Former Dockers, Demons ruck Jeff White reveals how Fremantle can get the best out of Luke Jackson, Sean Darcy ruck pairing

The pair have been subject to intense criticism since Darcy signed a long-term contract extension late last year with detractors believing that there is only room for one A-grade ruckman at the Dockers.

The duo have played just 19 games together since Jackson arrived at the club on a long-term deal in 2023, the former Demon shining in Darcy’s injury-afflicted absence earlier this season.

But if Fremantle wants to silence its doubters and get maximum value out of the dual ruck combination, it’s up to the Dockers’ midfielders to bring the best out of them.

“It all comes down to the midfield cohesion,” White told CODE Sports. “You’ve got to play to their strengths.

“For the majority of the season, the midfield would’ve been running certain plays for Luke Jackson, who’s a right-hander. Now Sean Darcy comes back in and he’s a left-hander. He can hit it with both hands and so can Luke.

“It’s not more or less the rucks working together, it’s the running patterns, the set-ups, the set plays at a centre bounce and around the ground that takes a bit of time. That’s where the synergy comes in.

“I analysed their game last week and I noticed that a lot of the set plays that they had set-up were different between Jackson and Darcy.”

After playing 32 games for Fremantle, White was Melbourne’s first-choice ruckman for a decade, playing 236 games in the red and blue. He shared the role with Troy Simmonds, Mark Jamar and Darren Jolly at various stages of his tenure and is adamant that the best is yet to come from Darcy and Jackson.

“It can click overnight,” he said. “It really can.

“There’s no real time limit on it. They haven’t played a lot together. They’ll sort it out. If I was Justin Longmuir, I’d love the fact that they’re both healthy.

“They can become the best ruck duo in the competition if they stay that way.”

Jackson’s best games this season have been when he’s played as a solo ruckman, Fremantle great Paul Hasleby going as far as declaring him a Brownlow Medal contender after he earned nine coaches votes in the Dockers’ round two win over North Melbourne.

White said Fremantle’s critics failed to holistically analyse what freedom Darcy’s addition affords the Dockers.

“The criticism comes because they don’t see Luke Jackson getting 20+ possessions a game,” he said. “But in the inner sanctum, I don’t think they’re looking at it that way. It’s about playing a role for the team.

“Look at the way Luke played when he was at Melbourne. Max Gawn was doing the bulk of the ruck work and Luke was playing up forward. No one was criticising him then.

“Luke is more suited to playing forward than Sean is. If Luke takes the opposition’s best defender, that’s a win for Fremantle. You stretch the defence.”

Fremantle faces Melbourne on Sunday in Alice Springs, pitting the AFL’s most in-form ruckman Max Gawn against his former protégée Jackson. White, who runs his own online ruck program First Use, said that the combined powers of Jackson and Darcy give the Dockers a significant chance to gain an advantage in the ruck.

“We’re all in awe of Max Gawn and the workload he’s taken on,” he said. “The only way you can match him is through work ethic.

“Luke would know him more than most other rucks in the competition. His work rate off the ball is so superior.

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“You need to come to the game with a mindset of running 12, 13, 14km. You can know everything you need to know about his hit zones and structures but you need to watch his work rate from stoppages.

“If I’m Max Gawn, I’m going up against two quality rucks. The advantage Fremantle can get is when Melbourne, with no disrespect, puts someone like (Jacob) Van Rooyen in the ruck as support. That gives the Dockers a huge advantage.”

White is on the verge of partnering with the AFL to take his ruck program national.