Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce’s praise for Western Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy after five-goal haul
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce has declared young Western Bulldogs star Sam Darcy as one of the best players he’s ever played against.
The 205cm giant continued a brilliant start to the season against the Dockers, kicking a game-high five goals in the Dogs’ 16-point loss at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Darcy’s remarkable reach and agility for his size caused headaches as he took 11 marks, including six inside 50, had an equal game-high nine score involvements and notched up 21 disposals - 11 of those contested.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Pearce, who has played against some of the greatest forwards in the AFL, went to the superstar pup at the first bounce and found it tough going from the outset.
“Gee, he’s one of the best players I’ve played on,” Pearce told The West Australian.
“He was on a bit of a roll and had a great game. There were a few of us who went to him, myself and Drapes (Josh Draper) and Coxy (Brennan Cox), trying to help out at times.
“He was tough to contain.”
The 21-year-old was a handful for Pearce and the Dockers early, with a game-leading 10 disposals and two goals at quarter time.
Darcy would go on to kick a handful, including a roving snap that cut the deficit back to just 16 points mid-way through the last quarter.
But Pearce praised the efforts of the back six, who contended with 19 more inside 50s in the 15.7 (97) to 12.9 (81) victory.
“As a backline unit, I thought we held up pretty well. When we were able to get a fist in, particularly late,” he said.
“In that last quarter, it felt like the ball was in our D-50 quite a bit. But we were able to hold up and help eachother.
“Right around the ground, we wanted to play a real team game and complement each other and I think we did that really well.”
Bulldogs teammate James Harmes didn’t have positive news for Pearce either, suggesting Darcy would be a scary prospect for defenders for years to come.
“I’m never sick of hearing about how good he is. He’s a star and it’s been good to watch him grow,” he told The West Australian.
“When I got to the club 18 months ago, he was still pretty raw, and then last year each week he got better and better and now he’s a bonafide star.
“It’s scary, he’s only 21 or 22, so, he’s going to be a good player for a long time.”
