Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones shows he can be just as influential as the competition’s best playmaking defenders
There’s no eye-catching run and he doesn’t have the foot-skills of Swan Jake Lloyd but, in his own way, Darcy Byrne-Jones has shown he can be just as influential, writes The Phantom.
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While he might not possess the class or skill of some, the numbers say Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones is making a strong case to be considered as one of the most-influential halfbacks in the game.
There’s no eye-catching run and he doesn’t have the foot-skills of Swan Jake Lloyd, who tallied 30 disposals of his own at the other end of the ground on Saturday, but, in his own way, Byrne-Jones has shown he can be just as influential.
After tallying 25 disposals or more in eight of the first 72 games of his career, the 23-year-old has done so in nine of his past 12 matches.
And, as he again showed in the Power’s 47-point victory over Sydney, it’s meaningful possession.
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Against the Swans at Adelaide Oval, Byrne-Jones, who goes about his business with no fuss, had 10 disposals — seven of them effective — by quarter-time as a he pushed up to the back of the stoppage.
Byrne-Jones, who starts in the defensive-50, went into the first break with game-highs in inside-50s (4) and score assists (2), highlighting just how far the offensive side of his game has developed in 2019.
And it continued after the first break.
While there aren’t many better at sitting off the play and setting up his side going the other way than Lloyd, his Power counterpart was more influential, even with less possession.
The neat-kicking Swan finished with a game-high 30 disposals, two more than Byrne-Jones, whose 28 was the most for the Power.
But Byrne-Jones had Lloyd’s measure in a number of other key areas.
Byrne-Jones’ seven inside-50s and 15 handball-receives was more than any other player and he recorded the second-most intercept possessions (9) and metres gained (562) on the ground.
And as Lloyd as his Sydney teammates went short, Port Adelaide went long and direct — a style of play which suited the slippery conditions — finishing with 30 more long-kicks, which is a stat defined by Champion Data as ‘a kick of more than 40 meters to a 50/50 contest or better for the team’.
With nine for the match, Byrne-Jones led the way.
The tough fight-footer was involved in six scoring chains — the equal-second-most for the Power and his 110 Champion Data ranking points was third only to Connor Rozee (119) and Isaac Heeney (116).
And no player surpassed Byrne-Jones’ two first-quarter score assists.
Of all players classified as a defender, only Carlton’s Nic Newman has tallied more ranking points than Byrne-Jones since Round 15.
His career-best year just keeps getting better — as does his standing among the competition’s best in his position.
And he’s still the reliable, hard-nosed defender, which won him a spot in Ken Hinkey’s side in the first place.