Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy suffers fresh injury blow on the eve of round one

The ruckman has been ruled out of the opening rounds of the season after undergoing an arthroscope on his left knee earlier this week. Darcy had only returned to full training in early February following ankle surgery at the end of last season.

Darcy initially pulled up sore in the days after Fremantle’s match simulation win against West Coast. But the 25-year-old was cleared to play Port Adelaide last Friday.

Darcy was withdrawn from the game at half-time as a precaution but pulled up sore again, with scans revealing some loose bodies were causing the discomfort.

While an exact timeline is yet to be confirmed as Darcy recovers from surgery, the Dockers say he’ll miss the “opening rounds of the AFL season.”

In the short term, that means a round one clash with Brisbane at Optus Stadium.

In the space of two pre-season fixtures, that clash has suddenly become vitally important to Fremantle.

It was hard to measure the Dockers’ 52-point pre-season win over West Coast given the Eagles’ injury and form woes. A 39-point loss to Port Adelaide a week later was disappointing, albeit the Dockers were missing Jye Amiss (cork) and Luke Jackson (concussion) up forward.

Against last year’s runners-up at home to start the season, the Dockers need to prove to themselves that they are there or thereabouts against a finals contender. But that requires consideration of Brisbane’s ruck stocks.

Oscar McInerney is a monster. He averaged 33.8 hit-outs a game last season, the fourth-best figure in the AFL. Darcy ranked second with 39.1.

With Darcy sidelined, you’d expect that Jackson will be elevated to number one ruck just as he was late last year when the former suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

The good news is that Jackson was excellent when he was the main man in the middle. The bad is that he will give up six centimetres and eight kilograms to McInerney’s 206cm and 108kg frame.

Back-up ruck Joe Daniher doesn’t mind throwing his weight around either, standing at 201cm.

It’s a daunting task for one man. This brings us to what options Fremantle has on offer.

The Darcy injury will first and foremost force a ruck reshuffle. But it also has implications up forward.

Jackson was set to spearhead Fremantle’s forward line and attract the opposition’s number one defender when he wasn’t supporting Darcy in the ruck. That would help free up Amiss and Josh Treacy as the Dockers’ other tall options in attack.

Last year when Darcy went down, Treacy became a backup ruckman to Darcy. Deploying that option against Brisbane would be somewhat like pitting a boy against men.

It would also place more pressure on Amiss as Fremantle’s focal point up forward. While he kicked a remarkable 41 goals in his second season, he’s still only 20 years old and needs support.

Without Darcy in the team, Amiss kicked 10 goals in the final six rounds of the season at an average of 1.7 a game. With Darcy, he slotted 31 in 16 games at a 1.9 strike rate.

Fremantle’s preferred forward structure includes three tall targets, coach Justin Longmuir indicating that two of them would preferably be key forwards, Amiss and Treacy, and one resting ruck, Darcy or Jackson.

In that case, mature age draft pick Liam Reidy would come into calculations as a debut chance after emerging as one of the WAFL’s best rucks last season. But if Fremantle opts to loosen that structure, SSP selection Patrick Voss was impressive for a half against Port Adelaide and is breathing down Treacy’s neck for a round one berth.

Whatever option the Dockers opt for, it serves as an opportunity to get creative and stay flexible.

Against Port, Fremantle played with little flair.

Darcy is important to the Dockers’ structure but he also doesn’t offer anything unique to other ruckmen when he rolls behind the ball and tries to negate the opposition’s movement.

And even though Darcy led the hit-outs with a game-high 18 in just a half, Fremantle’s midfield still got beaten by Port’s slick onball division.

Jackson is more versatile and you could argue that the Dockers played some of their best and most free-flowing football when he was the number one ruck late last year. That’s why so many questions were asked when Fremantle proceeded to sign Darcy up on a monster six-year contract.

His latest injury should entice the Dockers to be bolder and more fluid, setting an intention and expectation for when he eventually does return.

But the Dockers still need to get past Brisbane’s two-headed monster in round one first.

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Winger Nathan O’Driscoll is also set to be sidelined for the start of the season after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot from his right knee.

It paves the way for Jeremy Sharp to make his Dockers debut in round one after joining the club as an SSP addition over summer. The pair had been competing for a spot on the wing after Liam Henry joined St Kilda in the trade period.

Matthew Johnson is set to start on the adjacent wing and rotate with the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Jaeger O’Meara.