Jack Darling has bounced back from some tough moments to be one of the best forwards in the competition
EIGHT years ago Jack Darling was attacked outside a Perth nightspot. It had a lasting impact that leads to some unexpected changeroom discussions. Sam Edmund finds out what makes the game’s most improved player tick.
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NO SENSE of smell.
Broccoli smoothies.
Paleo diets.
And a taekwondo black belt as a teenager.
Welcome to the rollercoaster world of Jack Darling.
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As a kid, Darling was the supremely talented forward who kicked 22 goals in a game as a 14-year-old. He was the potential top-three draft prospect until some negative headlines — an incident with a girl on a school camp and the victim of a late-night attack outside a Perth hotel — and concerns over his in-between size (191cm) saw him slip to No. 26 in the 2010 draft.
As a 25-year-old adult, Darling has this year taken eight more contested marks than any other player in the AFL and kicked 22.9 for the Eagles ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Alex Rance and top-of-the-table Richmond.
In the eight years between we’ve witnessed the up-and-down development of a player who has mixed the very good with the very bad.
Darling burst onto the AFL scene with 24 goals in his debut year followed by 53 in his second.
But those heightened expectations also served to sharpen the criticism of the now-infamous dropped mark in the 2015 Grand Final and the following year’s elimination final loss to the Western Bulldogs in which he pulled out of a marking contest.
In many ways he had become the easy target for those discussing West Coast’s inconsistency and flakiness on the big stage.
But the player teammates describe as a reserved deep-thinker has come out the other side.
A solid performer in last year’s dramatic extra-time elimination final win over Port Adelaide and a major factor in West Coast’s 7-1 start this year, Darling’s football is once again passing the sniff test.
Not that the man himself can tell after he was king-hit in a vicious 2010 attack outside a nightspot.
“I’ve actually lost my sense of smell,” Darling said on Perth radio recently.
“Since my head injury back in the day I don’t have a sense of smell. They said it’s supposed to come back, but mine is not back yet.
“It can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. One time I left the gas on for six or seven hours, almost died. The missus came home and smelt it. Luckily we turned it off pretty quick.”
Mark LeCras has shared the West Coast forward line with Darling for all of the latter’s eight seasons.
LeCras talks of an “intense character” who prepares methodically and “keeps his body in excellent condition year-round”.
“He’s gone through a few fads when it comes to his diet, but he’s always been really strict with it,” LeCras said.
“He can handle those foods like kale and the broccoli smoothies because he doesn’t have a sense of smell. But the rest of us are dry retching over his breakfast smoothies on away trips.”
Darling’s in-club support network is led by forwards coach Justin Longmuir, assistant coach Jaymie Graham and fellow 2010 draftees and good mates Andrew Gaff and Scott Lycett.
Graham said there had been the potential for the man known as “JD” to over-think things, but he added the forward had learned to cope with the scrutiny of the game in a two-team town.
“As you know, the way things have been reported on Jack we’ve had the good, the bad and the ugly and he’s been criticised in the past about some of his performances,” Graham said.
“Most players would say they don’t read into that, but as we know players can say that but your family and friends hear about it and I’m sure at some point that sort of stuff gets through.
“But Jack has really focused on what he can control as a footballer and that’s his preparation, the contest and workrate on game day and that’s holding him in good stead.
“It’s amazing everyone has jumped on the bandwagon and is giving positive feedback. The external perception of JD has changed a lot, but internally he’s always been very important to us.
“He’s one of those players who, when he’s going well everyone is all over him and loving him, and when he has one quiet one he’s bad.”
If Darling’s footy has been loud — good and bad — his life is relatively quiet.
Born into a close family, he has matured and found balance with the start of his own, after he and wife Courtney last year welcomed their first child.
Son Max was born seven weeks premature while Darling was on the Gold Coast preparing to face the Suns, something he has said was “extremely difficult” to cope with.
“He’s got really good values. He’s a strong family man and I think he’s really grown as a leader in the time that he, Courtney and Max have been together,” LeCras said.
“He’s the sort of player where it’s surprising to hear he’s only 25 because he burst onto the scene pretty early and he’s always been thrust into a pretty important role at the club.
“Like most of us, he’s had his ups and downs building into the sort of player he is today and it’s exciting to see him playing great footy.
“I know he’s close with his family. He’s always had fairly strong support outside the footy club, but it’s the same inside here as well.”
Darling and Courtney recently moved into their lavishly renovated home in the trendy Perth suburb of Gewlup, a process LeCras believed had provided his teammate with a healthier footy-life balance — sort of.
“I think he’s got a couple of big screens in there, so he can watch his highlights package each week,” LeCras said.
“The way he’s going at the moment he’d be in that room for a while.”
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