0
0
Career High SuperCoach Score: 119 Vs North Melbourne (2019)
Career High AFLFantasy Score: 111 Vs Gold Coast (2021)
Career High SuperCoach Average: 73.2 (2019)
Career High AFLFantasy Average: 72.4 (2019)
Impact on new club
You can look at the recruitment of Darcy Tucker in multiple ways. One is the slightly more optimistic approach. By adding Tucker to the list, they get themselves a proven midfielder who, at 25 years of age, adds some immediate experience to a very young midfielder core. Beyond Ben Cunnington, the likes of Simpkin, Phillips, Powell & Davies-Uniacke are all under 25.
More pessimistically, you can see Tucker as a player that, while helpful for now, will slow down the development opportunities of more young talent that might have greater long-term upside.
I’m closer to being a pessimist in this scenario. For Tucker to even consider a trade out of Fremantle, it must have been on the promise that the midfield/wing spot is ‘his to lose.’ I don’t mind Darcy as a depth option, but I don’t believe North would ideally want him in their best lineup.
Impact on the old club
Over the past few years, Darcy Tucker has faded into being a depth option on the Fremantle list. So they were happy to let him slide into North Melbourne as part of the Griffin Logue trade.
The Dockers still have yet to hand a debut to Matthew Johnson, while they’ll want to keep getting more game time into Nathan O’Driscoll.
So while his departure might thin out some experience from within their depth, it would significantly impact the Dockers finals aspirations.
Fantasy Summary
A combination of injuries and other talent going past him meant he’s played just 38 games over the past three seasons. In 2022, he played 14 games but was used as a medical substitute in three of those.
He didn’t deliver any scores worth highlighting this year, but in round 13 against the Suns in 2021, he scored 111 in AFLFantasy/DreamTeam and 95 in SuperCoach. So, while good scores are rare for him, they are, at the very least, a possibility.
Last year, Tucker was listed as a DEF/MID and will likely enter the year with similar positional status. If that holds for this DPP AND he receives a discount on his average in the low 40s, we could see Darcy priced marginally above the cash cow range in SuperCoach & DreamTeam.
His relevance will largely be determined by more than just these factors of position and price. But also on the scarcity of viable options with job security in his line and whether or not we have comparable value with greater upside in another line.
Based on these elements, Darcy will become either a valuable commodity to keep an eye on or he’ll become an option not worth considering.
