Western Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy has lauded fellow key forward Aaron Naughton for his impact in 2025. 

Darcy and Naughton played together 17 times this season, booting a combined 100 goals from those outings. 

“Naughty has been awesome. His back-half of the year was absolutely sensational,” Darcy said post-season.

“I love playing with him…as a young fellow I grew up admiring the way he went about it. It’s pretty awesome to play alongside him now.  

“I hope we can keep growing together, and as a forward line keep improving.”

The Dogs’ forward-line is set to be further boosted in 2026 with the return of Cody Weightman, who was sidelined with injury this year, while the emergence of Jordan Croft is set to add even more firepower to an already potent forward line. 

“It was awesome to see (Crofty). We grew pretty close together across the year - it was so fun to see him make his debut,” Darcy said.

“To see him have a really big impact was really exciting for him going forward. 

“Another father-son too – we’ve got good pedigree here at the Dogs.”

Speaking on his own output, Darcy said while he’s pleased with what he was able to achieve, there is always room for improvement which will hopefully lead to some future success.

“I think I took a good step this year,” he said.

“I guess it is cool to get some external recognition (as Mark of the Year winner) but that’s not really the end goal. You want to keep improving as a side. 

“Our Dogs supporters are incredibly passionate. They ride the highs and the lows, and bleed red, white and blue. They are incredibly loyal. 

“Hopefully we can bring some success to them in the near future.”