Emerging ruck-forward Sam Darcy says there has been a silver lining to the setbacks he endured in the early parts of his AFL career.

From a stress fracture in his foot, to a lung concern and fractured jaw, Darcy only managed seven games across his first two seasons at the club.

While admitting it was frustrating, he said in retrospect it taught him so much.

“The first few years I had a lot of setbacks which was tough, but looking back I think it’s held me in good stead,” Darcy told SEN’s The Run Home on Wednesday afternoon.

“I picked up a lot of habits through rehab and different things, that I think will be good for me in the long-term.

“As frustrating as it was last year not being on the field as much as I’d like, I think looking back on it, it might’ve been the best thing for me.”

Darcy is currently serving a two-week suspension for rough conduct, so is set to become available for selection after the team’s bye in Round 15.

He said striving for consistency is still the key on-field.

“I think we’ve been a bit unfortunate – we’ve had quite a few injuries in the last probably three or four weeks, so we’ve been a bit lower on numbers,” he said.

“I don’t think fatigue is necessarily kicking in – I think we’re still running out games really well, it’s just trying to be really consistent with our performances.

“I think we’ve shown that we’re more than capable, so it’s just rocking up every week with the same mindset and attitude.”

Looking ahead to his future in the league, Darcy believes he’ll continue developing into a ruck-forward, but is open to anything.

“I think potentially that forward-ruck combination – with a few more pre-seasons under my belt I’ll keep putting on some more size to be able to compete against the bigger-bodied rucks,” he said.

“That’s probably and potentially where I’ll end up, but you never know.

“I do enjoy having a stint in the ruck - it’s nice to be around the ball and compete at ground level with the mids.”

Our Bulldogs Blitz membership offer has been extended until the end of the week! This limited offer will grant those general admission access to three of the Bulldogs’ remaining four home matches at Marvel Stadium for just $33.

For more details, visit membership.westernbulldogs.com.au/sen.