A CHAT between a famous father and son pairing in recent days provided a timely reminder of who to listen to and who to turn the volume down on this winter.
Nick Daicos produced one of the best debut seasons in AFL/VFL history last year to win the Rising Star Award, but now the budding Collingwood superstar is the clear Brownlow Medal favourite after winning the Anzac Day Medal against Essendon on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old averaged 36 disposals across the first five rounds, before amassing 40 disposals – for the second straight week – to go with 604 metres gained, 10 score involvements and two final-quarter goals to lead the Magpies to a stunning come-from-behind victory in front of 95,179 people at the MCG.
MAGPIES v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats
Daicos' phenomenal start to his second season has heightened the hype on a player who arrived in the AFL under the microscope due to his pedigree, but the Victorian isn’t only handling the forensic analysis of his output, he is thriving in the spotlight.
Sitting next to his proud coach, Craig McRae, with the Anzac Day Medal draped around his neck, Daicos explained the influence of his old man – Collingwood Team of the Century member and 1990 premiership hero Peter – on his career to this point, especially in recent days.
"During the week Dad actually grabbed me for a chat, which was really nice. He said, 'As long as you're pleasing yourself and the club, they are the only two things that you need to focus on'. That meant a lot to me. I'm very grateful to him for that," Daicos told reporters post-game on Tuesday night.
"I always talk to Dad about my footy and he talks to me and gives his opinion. I'm standing here in front of you today with this award because of him; he has taught me so much.
"He frequently checks in on and me and during the week was one of those occasions. Sometimes he can notice I might be a bit moody. Dad knows me better than anyone so he checks in, which I appreciate more than I can put into words."
Daicos hasn't missed a game since making his debut against St Kilda in round one last year, averaging 27.9 disposals across his first 31 games at AFL level, including 12 counts of 30 or more.
The 2021 No.4 pick admitted he has been surprised by how quickly he has found his feet at the highest level, thriving on greater midfield exposure across games.
"I guess I have surprised myself in that last year my aim was just to play one single game. I debuted early in the year and I was able to stay in the side, which was awesome," Daicos said.
"This year I’m gaining a lot more confidence, getting more of the ball, playing a bit more midfield. I think we've had so many players just go to another level again."
After kicking just six goals across the first three quarters, Collingwood was forced to pull out a trick from the 2022 playbook on Tuesday, kicking all seven goals in the final term to steam home in front of a record crowd to sink the archenemy.
McRae said the group didn’t think the game was over at the final change when the Magpies were 28 points down – after conceding six third-quarter goals to the Bombers – and know they can win tight games after winning nine games by less than 10 points in 2022.
"I think there is a belief in the group, there genuinely is. The guys that were here last year they come to the bench with great energy," McRae said.
"We have this thing that we want to play the minutes; you have to play the minutes to beat us. We start the game with that and we got to three-quarter time and boys you've got to play the minutes to beat us. We’ve created that over time and today we made it come to life again.
"It is a long time ago last year – we haven't done it this year – so it is a matter of doing it. We had to remind ourselves what to do. We train it consistently. I think the method was really strong and it is hard to stop. I have to thank the Collingwood supporters for their energy. I’m not out there, but I'm getting full energy. You can just see the players growing in confidence."
Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury is heading to an eye specialist after he departed the game in the last quarter due to a brutal poke in the eye, which could prevent him from facing Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
"He is going to see a specialist right now," McRae said.
"We are hoping it's going to be OK. We anticipate it will, but just a precautionary move to send him to a specialist. We'll get the specialist to check it out and we'll know shortly."
Essendon coach Brad Scott said his side had no answers for Collingwood during the final quarter onslaught and still has plenty of areas to improve, despite beating a premiership contender in Melbourne last week and pushing another one to the line on Tuesday.
"It was a combination of us running out of gas a little bit and them stopping at a petrol station somewhere. It was a good example for us that when you play a really good side they can do things," Scott said in his press conference.
"I don't know how many centre bounces Steele Sidebottom has been in this year, but he went in and had a real influence in the last quarter.
"Nick Daicos went in there as well. He was his usually influential self across the first three quarters, but I think he went from the 18th ranked player at three-quarter time to the first or second. That is just quality players stepping up at the right time and we just couldn’t match it.
"We've played two really good sides in the last couple of weeks and we've put ourselves in really good positions throughout the game. We've got a lot of things to work on."
Essendon will face another brutal test when they meet reigning premiers Geelong on Sunday at the MCG, while Collingwood heads to Adelaide to play the in-form Crows.
