Fremantle star Michael Walters thoroughly deserved the adulation he received after putting on a clinic at Optus Stadium clinic on Saturday.

The gutsy 28-year-old continued an All Australian run of form that has helped the Dockers string together three straight wins.

Right now, Walters is the most watchable player in the AFL.

But it’s one of Walters’ teammates who I think deserved an almost equal amount of ‘love’ when the final siren sounded ... 21-year-old Sean Darcy.

The last time I saw Darcy on a football field he was limping off Claremont Oval in mid-May, disconsolate with a serious ankle injury.

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Yet there he was on Saturday, not having played a game since, mixing it with the best ruck combo in the AFL, Port Adelaide’s Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett.

In 2017 Darcy was seen as a young ruckman with boundless potential. At the time he almost made Dockers fans forget the absence of Aaron Sandilands.

It seems that fire he showed to begin his career was burning just as brightly close to the end of Saturday’s game.

Late in the final quarter, it was an underdone and slightly overweight Darcy who was outrunning and outbustling his more decorated opponents.

It was a great sign. Rory Lobb, the club’s gun recruit, might be gone for the season but perhaps a worthy replacement has rediscovered his mojo.

With apologies to Ben Stratton, Darcy could be forgiven for pinching himself.