Fremantle star Sean Darcy is licking his lips in anticipation over the make-up of the Dockers’ revamped engine room in 2023.
Christmas got here early for the ruckman when Fremantle added Hawthorn’s Jaeger O’Meara to their midfield combine within the low season and Darcy additionally hailed a fully-fit Nat Fyfe to full health as a promising addition.
The pair will be part of established trio Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Will Brodie – all three of whom are coming off career-best seasons – on the coalface, whereas 2021 drafts picks Neil Erasmus and Matthew Johnson additionally hope to be within the combine.
Darcy stated the return of a match and firing Fyfe, coupled with the arrival of O’Meara, was like having two new recruits.
“Nat’s having a really good pre-season, he’s in and out of drills at the moment but he’s looking really good, working the gym and back to his best, so it’s exciting having a full Nat Fyfe back,” he stated.
“That’s a pretty good add to our team from last year and Jaeger coming in, he’s the ultimate professional. He’s bonded really well with the group, out on the track you see him and he’s extremely clean, he’s got a lot of class about him.
“They’re two A-graders of the competition, so building this to Andy, Caleb and Will is really exciting, these guys are pushing me every day to get better and we’re all pushing each other.”
Darcy stated he and star ruck recruit Luke Jackson had been nonetheless determining the right way to kind a devastating one-two punch, however the former third-overall draft choose’s athleticism had already caught his eye.
“He’s a really good runner, he covers the ground extremely well – if I’m ball-watching a little bit, he’s out spreading out wide,” he stated.
“He’s probably not the push and shove that most ruckmen are in the league, so he likes to use his nous, his athleticism, get out of my vision and then go at the ball.”
Having helped Fremantle break their finals drought in 2022, Darcy stated the group weren’t content material with making up the numbers and vowed they’d not relaxation on their laurels.
“We’re very excited with what we did last year, we wanted to play finals and we did,” he stated.
“But we’re not satisfied at all; we haven’t achieved anything. The goal is to hold the cup up, so that’s our goal every day.”
With hypothesis rife about the way forward for Fyfe as captain, Darcy stated the group would vote on it within the run-in to the season, however the variety of leaders across the membership was signal.
“Nathan had a really interrupted year last year, but he’s come back in really good shape, and he’s out training with us, so it’s really exciting to him have a full pre-season and to be back,” he stated.
“But again, we have a lot of young leaders coming up, so it’s an exciting part of the footy club that we have so many leaders to choose from.”
