Ten weeks have now passed since Sam Darcy underwent a knee reconstruction. The 22-year-old is making slow, early progress in a long rehab process, but determined to use this time to not just bulletproof his body, but come back better than he was.
"I pretty much knew straight away that I'd done it. There was probably the one per cent chance (I hadn't) because of what happened last year when I thought I did it and that didn't happen, so that was the only little bit of hope. Every sign was saying that I did it," Darcy said.
"So yeah, it is strange, two years in a row I've had an issue with the same knee. So hopefully it's all repaired now and I can just build a really strong base now and, touch wood, have a good run at it starting from next year I reckon."
Sam Darcy successfully makes his return from a serious knee injury, just eight weeks after fears his season was over.
The 21-year-old was a constant threat up forward, finishing with three goals from 19 disposals as the Dogs jumped back into the top eight with a powerful 72-point win over St Kilda.
As he recovers from a knee injury in preparation for returning to football later in the season, Sam Darcy says he had resigned himself to missing the rest of this year when his knee buckled against St Kilda in round six and he was told it was likely a season-ending ACL injury.
"The possibility of not playing the rest of the year was heartbreaking," Darcy said.
"It was getting prepared for that and thinking about different avenues I could have explored if that was the case, like trying to look at things outside of footy that could have kept me busy. I was talking with family that night about things I could explore with study or different ways to be really efficient and do what I could to attack my rehab."
Training against young Bulldog Sam Darcy has helped prepare Buku Khamis to face some of the competition's best key forwards.
"He's come along this year and I think he's going to be really hard to stop," Khamis said of Darcy.
"I'm working well with the boys down there, especially Rory and Liam. When it comes to backing my read, I just back it 100 percent and I just play hard. 'Bevo' puts a lot of confidence in me. We all have that license."
Sam Darcy signs a long-term contract extension, keeping him at the club until at least 2029, stating it was an easy decision due to his family history and confidence in the team's direction.
"It was a really easy decision for me in the end," Darcy said.
"I just want to keep building on the foundations I set up last year and put in a big pre-season to hopefully set myself up for success in 2025."
Sam Darcy recommits to the Western Bulldogs until the end of 2025.
"My immediate feeling is I am just super excited to sign with the club, I can't wait to see what the future holds," Darcy said in a statement.
"It was awesome to get a taste of senior football in my first year, particularly with that final, I was definitely pinching myself with the crowd and atmosphere."
Sam Darcy makes his AFL debut for the Western Bulldogs at Docklands Stadium with 10 disposals (9 kicks and a handball) and 8 marks in a 17-point loss to Fremantle.
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Sam Darcy is set to miss the first half of 2022 due to an ongoing navicular bone stress fracture in his foot.
Darcy hasn’t trained with the main group since being drafted in the 2021 AFL National Draft due to the injury he suffered late last season.
The Bulldogs view the 205cm key position prospect as a 12-to-15-year prospect and will take an ultra-conservative approach with his rehabilitation.
Western Bulldogs select Sam Darcy with pick No.2 in the 2021 National Draft.
Draft Report: The son of former Western Bulldogs captain and current club director Luke Darcy is as a top-three prospect this year. A versatile tall, his favoured position is as a forward with a little bit of ruck work on the side. However, Darcy has also played on a wing for the Oakleigh Chargers and some even see him as a player who might morph into a key defender at AFL level given his strong intercept marking and ability to read the play. Darcy wears the No.14 jumper in the NAB League ? the same number his father wore at the Bulldogs ? and trained at Whitten Oval during pre-season. Sound foot skills round out a player who has shone brightly both in the NAB League and with Scotch College. The Bulldogs' father-son prospect also kicked six goals in a Vic Metro trial match in June.