Fremantle ruck Sean Darcy is “useless around the ground”, and the Dockers need to offload him in a “fire sale” at the end of the year.

That’s according to AFL greats Nick Riewoldt and Kane Cornes, who agree Fremantle’s insistence to commit to Darcy’s ruck combination with Luke Jackson is “hamstringing” themselves.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Fremantle’s two-ruck dilemma reaches crisis point

Jackson is widely viewed as one of the game’s best players when he is allowed to play a dominant ruck role without having to share his centre square time with Darcy.

On Friday night against Collingwood, Jackson struggled to make an impact on the game in the first half playing largely as a forward while Darcy played his fair share in the ruck.

But the game changed when Darcy got concussed, forcing Dockers coach Justin Longmuir to hand the sole ruck duties over to Jackson, who went on to dominate the second half.

“Has a player getting concussed ever actually helped the team? That’s exactly what happened on the weekend,” Cornes told The Agenda Setters on Monday night.

“Sean Darcy goes off with concussion and it forced the coach to put his number one ruckman back into the ruck.”

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The Darcy-Jackson combination has been a strategy that the Dockers have committed to over a long period of time, provided both big men have been fit at the same time.

“I don’t really care what everyone else thinks (about their ruck strategy),” Longmuir said in 2024.

“And, you know, people want to be sensationalists and be the first to say it’s not working and this and that.

“The fact is, last year when they both played and had continuity, it worked.”

Cornes said it’s time for the Dockers to change their tune.

“It’s not working. This is now serious. This is at crisis levels for Sean Darcy,” he said.

“Now it’s at the point where I think it’s a fire sale at the end of the year.

“This guy (Jackson) starts forward for the first half; the second quarter, he is full forward with an already tall forward line of Amiss, Voss and Treacy. And he’s full forward in the wet, and Sean Darcy’s struggling to move around the ground in the ruck.

“I feel sorry for him (Darcy), he’s that out of form. I don’t want to pick on him, but this is elite level football, and it’s more criticism of the club and the coach than it is Sean himself. He’s just in all sorts of trouble.

“So then he gets concussed, unfortunately, and we wish him well. And it forces Luke Jackson into the ruck to start the third term, and his numbers in the first half versus the second changed the game and won them the game.

“He ends up with nine tackles, he’s everywhere, turned the stoppage numbers around, got going from centre bounce, and was unbelievable. What a waste to have him stuck at full forward.

“So, I’ll be thinking the Dockers trade Darcy for a third round pick and they contribute some money to his wage just so that we’re not continuing to have this conversation ongoing.”

Cornes says the two-ruck strategy can work — just not with Darcy.

“Well, it’s working at Hawthorn,” he added.

“I think if you’ve got different strengths and you can work it with the fifth on the bench, it can work.

“But unfortunately, Sean’s just not the guy, with the way footy is played now, it was the wrong choice to give him a long-term deal, it’s not working, he needs a change of scenery and the Dockers have got to pull the trigger.”

Riewoldt added: “He needs to go and get fit for a month.

“You can’t look at that vision and say that’s a fit Sean Darcy. Make the call.

“They’re a really good team, that’s the point. They’re right in it, so don’t hamstring yourself because once the hit-out’s gone, he’s useless around the ground.”