AFL.com.au's Callum Twomey takes a look at some of the heroes who had their finals moments over the weekend, the history that awaits Nick Daicos and more in Monday Cal-culations

BUCKS' BIG CALL

NATHAN Buckley is no stranger to big weeks in football. But this looms as his biggest since he departed Collingwood as coach midway through 2021.

As Melbourne's round of interviews with its six coaching candidates heats up, Buckley has a choice to make: does he want the Demons or the Devils job?

Tasmania has not wanted to jump at shadows on its coaching process and change its appointment timeline due to the Demons' interest in Buckley. But the Devils have put their case forward and the former Collingwood coach and captain's stature has him top of the wish list.

Despite being the favourite for Melbourne's job, Buckley has publicly remained coy about the position, with the champion Magpie doing as much work on the Demons as the Demons are on him when discovering if the fit is right.

But with Melbourne intent on having a new coach appointed by preliminary final weekend in under two weeks, the clock is ticking.

Buckley is among the six contenders on Melbourne's shortlist – along with assistants James Kelly and Steven King (Geelong), Brendon Lade (Western Bulldogs), Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood) and Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon) – who will go through formal interviews with the Dees' coaching sub-committee as new chief executive Paul Guerra starts officially at the club on Monday. The assistants have impressed so far through the process in the early stages and the Demons are adamant they are in the running and it is not just Buckley's job to lose.

But in the background, the Devils are also dangling the keys.

The opportunity to be Tasmania's first senior coach will be on Buckley's mind, with the possibility of a flexible start-up plan next year allowing for his media commitments before taking on the role permanently down the track ahead of the Devils' proposed 2028 start in the AFL.

That feels a long way away and the Devils are still waiting on the stadium build to be confirmed before shedding their conditional AFL licence. But the club will field VFL and VFLW teams in 2026, its start-up list rules should be officially announced later this month and it is getting more commercial support off-field and adding staff internally.

If Buckley leans towards the Tasmania role, then his intentions with Melbourne will become clear in the coming week as the Dees' process takes significant steps. Melbourne cannot wait and Tasmania, if it is to land Buckley, cannot either.

FINALS MAKE HEROES

SAM Mitchell had a laugh during a pre-season interview a couple of years ago.

"Everyone asks about the same players. James Sicily, Will Day. Nobody asks about Blake Hardwick?"

The Hawks coach knew what others have come to learn about the dependable Hawk, who played a magnificent elimination final against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday.

Finals make heroes and this was Hardwick's moment. Only four games away from his 200th match, Hardwick has remained under the radar throughout his career but had a weekend-high (and career-high) 14 intercept possessions and was the No.1 rated player in the frantic final quarter.

He spent 55 minutes matched up on Giants captain Toby Greene and blanketed him, too, with Greene only registering four disposals and no goals in that time.

Finals make heroes. He wasn't the only Hawk to elevate on the bigger stage.

Jai Newcombe had an all-time first half with nine clearances and 20 disposals. He finished with 32 touches, including 17 contested possessions, a goal and was the highest rated player on the ground. In his three finals, Newcombe has been rated the best player on the ground every game.

The Hawks moved quickly this year to extend his contract at the club for another six years until the end of 2032 and from next year he will be the club's best paid player, around the $1 million mark. Worth every cent.

Finals make heroes. Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Josh Kelly couldn't have done any more for their teams in defeat, with Brayshaw and Serong's epic performances dragging Freo back into the game against Gold Coast and Kelly doing the same for the Giants after being subbed into the contest to replace Darcy Jones.

Geelong and Collingwood have played so many finals their lists are full of September superstars, but for first-timers Gold Coast more names were added to the list of big game performers.

Bailey Humphrey last year didn't love the pressure that came from his coach Damien Hardwick saying he was 'Dusty-like' but Humphrey put in a first half that was, well, Dusty-like with three goals in the second quarter that showed his power and quality.

Mac Andrew's move forward, mark and goal under pressure might get lost in the David Swallow euphoria, but was a clutch moment under immense pressure.

HISTORY AWAITS FOR TOP PIE

NICK Daicos stands on the verge of greatness. At 22.

The rest of this month could catapult the Collingwood superstar into the highest of echelons in the game's history despite only being into his fourth season at the top level. He is already well on his way to that status, but it is a fortnight that can fast-track the next jump.

Daicos was a big difference for Collingwood against Adelaide on Thursday night, with the champion Pie's deft foot skills separating the sides. It was not his most prolific game nor did it jump off the page in statistics. But the brilliant Magpie's kicking artistry and big moments shone as the club went through to another preliminary final.

It is no coincidence that Collingwood is now into its third preliminary final in just four years since Daicos arrived at the club, so central is he to Collingwood's system and plans. Don't forget the Pies had their worst ever finish on the ladder – 17th – in 2021, the season before he was drafted.

But Daicos' can rocket even further into the conversation with the very best by the end of September with the Pies just two wins away from a record-breaking 17th flag.

Should Daicos steer the Pies to the flag – they are now red-hot favourites to be there on Grand Final day – it would be his second premiership in four years. Should he win the Brownlow Medal that week as well – he is the outright favourite for the top gong – Daicos will already have a career CV in four seasons.

His three All-Australian jumpers from four years (he could have easily been half-back in the team of the year in 2022, too) is already a record in a player's first four seasons, while he has a Rising Star, best and fairest, Coaches Association's best player award and was voted the players' MVP this season.

Even Lachie Neale admitted in 2023 that Daicos would likely have won the Brownlow if not for the knee injury he suffered at the end of the season that saw him miss the last three weeks and fall three votes short of Neale.

Only one player in VFL/AFL history has achieved at least two premierships and a Brownlow in their first four years in the game and that was Hawks champion John Platten, who won three premierships between 1986-1989 and also claimed the 1987 Brownlow. 

Four other players – Ian Stewart (one premiership and two Brownlows), Ivor Warne-Smith, Gavin Wanganeen and Bernie Smith (all one premiership, one Brownlow) – have had both Brownlow and premiership success in the first four years of their respective careers. 

Daicos' 24-disposal and one-goal game against the Crows was outing No.94 in his young glittering career and Collingwood's captain-in-waiting is less interested in his standing in the history books as just stacking great year after great year.

The competition's most driven and motivated player is doing just that.

HOW THE DUNKLEY DECISION SHAPED THREE CLUBS

IT IS the sliding doors trade that didn't happen which set the course for three clubs.

When Josh Dunkley requested a trade from the Western Bulldogs to Essendon at the end of 2020, the Dogs set the price: two first-round picks, or you're staying for the next two years of your contract.

Four years after his 2016 flag with the Dogs, Dunkley wanted to play more in the midfield having spent just 41 per cent of his game time that season as a midfielder. He spent more as a forward (45 per cent) and even 13 per cent as a ruckman.

Essendon identified the then 23-year-old as its midfield gun, leader and strong man alongside some of its smaller ball-getters. He was the right target, but the Bombers wouldn't pay the price and took their three picks to the draft (Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid) as well as holding their future first-round pick for 2021 (Ben Hobbs).

Two first-rounders was a steep price but as a contracted player, the Bulldogs didn't have to budge. And since then, Dunkley has shown exactly why the Dogs wanted to keep him, why the Bombers wanted him and why Brisbane was enamoured with him two years later when they beat Port Adelaide in the race for him when he came out of contract.

For Brisbane, he has added the bullocking, defensive edge to a brilliant midfield and he was outstanding in Friday night's loss to Geelong with 30 disposals, 11 tackles and five clearances. He was named this year's most courageous player in the AFL, is rating a career-high average of 13.5 Player Ratings points in 2025 and was crucial in the Lions flag win last year.

Across his three seasons at the Lions, he has played an average of 91 per cent game time of those seasons as a midfielder. His three years prior to that at the Dogs were an average of 50 per cent.

For the Bulldogs, Dunkley's departure saw the Dogs lose a different edge to their midfield mix. He, along with Bailey Smith and Pat Lipinski, are ex-Dogs midfielders in flag-contending teams this September.

And for the Bombers, they must wonder what influence on and off the field Dunkley would have had on their club, like the integral one he has had at the Lions.

WELCOME TO INTERCEPT CITY

LAST year it was the small forwards' finals. The Wizard, Ah Chee, Lohmann, Stengle, Mannagh. It was a September to remember for the fleet-footed types who lit up the flag tilt.

But the early shot has been fired by the key defenders. Week one of the finals was intercept city, started by Darcy Moore on Thursday night with nine intercept grabs and through to Alex Pearce and Tom Stewart, who had six each in their finals contests.

Then there was James Sicily (11) and Sam Collins (10) who led the way with intercept possessions, while Nick Murray (12), Billy Frampton (11), Mac Andrew (10) and Brennan Cox (9) were the highest for key defenders in spoils.

Tom Barrass, Harris Andrews and Jack Henry were others to impress in the intercepting key defensive posts across the four games.

Champion Data's stats showed teams scored from 42 per cent of inside 50s on the weekend, down from the average of 45 per cent this year, highlighting the defensive impact of those intercept players.

That number alone (three per cent down) doesn't seem like much, but it would drop a team from sixth to 15th for the season, so the discrepancy is real. Only two rounds this season were lower on average.

AND AGAIN ...

LET US get the broken record for a second ...

Ask anyone watching the Geelong and Brisbane qualifying final what the most notable moment of the game was and they'll say the double goal to Cam Rayner after Mark O'Connor's controversial free kick.

But ask to speak with either player post-game about it and their clubs will say they're unavailable for media.

Fans continue to lose from not hearing from the best players and the snubbing of the Collective Bargaining Agreement rules, which state: "From 20 minutes after the completion of the match, the home and away team warm-down areas will be opened to all accredited media with immediate access to all players for a period of no less than 20 minutes."

Only players in concussion protocols or those receiving ongoing medical assessments are exempt under the policy. This isn't about Geelong and Brisbane but the general lack of access that has become the accepted norm, something previously raised in Monday Cal-culations.

Rayner's adopted villain status and O'Connor's moment made excellent theatre in the contest and their words, experiences, reactions and musings would have brought even more colour to the massive final.