What Will He Bring: Will Darcy

After selecting Louis Emmett with the second pick of Night Two of the AFL Draft, the Bulldogs had to wait until the very last pick of the night until they were on the clock again, with their next turn arriving at Pick 60.

At this point in the draft, several clubs had already concluded their business and were passing on picks as a result, allowing the Bulldogs to climb up the order by default. With room to draft just one more player onto the list, the Bulldogs drafted Father-Son prospect Will Darcy, having already committed to adding him to the club’s list prior to the Draft. The selection further strengthens the Darcy legacy at the Western Bulldogs, with Will joining brother Sam after father Luke and grandfather David also enjoyed extended spells at the club.           

THE PLAYER: 

Will Darcy 

Height: 199cm 

Position: Utility 

Club: Oakleigh Chargers

WHAT THEY SAID:

“He has some really elite traits as well. Left foot, right foot, really good on the ground, really good in the air.

"He plays quite differently to Sam. We see him as a defender and in some areas of the game he's probably more advanced than Sam.

"He is going to take a while, so Dogs fans need to be a little bit patient.” - Player Acquisition and Strategy Manager Michael Regan

“He’s like a baby giraffe at the minute. He’s all legs and a long neck, but he’s got some talent, and they’ll help extract that out of him. But Bulldogs fans, give him time. He’ll need some time…he’s a later developer” – AFL Talent Ambassador Kevin Sheehan

2025 SEASON:

While most of the top draft prospects (including Carmichael and Emmett) spent most of 2025 playing in both the Talent League and the U18 Championships, Darcy started the year in neither competition; instead opting to focus on his schooling while representing Scotch College at APS level.

His form across the season was good enough to earn him a call-up to the Oakleigh Chargers, where he made an immediate impact on debut, taking a strong contested mark late in the final term before going back and kicking the match-sealing goal.

It would be the first of five games that Darcy played in the Talent League, averaging 6.2 disposals and 1.2 marks a game, as he was used primarily in defence, failing to add to his debut goal. His campaign was cut short by stress fractures in his back, which also prevented him from attending the Draft Combine at the end of the season.

WHAT WILL HE BRING:

The fact that Michael Regan has already tempered expectations on what Will Darcy will bring to the table in the short term is a strong indication that he’s unlikely to make any immediate impact at AFL level.

There’s no doubt that Darcy has the potential to forge a strong career, but unlike Sam, Will is in a position where it may take a few years to piece it all together. The club will first want to make sure that they take their time with allowing Will to overcome the back issues that derailed his 2025 season, and while we’re no longer privy to player weights, it’s quite obvious that Will needs to add significant size to his frame before being ready for the rigours of AFL level.

Despite that, he clearly has a lot of talent, particularly for a player who stands at 199cm, and certainly has the capacity to be a great player for the Bulldogs over the next decade. He is a good kick on both sides, is strong in the air, but can also have an impact at ground level. There are a lot of traits in his game that Sam also possesses, but there’s still much physical development that he needs to make before being ready to play consistently at AFL-level, and Footscray’s VFL program will prove an excellent environment for him to develop in the short term.