“Something that I don’t think this competition has ever seen before”: AFL legends on footy’s ‘unicorn’

Sam Darcy has caught the eye of some of the AFL’s best after a dominant display last night.

After being held to just one goal against North Melbourne last week, the Western Bulldogs forward bounced back in style against the Magpies.

In the 100th anniversary game of being in the VFL/AFL, Darcy kicked four goals and two behinds and almost led the Bulldogs to a win on Friday night who fell short by six points.

On SEN’s Crunch Time, Collingwood great Scott Pendlebury was in awe of the 208cm forward and the scary proposition that he poses to the rest of the competition.

“I don’t know if you guys noticed, but does he kick left-footed in general play and right-footed for set shots?” Pendlebury asked.

“I’ve always been injured or sick or something’s gone wrong so, I haven’t played much against them but last night he was such a focal point for them.

“It just felt like anytime he was near the ball, he just marked it or got a free kick.

“I honestly don’t think I have played against somebody that can do what he can do at such a young age.

“It’s sort of scary to play against someone like that and you realise that he’s only 21 years old.

“He’s going to be something that I don’t think this competition has ever seen before.”

Earlier in the show, two-time Adelaide premiership captain Mark Bickley would echo a similar sentiment about Darcy being a one-of-one player in the AFL.

“He’s probably aptly described as a unicorn,” Bickley said.

“I don’t think I have seen a player of his size, so he’s 208cm, if you generally think about a player who’s really lanky, can’t kick very well.

“But Darcy, he does everything. He jumps and takes the ball at its highest point so, you can imagine how high that is and that’s out of reach of most defenders.

“But then, I was just blown away with his skillset, he took some marks on the wing; turned inside on his non-preferred left foot and just picked out a few players in the corridor.

“And bar for a few posters, he could have had one of the great games and could have got the Bulldogs over the line.”

Darcy will likely be back in full flight for the Bulldogs when they play Carlton next Friday night at Marvel Stadium.