Sam Darcy (born 19 July 2003) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) Darcy grew up in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

’s inner eastern suburbs and studied at Scotch College. The 205-cm player scored six goals in an U19s trial match, continuing his excellent play throughout Vic Metro matches. In his 3 NAB League games, Darcy averaged 16 touches, 6 marks, and 6 hit outs. He was drafted at pick number 2 in the

2021 AFL Draft The 2021 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2021 AFL season. The National Draft returned to being a t ...

under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

. His father,

Luke Darcy Luke Darcy (born 12 July 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL) and now works for the Seven Network and Triple M covering the AFL and the Olympics. Early life L ...

, and grandfather

David Darcy David Darcy (11 August 19431 August 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s. Darcy also played for and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian National F ...

both played for the Bulldogs. His maternal grandfather David Shaw played for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

. He played junior football for Hawthorn Citizens and Glen Iris Gladiators in the

Yarra Junior Football League The Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) is the largest junior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The league has a total of 30 clubs, who are based around northern, eastern and north-eastern Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne. There is ...

. He received a Rising Star nomination after Round 4 of the 2024 season.

Honours and achievements

Individual *

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...

nominee:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* 22under22 team: 2024

References

External links

* * * Living people 2003 births Western Bulldogs players Oakleigh Chargers players People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People from the City of Boroondara 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-2000s-stub