Western Bulldogs father-son Sam Darcy impressed Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes in his AFL debut against Fremantle on Saturday night.
While the Dogs went down by 17 points at Marvel Stadium, putting a big dint in their finals hopes, the silver lining for Luke Beveridge and Bulldogs fans was Darcy’s performance.
Deployed in defence, the 19-year-old took eight marks, two contested and had 10 disposals.
At a reported 209cm tall, the No. 2 draft pick is an elite mover for his size and Cornes is excited about what his potential could be.
“He was awesome, Sam Darcy,” Cornes said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“I haven’t been this excited about a player for a while, he’s very unique.
“I was trying to think who does he play like? But he could be anything.
“The size he’s got, the agility, he’s 209cm, he’s going to be an absolute weapon for them.”
While Darcy’s size, athleticism and skills make him a unique prospect, Cornes believes he could have a similar trajectory to Geelong’s Sam De Koning who has blossomed into one of the competition’s best defenders in his third year in the system.
“He’s got courage as well, he reads it incredibly well in the air,” Cornes said.
“There’s athleticism about him and that’s the one I mentioned last night (a comparison to Sam De Koning), that’s what I can think of.
“He’ll get more steady when he’s got the football in hand.
“They should be incredibly excited, it was a great debut.”
Darcy and the Bulldogs will be desperate to return to the winner’s list and put their names back in the finals hunt when they face the Giants next Saturday at Marvel Stadium.
"I haven't been as excited about a player for a while."@kanecornes says highly-rated father-son recruit Sam Darcy will be 'an absolute weapon' for the Dogs in the future, after an awesome debut against the Dockers. #9AFLSFS | Watch on @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/lnbF3T5EMm
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) August 7, 2022