IT has been a big 12 months for Darcy Byrne-Jones.
The dashing defender celebrated his 100th AFL game during the 2020 season before capping off a breakout campaign with his first All Australian jacket and John Cahill Medal to match.
The 25-year-old’s rise doesn’t look to be slowing down either, with the announcement today that he would be joining captain Tom Jonas and his deputies Ollie Wines and Hamish Hartlett in the club’s leadership group for the 2021 season.
It is the first time Byrne-Jones has been a part of Port Adelaide’s leadership program and he says it is a responsibility he does not take lightly.
“To join Tommy and Ollie and Hamish and be part of the leadership group, it’s a great honour,” he said.
“Hopefully I can bring something a little bit different and speak my mind a bit and bring a point of view that perhaps they wouldn’t have known and get involved.”
Handed the nickname “Hank” by senior coach Ken Hinkley for the white line fever that contrasts his quiet personality, it is his competitive fire and actions on the field that Byrne-Jones believes to be the biggest strength he will bring to his new role.
“I’m probably more of a lead by example type of operator,” he admits.
“I’m not the most vocal around the boys and in the meetings, but out on the field and in games I like to think I’m pretty vocal and lead by example.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play under Trav, Ollie and Tom and they’ve all got different ways of going about it.
“You always try and take things off them and learn things off them and use those things in your leadership, but I’m really looking to be myself.”
The Oakleigh Chargers product says that there will be a time and place to reflect on the individual achievements he is currently accumulating at a rapid rate, but for now his focus is on chasing a premiership with his teammates.
“On a personal level it’s obviously been pretty pleasing. I’m sure one day I’ll sit back and be pretty proud of what I’ve achieved, but my focus is solely on team success,” he said.
“To come so close last year was really heartbreaking for me and the group as well.
“That’s something that hopefully we can learn from and continue to rectify and come back bigger, stronger and better this year and have that team success as well as the individual stuff.”
