Boasting enormous athleticism for a key position player over 200cm, Darcy has taken AFL by storm since his debut. The son of Collingwood legend, Peter, the Pies used their first selection in the 2014 Draft to match the bid of the Western Bulldogs resulting in Darcy being selected with pick 9.
After biding his time in the VFL, Darcy made his AFL Debut in Round 14 of the 2015 season against Hawthorn who at the time were the reigning Premiers. Darcy quickly adapted to the speed of AFL and only two weeks later he kicked 5 goals in an 18-point loss to the Western Bulldogs which clearly showed the club and the AFL public that there had a bright future ahead.
Predominantly playing as a key forward at the beginning of his career, Darcy has since played in defence and ruck proving his versatility. However, it has been down in defence that he has really shown his influence on the game, taking on some of the AFL’s elite forwards.
Suffering recurring hamstring injuries in 2018, Darcy worked diligently on his rehabilitation to play 17 games in 2019 before experiencing a setback late in 2019. Having now overcome his injuries, Darcy played his best season in 2020 which was recognised with his first All-Australian Team award as well as being a catalyst in the Pies push to Premiership aspirations. Darcy continued his dominance in the first half of the 2021 season before a PCL injury ended his season prematurely, however, he quickly put that behind him in 2022 where he was once again the general of the Collingwood defence as they shot up the ladder falling agonisingly close to a Grand Final berth.
At the start of 2023, Darcy was announced captain of Collingwood, following in his father’s footsteps. Darcy had a sensational season making the All-Australian team once again, this time as captain, while leading Collingwood to a Premiership, topping off a dominant season for Darcy.
