Opinion
Brisbane Lion Darcy Wilmot is the Round 14 Rising Star nominee after continuing his consistent 2023 where he has played in every game.
Wilmot is a product of the Northern Knights and was the youngest player selected – only sneaking into eligibility by one day – in the 2021 draft when the Lions called out his name at #16.
Click here for more Rising Star nominees.
His interview on draft night was also clearly the highlight of what is a pretty dull evening, when he suggested that he would have “a few Pepsi Max” to celebrate.
If you haven’t seen the interview, the only Pepsi Max he was drinking was as a mixer! It was a great insight into his personality, but the response from the media, the footballing public and Lions’ coach Chris
Fagan was overwhelmingly positive, with Fagan particularly striking the very fatherly tone suggesting he enjoy it now because it’ll be straight to work once he arrived in Brisbane.
Wilmot is a small-ish defender at only 183cms tall but is renowned for his athleticism and competitiveness which allow him to play a little taller.
While significantly impacted by the COVID years, Wilmot had already debuted for the Knights as an U16 (in a year he also played for Vic Metro in the U16 Championships) – remembering that he was 15 at the time – in 2019 and it was clear that he was not just highly talented but could also impact games with his desire, leadership and maybe a bit weirdly, his voice, which is very loud!
Wilmot didn’t debut for the Lions until late in the 2022 season, but the fact that debut came in an elimination final indicates how highly he is rated internally, and his excited celebrations after that victory were, no pun intended, celebrated by all and sundry at the time.
His speed, run and carry, and toughness have all proved to be prominent at AFL level, and combined with his bubbly personality he is proving to be a fan favourite.
Don’t mistake that bubbly personality for something of a laissez-faire or casual approach though, because on field he is as focussed as anyone and rarely lets his guard down – whilst his athletic attributes are plentiful, he is a defender first and foremost.
In playing every game so far this season he has been able to solidify his spot in Brisbane’s defence and continue working on getting the balance between attack and defence right.
One knock on him during his underage football was the ‘headless chook’ routine that sometimes saw him sell himself into trouble, but he is evidently reining those tendencies in and making use of his quite neat disposal when coming out of defence.
Darcy Wilmot has shown his promise for a long time (Photo by Martin Keep/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
That he is often entrusted with the kick ins (when often he feigns one way before heading 15m in the other direction) emphasises the faith his teammates and coaches have in his disposal.
Wilmot is tough and courageous, runs hard and uses the ball well, so his spot in defence is assured provided he keeps doing his job.
In a premiership fancy like the Lions, consistency amongst their playing group is of paramount importance and being able to rely on a youngster like Wilmot to regularly do a job means players like Starcevich and Rich – provided he comes back in at some point – helps their cause enormously.
It’s not going to happen, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a nomination!
While he has never been (even in his underage years) as big a ball winner as these two, and it’s unlikely he ever will be, the way Jack Sinclair and Zac Williams attack from defence are similar to Wilmot
Quality rebounding defenders who can actually defend are not as common as some would like to believe, and in this era of slingshot footy someone with Wilmot’s speed is very valuable. He kicks the ball incredibly high though, and I’d like to see him improve that aspect of his game a bit!
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
One of the worst games of the star forward's whole career!
When people say a home-and-away match is finals-like, they're usually referring, at least in part, to its quality. That was far from the case…
The Eagle took the bait and was drawn into giving away a free kick as his teammate was lining up in the one-goal loss…
The strength of the number one draft pick was impressive to floor Zach Merrett and Ben Hobbs in the one play.
