Sean Darcy’s impact as a ruckman in the AFL is growing with the 22-year-old feeling like he’s building a strong connection with Freo’s midfielders.

Darcy’s performance in the ruck was a silver lining to Fremantle’s 24-point loss to Brisbane on Sunday, helping Freo win the hitouts 52-18 and the centre clearances 23-20.

He also had a strong mark and goal in the fourth quarter as Freo enjoyed a brief period of ascendancy over the Lions.

Darcy has seen his hitout-to-advantage win rate increase year on year since making his debut in 2017.

The ruckman started out with a hitout-to-advantage win rate of 11 per cent in 2017, and has grown it to 14.1 per cent in 2018, 15.6 per cent in 2020 and 19.4 per cent in 2021.

“A couple of years ago, I was in and out of the team trying to find my feet,” Darcy said.

“My body was letting me down, and at the moment, I’m feeling really good and I’m learning where Nathan (Fyfe) likes it, where Caleb (Serong) likes it, where Andy (Brayshaw) likes it. Each mid is different.

“That’s just the connection between each individual.”

Darcy said better communication between players helped Freo improve their efforts in the contest against Brisbane, compared to a week prior against West Coast.

“I think we had a really good plan,” Darcy said.

“We went away from that last week, we weren’t as connected as a group.

“We weren’t talking as much, so there was a big emphasis on being connected as a group.

“We knew what we were doing, we had a plan and we worked on it.

“(David) Mundy keeps doing it. He’s a star. Brayshaw’s really becoming one of the key midfielders in the comp and then Fyfey does what he usually does, crashes and bashes. We’ve got a really good group going.”

In his fifth season, Darcy remains one of the AFL’s younger rucks playing in a position that is dominated by the older and more physical players.

He said he feels like his growing into the role.

“I think I’ve built a little bit of a fitness base but there’s still a lot to work on,” Darcy said.

“My first couple of years, I could match them for maybe a quarter, or quarter and a half, and then I’d be gassed for the game.

“This year, I feel like I’m running a lot better, I’m playing four-quarter footy which is what we really want to do. I’m trying to improve every week.”

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