Why the Roos would be keen on Jack Darling, according to Adam Simpson

Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson has commented on Jack Darling’s potential move to North Melbourne.

The 32-year-old is believed to be on the verge of agreeing to a two-year deal with the Kangaroos after undergoing a medical on Monday despite being contracted with the Eagles for 2025.

While Darling’s form has dipped across the last two seasons, the Roos are eager to bring him to Arden Street to bolster their book of experienced players.

With that in mind, Garry Lyon asked Simpson: “Why would North Melbourne be offering Jack Darling two years?”

Simpson feels although Darling has moved past his best footy, he may still have a great purpose for Alastair Clarkson alongside Nick Larkey in the Roos’ forward line.

“He’s probably not marking the ball as well as he used to. He’s 191cm and defenders these days are 200cm tall,” Simpson said on SEN Breakfast.

“He’s got a lot of Ks (kilometres) but he’s an athlete, he’s really fit, he’s looked after his body for a number of years. He doesn’t get out-marked.

“I might have been criticised for playing him too much, the last few years we backed him in.

“When he’s at his worst he’s getting out-marked, but I can’t remember too many times where he had a day where he was convincingly beaten by a defender, so I suspect North are looking for some experience up forward and someone to help Larkey out a little bit while the young forwards are coming through.

“They’ve got enough youth, North, they just need a bit of experience.”

The question was also posed: Does Darling have more than a year left in him?

“That’s up to North, isn’t it. He had a year to go with us,” he added.

“This is the thing, and I don’t know if this is happening as I’m out of the loop, but I’m assuming if he goes to North it’s not for one year, it’s a couple of years. So that’s attractive for him to extend his career.

“And like I said about North, they might be looking for that little bit of experience and support in their front half.”

Darling, a premiership player in 2018, has played 298 games and kicked 532 goals (the second most in club history) for the Eagles over 14 seasons.

It appears likely that he will head to North via a trade this coming trade period.