mix for a maiden All-Australian blazer halfway through the season. Clark is the Dockers' fourth-highest rated player this season and the 12th ranked defender in the league, according to Champion Data figures. For his role, he is considered elite for disposals, contested possessions, intercept possessions and pressure. 'Yeah, geez he's been a good player hasn't he,' Clarkson said. 'He is sort of a little bit underrated and unheralded perhaps because he plays over here and the Melbourne media don't see him every week like they would some of the players that are based in Melbourne. 'But he's been a really, really good player at Geelong, but he's really taken his game — it seems — to another level here. 'He's a guy that defends really well, but uses the ball and helps set it up.' Clarkson was also full of praise for in-form Dockers guns Shai Bolton and Luke Jackson and warned they couldn't play a negating role on all three of Justin Longmuir's weapons. 'We'll have to keep an eye on that ... but we can't sit and negate every talented player that they've got, otherwise you're just chasing your tail,' he said. 'There's a part of us where we just need to go out and play the game and if some of these guys get off the chain, that's where we need to try and stamp and negate their influence.' Asked how he would handle the influence of Bolton, Clarkson said it was made difficult by the dual premiership player's ability to influence the game in different parts of the ground. Bolton spent more time forward in Fremantle's win over Gold Coast a fortnight ago. He kicked three goals and laid the game-winning tackle. 'He was particularly strong against Gold Coast a few weeks back, I think he kicked three goals in that game,' Clarkson said. 'If you have got a player in your side that can kick three goals and also generate sort of 25 touches in the midfield like he can, they're pretty valuable players and that's why worked so hard to get him from Richmond and bring him home. 'The difficult part about it is because he can swing from midfield to forward and you think he's a midfielder and then he spits forward and then you think he's a forward and he goes up into the midfield. 'That's the quality of him as a player, to be able to swing and switch from one to the other really quickly and sometimes you can stuff around your structures a little bit. 'We need to work out what you do there, but I reckon at some point in the game if he is really hurting us then we will need to try and negate him somehow.'
Sydney Morning Herald
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Out with the young and in with the old: A mid-year All-Australian team with a difference
So, seven players aged 30-plus make this mid-year 22, as the AFL competition follows the trend of tennis – see Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams – and American team sports in which 35 is the new 30, and quarterbacks play until they can't walk. Selecting three of the forwards for this mid-year team – picked inclusive of round 12 performances (not this weekend's games) – was easier than usual. Cameron, Hogan, and Elliott (who has never been All-Australian) pick themselves and while some would push up Ben King, given his goal tally, Gold Coast's key forward hasn't shaped outcomes in the same way as Jezza and Jesse. King's teammate Ben Long, though, is another story. Loading Long, who has jagged 23 goals in his 10 games to round 12, has been a standout in a role that is not dissimilar to Elliott's – as a forward who can lead and mark, but is no mug on the deck and assists others in scoring. Dangerfield's impact as an explosive aerial and ground ball mid-forward can't be undersold, and if his hamstrings hold up, he should be headed for his record ninth All-Australian blazer. Riley Thilthorpe, a Tom Lynch-style key forward, is named at centre half-forward, allowing me to pick Cameron as a flanker, which reflects his freaky ground-level abilities. As the AFL's headband act, Bailey Smith has been omnipresent, his every gesture captured by cameras and dissected by pundits and the public. But, much as there is focus on his postings and postures, everyone must have cottoned on, so to speak, to the fact that Bailey's been nearly the AFL's peak midfielder – as the Brownlow odds suggest (he's one of the favourites). He has prospered mightily from Geelong's decision to deploy him in the middle, rather than the wing or as a high half-forward. So, @bazlenka – as he's known by his Instagram idolaters – is in the centre, in every sense, in this mid-year side. Hugh McCluggage isn't a wingman in 2025, as he enjoys his best season yet, but I've conveniently picked him – and Sidebottom – on the wings that they've vacated this year; no specialist wingman (eg. Ollie Dempsey) has done enough to warrant selection to this point. Gun midfielders, on the whole, have been less than dominant this year. Marcus Bontempelli missed the early games and could yet make the All-Australian side by season's end. Nick Daicos has been paramount to Collingwood winning some games, but has also been relatively subdued in three or four outings, having been more heavily tagged this year. Still, the younger Daicos is so brilliant that he's still up on the midfield leaderboard. I've picked him on the bench, behind Adelaide's super skipper Jordan Dawson – still underrated in Victoria – and his Gold Coast counterpart Noah Anderson. The numbers – in the form of the AFL's official ratings (Champion Data) – would rank Anderson as the competition's third-best performed player to round 12, behind only Bulldog Ed Richards and North's version of 'the Mountain' from Game of Thrones, Tristan Xerri. Richards gets a game in this side, with Nick Daicos, on the bench. It's conceivable that the rise of Ed Richards was a factor in Smith heading to Geelong, given the Dogs found it difficult to fit 'the Bont', Tom Liberatore, Richards and Bailey (plus Adam Treloar when fit) into the same centre square. Loading Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is making noises about re-signing with the Saints, and for their sake, let's hope that transpires. He's a superb play-maker from half-back, with further growth ahead, and was accordingly picked at half-back in my team. Bailey Dale, a rare half-back capable of garnering 40 disposals, is the other flanker in defence, edging out Fremantle's Jordan Clark, Collingwood's Josh Daicos, Lion veteran Dayne Zorko and others for that berth. The consistent Lachie Ash of GWS fills the remaining running defender spot (notionally back pocket). Teammate Sam Taylor, whom Matthew Lloyd compared to Glen Jakovich for influence, was picked at centre half-back. The key backs, as with the midfielders this year, haven't been as outstanding as in years past. Jacob Weitering of Carlton has put up respectable numbers – and lord help the Blues if he went down – but hasn't had a terrific season. Possibly the stiffest to miss the defensive spots are St Kilda's interceptor Cal Wilkie and Richmond's perennial gun Nick Vlastuin. I judged that Gold Coast's Collins had been marginally more effective, in a collectively superior defence. North people will wonder why Xerri hasn't made this team, since he is rated statistically better than Gawn (on Champion Data ratings) this year, and might view this as a plot against Shinboners. Loading Here's major difference: Xerri, while heroic in ruck battle and adept at winning clearances, doesn't fulfil one key performance indicator for ruckman and tall players – marking the footy (only 1.7 per game to round 12). Luke Jackson is aerially superior and more versatile – as shown when he played as a tall midfielder against the Suns last weekend. He gets the second ruck slot on the bench. The final interchange berth – there is no sub here – belongs to the spare midfielder, Freo's Andrew Brayshaw, who isn't as skilled as Bontempelli and Daicos, nor as powerful as Dangerfield, or as smooth-moving as McCluggage. But Brayshaw does two essentials exceptionally well – running and getting the footy.
The Age
07-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Out with the young and in with the old: A mid-year All-Australian team with a difference
So, seven players aged 30-plus make this mid-year 22, as the AFL competition follows the trend of tennis – see Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams – and American team sports in which 35 is the new 30, and quarterbacks play until they can't walk. Selecting three of the forwards for this mid-year team – picked inclusive of round 12 performances (not this weekend's games) – was easier than usual. Cameron, Hogan, and Elliott (who has never been All-Australian) pick themselves and while some would push up Ben King, given his goal tally, Gold Coast's key forward hasn't shaped outcomes in the same way as Jezza and Jesse. King's teammate Ben Long, though, is another story. Loading Long, who has jagged 23 goals in his 10 games to round 12, has been a standout in a role that is not dissimilar to Elliott's – as a forward who can lead and mark, but is no mug on the deck and assists others in scoring. Dangerfield's impact as an explosive aerial and ground ball mid-forward can't be undersold, and if his hamstrings hold up, he should be headed for his record ninth All-Australian blazer. Riley Thilthorpe, a Tom Lynch-style key forward, is named at centre half-forward, allowing me to pick Cameron as a flanker, which reflects his freaky ground-level abilities. As the AFL's headband act, Bailey Smith has been omnipresent, his every gesture captured by cameras and dissected by pundits and the public. But, much as there is focus on his postings and postures, everyone must have cottoned on, so to speak, to the fact that Bailey's been nearly the AFL's peak midfielder – as the Brownlow odds suggest (he's one of the favourites). He has prospered mightily from Geelong's decision to deploy him in the middle, rather than the wing or as a high half-forward. So, @bazlenka – as he's known by his Instagram idolaters – is in the centre, in every sense, in this mid-year side. Hugh McCluggage isn't a wingman in 2025, as he enjoys his best season yet, but I've conveniently picked him – and Sidebottom – on the wings that they've vacated this year; no specialist wingman (eg. Ollie Dempsey) has done enough to warrant selection to this point. Gun midfielders, on the whole, have been less than dominant this year. Marcus Bontempelli missed the early games and could yet make the All-Australian side by season's end. Nick Daicos has been paramount to Collingwood winning some games, but has also been relatively subdued in three or four outings, having been more heavily tagged this year. Still, the younger Daicos is so brilliant that he's still up on the midfield leaderboard. I've picked him on the bench, behind Adelaide's super skipper Jordan Dawson – still underrated in Victoria – and his Gold Coast counterpart Noah Anderson. The numbers – in the form of the AFL's official ratings (Champion Data) – would rank Anderson as the competition's third-best performed player to round 12, behind only Bulldog Ed Richards and North's version of 'the Mountain' from Game of Thrones, Tristan Xerri. Richards gets a game in this side, with Nick Daicos, on the bench. It's conceivable that the rise of Ed Richards was a factor in Smith heading to Geelong, given the Dogs found it difficult to fit 'the Bont', Tom Liberatore, Richards and Bailey (plus Adam Treloar when fit) into the same centre square. Loading Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is making noises about re-signing with the Saints, and for their sake, let's hope that transpires. He's a superb play-maker from half-back, with further growth ahead, and was accordingly picked at half-back in my team. Bailey Dale, a rare half-back capable of garnering 40 disposals, is the other flanker in defence, edging out Fremantle's Jordan Clark, Collingwood's Josh Daicos, Lion veteran Dayne Zorko and others for that berth. The consistent Lachie Ash of GWS fills the remaining running defender spot (notionally back pocket). Teammate Sam Taylor, whom Matthew Lloyd compared to Glen Jakovich for influence, was picked at centre half-back. The key backs, as with the midfielders this year, haven't been as outstanding as in years past. Jacob Weitering of Carlton has put up respectable numbers – and lord help the Blues if he went down – but hasn't had a terrific season. Possibly the stiffest to miss the defensive spots are St Kilda's interceptor Cal Wilkie and Richmond's perennial gun Nick Vlastuin. I judged that Gold Coast's Collins had been marginally more effective, in a collectively superior defence. North people will wonder why Xerri hasn't made this team, since he is rated statistically better than Gawn (on Champion Data ratings) this year, and might view this as a plot against Shinboners. Loading Here's major difference: Xerri, while heroic in ruck battle and adept at winning clearances, doesn't fulfil one key performance indicator for ruckman and tall players – marking the footy (only 1.7 per game to round 12). Luke Jackson is aerially superior and more versatile – as shown when he played as a tall midfielder against the Suns last weekend. He gets the second ruck slot on the bench. The final interchange berth – there is no sub here – belongs to the spare midfielder, Freo's Andrew Brayshaw, who isn't as skilled as Bontempelli and Daicos, nor as powerful as Dangerfield, or as smooth-moving as McCluggage. But Brayshaw does two essentials exceptionally well – running and getting the footy.
