208cm Bulldogs giant Sam Darcy outscores North in historic bag

The Western Bulldogs have one foot in the AFL Finals after Sam Darcy responded to criticism in the perfect way.

Sam Darcy has made some history. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

A career-best seven-goal bag from Sam Darcy has powered the Western Bulldogs to a 96-point annihilation of a sorry North Melbourne outfit at Marvel Stadium on Sunday and ensured they have one foot in the finals series.

At 208cm, Darcy became the tallest player in VFL/AFL history to kick at least six goals in a game, eclipsing the previous record set by former Essendon and Hawthorn champion Paul Salmon (205cm).

Darcy also became the tallest person to outscore an opposition, taking the record from the 202cm tall Kurt Tippett, who kicked five goals for Adelaide in a 19.16 (130) to 1.7 (13) win over Fremantle on July 11, 2009.

Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

The 20.18 (138) to 6.6 (42) result saw the Dogs move to sixth on the ladder and they remain a very slim chance to finish in the top four.

But for that to happen, they would need to beat GWS in the final round and hope Essendon and West Coast beat Brisbane (away) and Geelong (away) respectively, which is highly unlikely to say the least.

Sam Darcy was criticised for wayward 1.5 kicking last week. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

After a hard-fought first quarter, the Bulldogs absolutely blitzed the hapless Kangaroos, outscoring them 15.15 to 3.2, and kicking nine goals in a row at one stage.

The margin exceeded 100 points at the 20-minute mark of the final term when Bailey Williams kicked truly, but George Wardlaw ensured the final difference would be below triple digits with a goal four minutes later.

The Bulldogs tall timber in attack troubled North’s backline all game, and with Charlie Comben (concussion/calf) subbed out of the game early due to injury, the Kangaroos couldn’t cope with the Bulldogs’ repeat entries.

Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (three goals) dined out on North’s undersized defence and were assisted greatly by the Bulldogs midfield who smashed the Kangaroos in clearances 40-31, centre clearances 17-8 and inside 50s 69-34. North’s on-ball brigade gave their battling backline absolutely no protection.

Early in the third quarter, the ball had already spent 72 per cent of the game in the Bulldogs’ forward half.

To make sure of a top-eight spot, and not rely on other teams doing them favours, the Bulldogs have to beat the Giants in Ballarat next week, otherwise their fate will be in the lap of the gods.

Importantly, the Bulldogs significantly increased their percentage from 118.5 to 123.8.

Bevo’s not counting his chickens just yet. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Kangaroos are now assured of a fifth season in a row featuring just four wins or less, which is their worst ever stretch.

But coach Luke Beveridge is leaving nothing to chance.

“One of the things you can do in these situations is go to that outcome-based approach to the game,” Beveridge said.

“And I think if you go down that track, straight away you’ve moved away from the core of what you really should be focusing on.

“There are a lot of things out of our control and all we can do is influence from within and we’ll do our best to get our players in the right headspace.

“It’s still up in the air, isn’t it?”

The Bulldogs threw away a finals berth this time last year with stunning losses to bottom-three Hawthorn and West Coast sensationally scuppering their hopes, and Beveridge said they were well-placed to atone for that horrific finale 12 months on.

“I won’t say that I’ve forgotten about it but it’s a little bit different this year where it is in our control, as the previous year wasn’t (in the final round),” Beveridge said.

“In the end (in 2023) we were going in with a bit of hope whereas we’re going into the last round (in 2024) knowing that if we win, we’ll play finals.”

Originally published as 208cm Bulldogs giant Sam Darcy outscores North in historic bag