Darcy Byrne-Jones opens up on being dropped, his ‘dirty’ haircut and waiting for a debut
He is fast becoming one of the rising stars of the competition. But who is the real Darcy Byrne-Jones? His teammates have given us the dirt and now we’ve put the tough questions to him. Find out why he is loved at the Power.
Port Adelaide
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Darcy Byrne-Jones waited two years for his AFL debut in 2016 and since then the only game he’s missed is because he didn’t read his calendar properly.
It was the lead-up to Round 15, 2018, and the Power had a meeting at 10am.
“I mis-read it, I thought it was 11am and I was about 45 minutes late and missed the whole thing,” Byrne-Jones recalled this week.
“I was up and awake and doing stuff but mis-read it.
“It would have been nice to have not missed that one and have a bit of a streak going but not to be, that’s what the leadership group decided and I haven’t been late since.”
At 24 and now 96 games into his career, Byrne-Jones has become one of Port Adelaide’s most reliable players but also one of its best, as evidenced by finishing runner-up to Travis Boak in its best-and-fairest last year and his name being thrown around in All-Australia squad conversations.
But he endeared himself to the Port Adelaide faithful from the moment he pulled on the Power jumper on debut in Round 3, 2016.
Or to be more precise, from the moment in the third the quarter when he clashed heads with teammate Sam Gray, got up, got a handball receive and banged through a goal off two steps from 40m with blood pouring down his face.
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But who is Darcy Byrne-Jones? The no-frills footballer with a long, curly mullet who defends and attacks in equal measure and is clearly one of the first-picked at selection every week?
His teammates gave News Corp the following insights which we put to him during an interview.
You’re a fussy eater?
“There’s a bit of mayo on that,” he said.
“I don’t eat red meat that’s probably why they said it.”
Why not, health conscious?
“I had a bad steak one day about three years ago and decided to stop eating red meat.
“I eat chicken, fish and pork.”
You’ve got a memory like an elephant and remember every night out and every incident on the field?
“Yeah that’s probably fair, that stuff is always good for a laugh after a game, that’s why I bring it up.
“Tommy Jonas called me back into a pack and said ‘you’re right mate, you’re right mate, come back’ and I copped a knee to the back of the head. That was two years ago and we’re still talking about it now.”
You’re a silver spoon Scotch College boy from Melbourne?
“Yeah a few blokes like to get stuck into me about that.
“But Joel Garner came over and he’s a Scotch boy and he’s hard as nails so I’m able to leverage that and say ‘hey, we’re not that silver spoon’.”
You’re an intellect who studies business, usually aces the weekly backline quiz and pretty quiet around the club but speak when something needs to be said?
“I’m not the biggest guy out there but I can see the game pretty well and try to react first as opposed to beating people with brute strength or athleticism.
“And I’m studying a business course online at uni which has been good.”
Byrne-Jones is not a big self-promoter on social or mainstream media either.
“I’ve never been a big one for social media,” he said.
“I just enjoy going about my business, having a laugh with my mates as opposed to spending time on my phone.”
Byrne-Jones’ dad played local footy in Melbourne and on his mum’s side of the family his grandfather played for Port Melbourne and his uncle played 300 games at local level.
“I think mum likes to say the talent comes from her side,” Byrne-Jones said.
He also has two younger brothers who play footy in Melbourne. One with Old Scotch and the other is playing school footy in Year 11.
He was drafted at No.52 from the Oakleigh Charges in 2013 when he graduated from Scotch College alongside fellow draftees Jack Billings (St Kilda), Jake Kelly (Adelaide), Will Maginness (West Coast) and Jack Sinclair (St Kilda).
As a footballer, Billings describes him as playing on the edge with a healthy dose of white line fever and as a cricketer, as a determined opening batsman who would throw his bat and helmet if he went out cheaply.
He had to bide his time for a crack at AFL footy after being drafted by the Power. He spent two full seasons in the SANFL with the Port Magpies working on his game and waiting for his chance and has not let go of it since.
Since his debut he has played 96 of a possible 97 games, never missing through injury or form, and it’s a message he tries to impart on young players at Alberton now.
The Power is flying this year and we still haven’t seen the lion’s share of last year’s top draft crop with Miles Bergman, Jackson Mead and Dylan Williams all waiting on a debut.
“I remember back then (early years of being drafted) thinking I was really, really keen to play (AFL),” Byrne-Jones said.
“But what I didn’t realise is I wasn’t quite ready, so those first couple of years were really important for my development.
“And it’s something I tell the young guys coming in now, you don’t have to be Connor Rozee and come in and make an impact from Round 1.
“Guys develop at different stages so try to be patient and keep working, at the time you come in with high expectations but you’re only 18 and there is a lot of footy ahead of them, and you’re going to be able to make an impact at the club for many years to come.”
Byrne-Jones lived with Ollie Wines and Tom Clurey for a few years after moving to Adelaide but now lives with his girlfriend Alice who he met four years ago, when she was already supporting the Power.
He says senior coach Ken Hinkley “rode me pretty hard in my first couple of years” but their relationship is strong, as it is with his defensive coach Brett Montgomery.
Montgomery admits barely knowing anything about Byrne-Jones when he returned to Alberton at the end of 2018.
“And I was guilty of under-rating him that’s for sure,” Montgomery said.
“I coached against him (at Scotch) when I was at Melbourne Grammar and I didn’t notice him that game which he likes to remind me about, but I had a lot on my plate that day.
“My most vivid memory of him was coaching at the Giants and he was trying to go with Lachie Whitfield one day and I saw he had a pretty tough day with that assignment, but in fairness they don’t get much harder than that.
“But the thing that struck me early days was his high intellect, he was always going to be easy to work with, and he has been consistent, reliable and tough - they’re the behaviours we want to model in that area and he’s a standout.”
As for describing his haircut, Byrne-Jones admits “there’s not a whole lot of method behind it”.
“See how it goes and keep cutting the sides and the top and let the back grow,” he said.
“It’s pretty dirty but something different I guess.”
The Power is preparing for a huge clash with Richmond on Saturday night, after spirited wins over Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs on a four-day break, which followed pre-dawn flights to Queensland to beat GWS and Carlton last month.
“In previous years we’ve known we’ve had the ability to challenge the teams higher up on the ladder but this year we’ve been more consistent with our effort and intensity,” Byrne-Jones said.
“That one game against Brisbane sticks out when we weren’t able to deliver it, and the St Kilda game the effort was there but the execution (cost us), but we’ve been fairly consistent with the way we’ve played.
“I watched Richmond the other night and they looked pretty sharp, getting back to playing the footy they’ve been really known for the last few years with their forward handball and Riewoldt and Lynch kicking goals.
“It’s going to be a good challenge and an exciting one going against the best team over the last few years to see where we’re at.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
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