Darcy Tucker is a classic journeyman, an outside specialist who moved from Fremantle to North Melbourne to shift from wing to half back flank and back again, depending on what the coach needs, without ever being in danger of reaching the list of best players on the day. His role just shifted again from wing to HBF across the last two weeks, but it is just as likely to change again before the year is out and his personal output is irrelevant to everybody except the line coaches keeping track of team KPIs. He is a classic list-clogger, with no relevance for fantasy.
Darcy Tucker is a classic journeyman, an outside specialist who moved from Fremantle to North Melbourne to shift from wing to half back flank and back again, depending on what the coach needs, without ever being in danger of reaching the list of best players on the day. His role just shifted again from wing to HBF across the last two weeks, but it is just as likely to change again before the year is out and his personal output is irrelevant to everybody except the line coaches keeping track of team KPIs. He is a classic list-clogger, with no relevance for fantasy.
Darcy Tucker is one of several Dockers who have been moved from outside midfield roles to half back this season, which was somewhat of a surprising move as it meant that the team's best one-on-one defender Reece Conca has been languishing in the substitutes. As a wingman, Tucker was not a ball magnet except on rare occasions, so maybe this was a ploy by Justin Longmuir to get he and James Aish into the play a lot more to use their skills on the rebound. This has not yet led to any of them becoming fantasy relevant, but it may be a slow burn.
Darcy Tucker had one of his better games in purple last week, combining his usual outside work with more than a handful of clearances. Plenty of wingers and flankers have been tried inside without success, and it is the rare ones who thrive like Mitch Duncan and Jack Macrae who turn themselves into reliable fantasy premiums with a high floor and capability to lift their ratings into the stratosphere. Tucker is nowhere near that level yet, but he's worth keeping an eye on as the Dockers try to find depth in an engine room that is too reliant on Nat Fyfe.
Tucker's flaws are a memory
Dependable with ball in hand, Darcy Tucker significantly improved his disposal output with a career high in contested possessions. Renowned for his kicking, Tucker surprisingly generated a negative kick-to-handball split for the first time in 2019. The addition of FWD eligibility vaults Tucker into fantasy relevance, as the baseline for forwards is more forgiving. In a team which is reportedly going to focus more on attack in the Justin Longmuir era, he presents as a middle round pick with upside.
Get a bag, Tucker
As a utility, Darcy Tucker rotated mostly as an outside midfielder last year, with some appearances across half back. His numbers have dipped in each season, which is the inverse of what we want from young players. An off-season stress fracture affected Tucker’s preseason. Tucker will be hopeful that a fresh campaign can reverse that trend. The reality is that he’ll be behind the pace of his teammates and will have to break into the side. Solely as a midfielder, Tucker has not shown enough to excite fantasy coaches, and therefore shouldn’t be drafted.
Tucker needs more energy
Used at half back and half forward at times, Darcy Tucker mostly started on a wing and matched the numbers from his preceding debut season, only rarely venturing anywhere near the fantasy baseline score for midfielders. Four of his average of 15 touches were contested. Tucker told the press he wants to play inside midfield, and bulked up by 8kg to do it. Fantasy coaches reckon he should concentrate more on finding the ball, as his lack of improvement in year two was disappointing. Hard to see enough upside here to justify a speculator pick.
