Luke Jackson comments add to Walyalup (Fremantle) Dockers’ Sean Darcy dilemma as Sam Switkowski praises impact

A Walyalup (Fremantle) teammate has opened up on what makes star ruckman Luke Jackson so hard to stop, as the Dockers prepare to make a call on how they manage the return of Sean Darcy. Jackson was among the Dockers’ best players again in Saturday night’s powerful 49-point win over Yartapuulti (Port Adelaide). That’s ahead of a clash with Gold Coast on the road next week, where they could welcome back Jackson’s ruck partner Darcy from knee soreness. Jackson played as a pure ruckman, with support from Patrick Voss, against the Power and finished with 38 hitouts, eight clearances, 21 disposals and a jaw-dropping drop-punt goal from the pocket. High forward Sam Switkowski said the gun big man’s follow-up around the ground made him almost impossible to shut down. “That’s what makes him such a special player, and really hard for the opposition to come up against,” he told The West Australian. “His hitouts are great, but his follow up – he’s like another midfielder. His marks around the ground. He’s very hard to tackle, and he works incredibly hard out there, contest to contest. “He’s in some great form. We keep pushing him to get better and keep connecting with our midfielders to see if we can keep getting on top of the opposition in clearance. But really proud of Luke and how he’s going.” Debate is raging around how the Dockers can best utilise their high-priced ruck combination. That comes with the backdrop of The West’s exclusive report Jackson is expected to request a trade back to Melbourne — where he won a premiership in 2018 — at the end of this season. In an intriguing post-match interview, Jackson said he loved playing as the team’s No.1 ruckman. “It was good fun, I do love it, it’s a good position, fun position. You’re around the ball most of the time, so I feel like that’s where I play my best footy,” he told Fox Footy. “I’m just really happy the team got a win and yeah, we’re on a roll now. “I love contributing to the team as much as I can and they make it really easy in their the boys.” It wasn’t one of Walyalup’s most aesthetically pleasing performances, but for Switkowski, there was a beautiful ugly behind Saturday night’s triumph. The 28-year-old was one of only a handful of multiple goalkickers in a game turned by heavy rain into an arm-wrestle that the Dockers were able to break open in the final quarter. “Conditions obviously made it an incredibly contested game but we also knew that Port Adelaide would come out and be really strong in the contest, apply a lot of pressure,” he said. “They are a physical team in and around the ball and have a very one on one defence as well, so we were ready for that physicality. “I thought we’re a little bit slow to get going in that sense. But it was really pleasing to see us lift that level and then see it through to the last minute of the game.” The Dockers edged ahead at centre clearance and drew almost level on the inside 50 count after being well down in both areas up til half-time, with the Dockers defence led by Alex Pearce holding up under siege and the “little fellas” — Murphy Reid (four goals), Switkowski and Isaiah Dudley (two each) — capitalising at ground level. “It was fortunate that we were able to put a bit of scoreboard pressure on and actually be in front at quarter time,” he said. “The game certainly wasn’t on our terms. But if you can be efficient forward, it certainly gives you a bit of a leg up, and you’re not chasing as much, so that’s pleasing, in a sense. “We wanted to jump into the game a little bit better. But as I said, to play out that, you know, last three quarters really well is a good sign.” Switkowski’s 12 disposals were executed at 100 per cent efficiency, both that wasn’t the norm on a sodden night. “That’s footy these days, you don’t play the perfect game anymore. There’s so many momentum swings within games, and the game’s become so much about the contest, who can win clearance and contested possession,” he said. “It doesn’t look pretty a lot of the time. And certainly in these conditions tonight, it didn’t look pretty. “But as forwards, we knew we had to win or halve those surge kicks ahead of the ball, see if we could lock the ball in our front half and then, if we could apply some scoreboard pressure, it would obviously be a big plus and put some pressure on them to get their ball movement going.” The Dockers sit just outside the eight, with one of the competition’s biggest challenges coming up, a road clash with Gold Coast. “Gold Coast is playing some really good football. A really good contested team with (Matt) Rowell, (Noah (Anderson) and (Touk) Miller,” he said. “We’ll enjoy the wins tonight and review it and take what we can out of this game and then look forward to Gold Coast next week. “We’re not going to get carried away. I think that’s two in a row now. We’ve been taking a step forward over the last few weeks. We didn’t get the result against Collingwood, but it was a step forward after a pretty disappointing game against St Kilda at Marvel, I think we’re maturing as a team,” he said. “We’re putting guys in roles where they can bring their strength. I think it’s great to have Shai (Bolton) up and around the ball a little bit more. He’s been really dangerous for us. “Any player that’s coming in, when someone’s down with injuries, coming in and just getting that done, that’s what you need every season. You’re never gonna have your best 22 out there, but you need that depth and guys coming in and playing their role and executing really well. “There’s a long way to go. We’ve got some big games coming up against some quality teams and we really can’t look too far ahead, but we just got to keep trying to get better every week and that’s on the training track and then obviously out on the field.”