PART TWO

SUNDAY, JULY 12

Looking for a new role

WHEN Darcy Tucker pulled open the curtains in his living room yesterday morning, he wasn't rapt with what he saw outside. Ballarat is damp at the best of times, but rain hadn't stopped all night as Victoria had been hit by a hostile weekend of winter weather, dubbed an 'Arctic vortex'.

A few hours later, Tucker was at Eureka Stadium, drenched from the minute he led the North Ballarat Rebels out to face the Geelong Falcons in a TAC Cup match. In a slippery affair, Tucker found it tough to get into the game. The Rebels lost and he didn't get the chance to find his form. In his first game back from a frustrating NAB AFL Under-18 Championships for Vic Country, a deluge of hail didn't help his cause.

Tucker started this year's championships with a completely different mindset to the one he took into the 2014 carnival. Last year, he was just hoping to play one game. This time, he played every game but had higher hopes. "I wish it had gone better," he says.

The Arctic vortex didn't help Darcy Tucker's ambitions in the 2015 TAC Cup. Picture: AFL Media



Vic Country entered the carnival as the clear favourite to win the division one title. But Country didn't have an easy start, and neither did Tucker. Country needed a goal after the siren to beat rival Vic Metro, and Tucker managed just seven disposals. He started in the midfield and had just one possession in the opening term, and in the second half was shifted to the back flank to find more of the ball. It simply didn't happen.

"That game stuck in my guts for three days," he says. He was told he'd be moving to his more customary role at half-back for the next game. Tucker understood the decision, but has mixed feelings. Was one bad game enough to change plans? Vic Country travelled to Perth in round two and beat Western Australia by 105 points, with Tucker logging 17 disposals (at an efficiency rate of 88 per cent).

A minor brain fade

In game three, a rematch with Vic Metro, he had a team-high 26 disposals and was more pleased with his output, as Country kept its winning streak alive.

It was the confidence boost Tucker needed. He headed to Adelaide as Country took on South Australia at AAMI Stadium. Tucker was poised off half-back and delivered the ball cleanly. He had registered 18 disposals midway through the third quarter and was headed for his best game before an indiscriminate shove to opponent Stephen Tahana's face saw him sent off the ground.

Tucker (l) in action against South Australia in the 2015 NAB AFL U18s. Picture: AFL Media



"It stuffed up my game, and I was wondering if I'd get suspended and my carnival would be over. Nobody from our bench said anything to me, so I thought I'd let the team down," he says.

"I was quite frustrated sitting there in silence. Initially I thought I was off for the whole game, but I was eventually told it was just 15 minutes. It's the first time I've been sent off in a game."

Tucker was able to play the remaining two games of the carnival after his report was thrown out, but he wasn't allowed to forget the incident. At the NAB AFL Academy function before the final round, many of Tucker and Tahana's teammates joked about it around the lunch table.

Academy coach Brenton Sanderson was less amused. As Sanderson spoke about every player individually in front of the group, he got to Tucker and made his point.

"It was absolutely unacceptable what you did and if it was me coaching I would have ruled you out for the last two weeks to teach you a lesson," he said.

Tucker was fuming inside, but didn't let it get to him or allow it ruin his afternoon. "That comes in footy, you're going to cop a lot of sprays," he says. "I did the wrong thing."

Tucker was told he was lucky not to be rubbed out for two weeks for his brain fade. Picture: AFL Media



His parents were sitting near the bench at AAMI Stadium when he was sent off. For a few weeks after, his mum Roxanne went to games thinking one thing: 'Please don't hit anyone'. Dad Leigh didn't mind the incident as much, knowing his son is a calm character who "fires up" when necessary.

Leigh was a good footballer, playing at local level for Murtoa and Minyip footy clubs as a youngster. He was a quick half-forward nicknamed 'Speedy'. He now works now for GWM Water in Horsham, while Roxanne is a nurse at the Wimmera Base Hospital, also in Horsham.

Although they know their son tends to keep his emotions under wraps, the folks could tell he was disappointed with what happened that afternoon. "He was very quiet afterwards," Roxanne says.

They have missed only one game this year – Tucker's 43-disposal effort for the Rebels in round four of the TAC Cup. They were at a family wedding and when their son arrived late, they asked him how he'd played. "Yeah, not bad. We won," he told them.

Two days later Roxanne saw the statistics and thought 'Not bad? That's the most touches you've ever had!' "He doesn't talk himself up at all. He wouldn't tell us if he got drafted if he didn't have to," Leigh says. "He just does what the team wants him to."

That was evident in the final two rounds of the championships, when Tucker was among the handful of best players, as Vic Country remained undefeated to claim the division one title.

Set for a big finish

Overall, the 18-year-old was pleased with three of his six games in the carnival. Country has a strong midfield, and Tucker found it hard to get his hands on the footy.

Not easy going: Tucker is closely marked in the NAB AFL U18s. Picture: AFL Media



"I set myself to be this big midfielder this year and I went away from what I do best with my run and carry. I thought I had to be someone else, not who I am," he says.

"I was confident I'd be able to step straight into the midfield and play good footy. I haven't thrown the idea of being a midfielder out the window, but it's not going to come straight away."

Tucker's up-and-down form has made it challenging for recruiters to properly assess him. They loved him as a bottom-ager last year and even though he hasn't starred this year, clubs know he is working hard.

"He didn't quite have the impact in the midfield I'd hoped, and to this point he's shown he plays his best footy behind the ball," one scout said.

"A really professional kid like him squeezes the lemon so hard and gets every drop of juice out of himself. However, that doesn't mean his development is done at 18. He's just starting.

"That underpinning of professionalism will carry him through the next 15 years."

Tucker 'squeezing the lemon' at the NAB AFL Draft Combine. Picture: AFL Media



Tucker has read a few mock drafts since the championships finished, and seen his name drop out of the slated top-10. He sees the last block of the season as his chance to move up.

He'll soon get a taste of the VFL with the North Ballarat Roosters, and the Rebels are perched on top of the TAC Cup ladder so finals beckon.

"I believe I am a top-10 talent, but I just need to showcase my best," he says.

"By the end of the year I think I'll look back on my season and be proud of it. I've been hard on myself and other people might have been a bit hard at times too. But it's still been a good year.

"There are enough games left to make it special," he says.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2015

Physical and mental challenges

TUCKER stood on the purpose built floor at Etihad Stadium in Docklands, about to start the beep test at the NAB AFL Draft Combine. He looked around and saw other draft hopefuls, recruiters, media, coaches and officials watching.

Soon enough, they would see who would push themselves beyond exhaustion and who would drop out early, fall to their knees and gasp for breath. He also noticed the silence. "All you have is your own thoughts, and so much was going through my head," he says. "The main thing was, ‘Don't stop'."

He managed not to cave to the mental pressure, and finished with a 15.3 mark, the third best at the combine. Tucker also ran a strong time in the 3km time trial (10:18 minutes), broke three-seconds for the 20-metre sprint (2.98) and his repeat sprints and efforts in the jumping tests put him in the top 25 per cent of draft hopefuls.

In Draft Combine testing, all you have is your own thoughts. Picture: AFL Media



Tucker's overall efforts were impressive, given he didn't have long to prepare for the combine.

His season had finished just three weeks ago, after North Ballarat lost to Oakleigh in a TAC Cup preliminary final.

It was a disappointing end for the Rebels, who had finished on top of the ladder after the home and away season and surged to win the qualifying final over Geelong. It was not the finish Tucker had envisaged. He was kept to just 13 disposals and had little influence, being dragged back out of the play.

"Afterwards I was devastated. I thought I had let the team down," Tucker says.

"We wanted more as a team, and I knew we could have gone the whole way. It added to the devastation that I had worked at the club the whole year, so I'd seen everything that had gone into the season. I was just so disappointed."

It was a season featuring a few highs, some lows and a fair bit of middle ground. After his under-18 carnival for Vic Country, Tucker had hoped to lift his form.

At stages he did just that, resulting in his VFL debut for the North Ballarat Roosters in August. He won 19 disposals and gave the team some run. Importantly, he also noticed the on-field leadership of the Roosters compared to the Rebels. "They never shut up out there," he says.

"Two days later the Rebels leadership group met and I said we needed to be louder on the ground."

The future is almost now

Tucker's up and down season has left clubs unsure about where exactly he will be drafted. He started the year tipped as a possible top-three pick. He ends it with question marks raised in the eight club interviews he had between the end of the championships and combine.

"Some people looked at my season and thought the pressure got to me, and that I'm not as good as what they thought," he says.

"But I still have the belief that when I step into an AFL environment I've got a lot of development left. I'll be better for having this year."

Once touted as a top-three pick, Tucker ends the year a draft mystery. Picture: AFL Media



The clubs looked for reasons Tucker hadn't been able to piece together the year he had hoped for.

Richmond's scouts asked him what he was doing to fix his weaknesses and liked the fact he had a solution to every area that needed improving.

Port Adelaide focused on his statistics and GPS data, noting he had consistently improved in key areas since under-16s level. Port compared his running data to midfielder Brad Ebert, and Tucker noted his high-intensity running was on par with the average AFL player.

Tucker found it interesting what one club valued compared to others, and liked how the Power were constructive with their feedback.

Essendon's approach was a little more surprising. The Bombers' psychologist asked Tucker to divide 413 by three, and then to spell dinosaur backwards. "At least I got that right," he says. "The maths part I wasn't quite so good at."

At the combine, he had 11 scheduled chats with clubs, including two with Adelaide. The first interview with the Crows, on the opening night, was challenging. They pressed him about his season and explained what they thought didn't work. The Crows recruiters didn't smile a lot and had their questions ready to go. Tucker wasn't sure what to expect when they asked to see him again the next morning.

"I was going in a bit scared thinking they were going to be on to me again, but it was really good," Tucker says.

"In the first one they were trying to find out the question I can't answer, ‘Why didn't I play well this year?' I said I wasn't sure. I was trying. I did everything I could.

"The second interview was about different topics, and whether I'd like to move to Adelaide. They also had me to draw some game structures."

Essendon's psychologist set maths problems for Darcy Tucker. Picture: AFL Media



The range of club interviews has Tucker none the wiser about where he will end up on November 24, when clubs meet at the Adelaide Convention Centre for this year's draft.

The Saints are his preferred destination (after years of supporting them, could it really be anyone else?) and he would like to stay in Victoria to be closer to his family, but moving interstate wouldn't bother him. He knows few have the luxury of choosing their club.

This season hasn't gone exactly to plan for Tucker. He wishes his championships went better, but he knows he couldn't have done any more to prepare for games, and that he maintained his professionalism across the year.

Tucker knows he's learned plenty, including dealing with doubts, analysing his own form, keeping a cool head, and being smarter about who he listens to and how to assess their advice.

He's wondered whether working at the Rebels has resulted in his life being consumed by football, with some having suggested that as a possible reason for his fluctuating form. But he doesn't believe that. Footy has been at the front of his mind since he used to go to St Kilda family days as a five-year-old and collect his favourite players' autographs. He's used to it being the only thing on his mind.

Now, Tucker's only weeks away from being drafted – likely somewhere in the first round – and he's counting down the days.

"I can sense my life's going to change, but I'm very excited about it. I've wanted to do this my whole life," he says.

"I remember when I couldn't wait to be 18 so I'd be able to be picked up by an AFL club. Now, it's here and it's quite scary. I'm anxious about it," he says.

"The uncertainty is part of it. I hate the wait, but I've waited my whole life for it so I can wait a little longer."

READ PART ONE: Footy nut Darcy Tucker feels the recruiters' blowtorch

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