Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy dominated in his debut for the Dockers

FORGET holding the door. Fremantle ruck sensation Sean Darcy, nicknamed ‘Hodor’ from Game of Thrones, is beating it down with his huge frame.

Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy dominated in his debut for the Dockers. Picture: AAP Images

HE has been labelled the AFL’s Hodor, reminiscent of the gigantic big-boned protector from Game of Thrones.

Fremantle first-gamer Sean Darcy, standing at a huge 111kg and 201cm, prefers to use fellow country boy Shane Mumford as inspiration.

But dig a little deeper and the heir apparent to Aaron Sandilands’ throne has a compulsive backstory all of his own.

On Sunday a star was born as the Cobden-raised ruckman dominated at Simonds Stadium.

He amassed 40 hit-outs to go with his 14 possessions, using his frame to dominate Rhys Stanley early and silky hands to palm the ball to his midfield’s advantage.

Darcy is a giant, but even after dropping 15kg last year many clubs didn’t rate him because they believed he was too overweight to play AFL footy.

Yet Fremantle had studied the history of recruiting ruckmen and knew the heavy ones — Shane Mumford, Sandilands, Todd Goldstein — were often the best.

Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy. Picture: Getty Images

Hodor from Game of Thrones.

His parents Anne-Maree and Greg are both vets in Cobden, with Sean following his two brothers into high-level swimming as a kid.

Anne-Maree said on Wednesday a back injury caused by growing pains as well as a severe hamstring issue at 16 had hampered his early development and athleticism.

Aware of the negative stereotypes, he stripped that weight with Geelong Falcons high performance manager Matt Critchley through sheer hard work last year.

Then Fremantle swooped at pick 38 — aware Geelong had a selection soon after — and immediately housed him with Sandilands.

Now the Dockers have a 19-year-old ruck sensation who palmed 54 per cent of those hit-outs to advantage last week.

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Falcons talent manager Michael Turner says too many clubs believed Darcy’s weight meant he lacked discipline.

But when he explained the circumstances to Fremantle — as a boarder at Xavier College he ate what he was given — they knew they could mould him into something special.

Mother Anne-Maree watched on with their family on Sunday, although his sister had flown out to Africa the day before and grandparents had that week flown to Perth to watch him play WAFL.

“It was very, very, very surreal. It was just great. To be honest it could have been not so good, but it worked out really well,’’ she said.

“He has always been super-focused. I can remember a long time ago when he was three or four he said he wanted to play AFL and I said, “That’s lovely, darling”.

“He had a quite severe back injury in Year 11 and would have had four months off and put on 10kg so he lost those 10kg plus more.

“He would have lost about 15kg before he got to the combine and draft. It was no dessert, plenty of vegies, plenty of salad and a source of protein.

“He just worked as hard as he could and has been very disciplined along the way.”

The Game of Thrones nickname adorned the back of his Year 12 jumper but she says her son has worked for everything he has achieved.

“He had that Hodor (nickname) but he said himself, “I would like to be like Shane Mumford”. He was never going to be a running athletic ruckman. He has improved significantly but that’s not his body type.”

Turner said he urged clubs to look past Darcy’s shortcomings and consider his potential.

“The big knock on him was his weight. As a boarder at Xavier they eat what is put in front of them on the plate, but he was such an intelligent kid that if he got to a club he would work very hard to get himself fit.

Sean Darcy dominated in his Fremantle debut. Picture: Getty Images

“And he would take on board whatever an AFL club told him.

“But some clubs looked at him and said he wasn’t disciplined enough.

“Some clubs liked him and some clubs wouldn’t have taken him at all.

“So he went to Fremantle and they put him in with Aaron Sandilands for the first month and he just lived and breathed everything he did.

“He has replaced a lot of fat with muscle but the most important thing is his skin folds are under 60 now and he looks really fit.”

SPOILER ALERT:

Hodor was the saviour of one of Game of Thrones’ most important characters.

Now a list desperately lacking a ruck successor to Aaron Sandilands has looked past his single flaw and found their own ruck saviour.