Nick Daicos revealed as AFL’s most inaccurate shot for goal in last quarters
He might soon be a Brownlow medallist — but when it comes to one particular match-defining stat — Nick Daicos ranks as the worst player in the AFL.
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Even Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan admits he has been talking about goalkicking too much.
In position to finish in the top four and step in as a serious premiership threat when leading Collingwood last weekend, the Lions again fluffed their lines, kicking 5.7 in the second half as Zac Bailey, Cam Rayner and Joe Daniher missed golden opportunities.
Collingwood overran Brisbane in the final minutes to pinch away a win.
“We’ll take some learning from the game. The main one will be to take your opportunities in front of goal, which has been a thing I’ve had to talk about too often this year,” Fagan said on Saturday night.
“We don’t shy away from it. You’ve got to talk about these things and practise and deal with them. Which we do all the time. Don’t think for one minute that we don’t practise our goal kicking. We spend a lot of time on it … we’ve been going the same stuff for a long time and we haven’t always been inaccurate.”
Given the sphincter tight ladder this year, goalkicking could prove more important than ever come September.
It has already proved vital in the home-and-away season with the Lions and Dockers missing crucial chances to jump up the ladder through poor kicking.
Brisbane ranks 15th this year in goalkicking after halftime, converting just 44 per cent of their chances.
It may have already cost the Lions a top four berth and could yet decide their finals fate.
Football is littered with disasters in front of the sticks in finals.
Some North Melbourne players can still hardly talk about kicking 8.22 in the 1998 grand final, losing to Adelaide by 35 points after being four goals up at halftime and having the same amount of scoring shots.
The Crows kicked straight when it counted the year earlier as well.
At halftime against St Kilda in the 1997 decider, Adelaide had 5.10 on the board and trailed by 13 points, but Darren Jarman led the way as the Crows booted 14.1 in the second half to win by 31 points.
Cam Mooney used to pull over on the side of the road and cry about his misses in the 2008 decider.
He shanked one on the halftime siren and then missed again 90 seconds into the third term.
At that point, the Cats had fired their bullets and they were blanks – they had 6.13 on the board and would soon be run over by Hawthorn.
“Every day it still goes through my mind,” Mooney told the Sacked podcast in 2022.
“There were times that I didn’t want to take a mark inside-50 because I didn’t want to have a shot. I was just a wreck. You know, I blamed myself for the loss.”
This year, you don’t want to be the one left blaming yourself after blowing it in a crucial game.
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THE MISSERS
Very little has gone Adem Yze’s way in his first year in charge and goalkicking is one of the missteps.
The Tigers kick at a horrible 33 per cent in final quarters this year, ranked 17th in the competition.
Collingwood has failed to pull off the roaring comebacks of recent years in 2024 and that may be due to the Pies ranking 16th in front of the sticks in the final term.
And the worst offender in the last quarter will surprise some – Nick Daicos ranked dead last having goaled from just 21 per cent of his 14 fourth-term shots.
Gold Coast youngster Bailey Humphrey (27 per cent), Tiger Shai Bolton (29 per cent) and Power pair Jason Horne-Francis (31 per cent) and Willie Rioli (33 per cent) are also poor when it counts.
Essendon fans probably don’t need telling Jake Stringer (35 per cent) hasn’t got it done in front of the sticks closing out games this year, but the Dons rank 10th for accuracy so they haven’t consistently failed as a team.
Fans have bemoaned the Bulldogs for their goalkicking this year and the Dogs have converted 48 per cent in last quarters, ranking 12th.
Interestingly, Port Adelaide has the worst second half accuracy and the second-worst fourth quarter goalkicking at 38 per cent, but the Power hasn’t really lost a close game all year.
THE KICKERS
Bailey blew a simple shot by his standards in the third quarter against Collingwood and was then run down by Isaac Quaynor in the last but Fagan will still have faith in his goalkicker.
No player has done it better in final terms this year, with Bailey goaling from 79 per cent of his 14 shots in the season.
Regular sharpshooters tend to do well when it matters.
Fremantle’s Josh Treacy (77 per cent), Eagle Jake Waterman (75 per cent), Hawk Luke Breust (73 per cent) and Giant star Jesse Hogan (71 per cent) are all deadeyes in fourth quarters.
Swan Isaac Heeney (69 per cent) also rates highly.
Carlton has stumbled through towards the end of the season in many respects but goalkicking has kept them in contests.
The Blues are the No. 1 team in both second halves and final quarters, going at 59 per cent in fourth terms.
St Kilda ranks second in the last quarter, followed by North Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
Originally published as Nick Daicos revealed as AFL’s most inaccurate shot for goal in last quarters
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