Collingwood track watch: Josh Daicos at half back, Tom Mitchell makes pre-season statement

Collingwood completed their most challenging pre-season session yet on a muggy and humid Tuesday. Get the intel on where players are lining up and who impressed here.

Tom Mitchell and Brayden Maynard. Picture: Michael Klein

Collingwood provided a hint of what might lie ahead position-wise for Josh Daicos in 2025 as the Magpies embarked on an exhaustive three-hour training session on Tuesday.

At one stage of the session at the AIA Centre in humid conditions, the Pies players moved into positional groups for a few select drills, with Josh Daicos locking into a halfback role, playing alongside boom recruit Dan Houston.

Josh Daicos won the 2023 Copeland Trophy as an All-Australian wingman but spent a portion of this year playing at halfback as the Magpies negotiated a challenging, injury-hit season.

It had been assumed that Daicos would slot back on the wing next season but he looks ready to form part of the defensive group, at least in the early part of the pre-season.

Josh Daicos is set to resume his half-back move from the end of this season. Picture: Michael Klein

With the bulk of the group in attendance, barring Lachie Schultz and Jordan De Goey, who did both some bike work, this was one of the Magpies’ toughest sessions since returning to work.

All of the players who went on the cultural immersion camp to Tennant Creek last week, including skipper Darcy Moore and the new recruits, were back on the track, having returned from the NT on Monday.

Josh Daicos was a part of the backline mix, which included young Magpies Reef McInnes and Tew Jiath, who are both working hard to make their presence felt in the back half.

Premiership midfielder Tom Mitchell has barely missed a beat since returning to pre-season training last month, having endured a wipe-out 2024 season with a nagging foot issue.

He has told those at the club he has regained the confidence in his body and is eager to make an impact in the engine room again.

Mitchell played only six games this year, none of them after being subbed out of the Anzac Day clash with plantar fascia.

Tom Mitchell is looking to bounce back in 2025. Picture: Michael Klein

The Magpies sorely missed his inside grunt but he was front and centre in the midfield drills on Tuesday, and appeared to be moving as freely as he has for some time.

Former Giant Harry Perryman worked seamlessly in the midfield brigade for a period alongside Nick Daicos, evergreen veterans Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom and young Magpie Harry DeMattia, who played 13 VFL games in his first year in black and white.

Perryman could alternate between wing and half back with Josh Daicos, if needed, while Houston is also likely to have some midfield cameo time.

Tim Membrey worked in a forward set up that included Dan McStay, Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox, with the former Saint taking a few solid grabs in attack.

Jamie Elliott had to carry so much of the load in attack this year, but will get more help next season, and looks fit and primed for 2025.

Originally published as Collingwood track watch: Josh Daicos at half back, Tom Mitchell makes pre-season statement