AFL 2023: News, analysis from Collingwood vs Adelaide Crows

A popular Crow has come under fire from the MRO after an incident with Pies big man Mason Cox in the Crows’ heartbreaking loss to Collingwood.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson, Jay Clark and Ronny Lerner

7 min read

June 26, 2023 - 6:37PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Darcy Fogarty of the Crows and Darcy Moore of the Magpies compete for the ball.

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Adelaide leadership group member Ben Keays has received a fine for pulling Collingwood big man Mason Cox’s glasses off during a melee at the MCG on Sunday.

After Cox kicked his second goal of the game in the Pies two-point thriller he sought out young Crow Josh Worrell, sparking a melee between the two teams.

As players came together in the brawl, Keays ripped off Cox’s glasses as he ran behind him and threw them to the ground.

Cox has worn the special glasses after suffering multiple eye injuries in his career, which nearly left him blind.

Mason Cox takes on the Crows. Picture: Michael Klein

But the American poked fun at the situation on Sunday, comparing Keays’ ripping his glasses off to a popular meme in which a young girl is running away and looking over her shoulder.

The match review officer charged Keays with misconduct for the incident and fined him $1500, which can be reduced to $1000 with an early plea.

Why Nick Daicos is a football genius

– Jay Clark

It might have been the best toe poke since Matthew Scarlett.

Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos was hemmed in on the wing in the second term when the Brownlow Medal favourite pulled a move out of Lionel Messi’s playbook to set up a brilliant Bobby Hill goal.

Daicos was being tackled near the boundary line when he kicked the ball out of the air like a perfectly-weighted soccer-style through-ball which landed right in front of Hill 30m further afield.

Hill barely broke stride as he ran on to the bouncing Sherrin, drilled the ball inside 50m, then cleaned up the crumbs to kick a goal which put Collingwood 28 points up over Adelaide near halftime in Sunday’s thrilling win.

But it wasn’t the only highlight which underlined the football genius of arguably the game’s best player in 2023.

One of footy’s cleverest goalkickers Geelong and GWS Giants great Steve Johnson, who saw Scarlett’s toe poke first-hand help pip St Kilda in the 2009 premiership decider, lauded Daicos’ split-second thinking.

“He (Nick Daicos) is the smartest player in the AFL,” Johnson said on Triple M.

Nick Daicos of the Magpies looks to handball. Picture: Michael Klein

But the second act was even more important as Adelaide piled on eight straight goals in the third-term, making Collingwood come from behind, again, to pinch the four points at the MCG.

The Magpies trailed by five points with eight minutes remaining in the nailbiting fourth quarter when Daicos, 20, was held off the ball.

Daicos had his jumper pulled after giving off a running handpass to a teammate on a charge down the middle of the ground as Collingwood rolled the dice to stay at the top of the ladder.

The ball ended up in the hands of teammate Brody Mihocek 45m out from goal, but Daicos showed his football intelligence once more, saying to umpire Matt Stevic it should have been a 50m penalty.

The whistleblower agreed, putting Daicos at point-blank range 25m straight out in front of goal, and his laser-straight set shot put the Magpies in front.

The call capped off another outstanding day for the brilliant midfielder, who turned on a blinder in the last term to finish with 37 possessions and one goal.

Daicos said the opposition often used deliberate tactics to halt his relentless run off the ball, but the quick-thinking onballer made the Crows’ pay in the thrilling finish.

“It has happened in past weeks where I would give it and get it and they (umpires) would pay it (free kick) downfield to whoever I gave it to,” Daicos said on Triple M.

“But Scotty (Pendlebury) and I quickly went to him and said, ‘I thought if you give it and get held it is a 50m penalty?’.

“The umpire was good enough to let me take it and get the 50m penalty.”

When the game was up for grabs there was one player that stepped up.

Ranking points in the final term:

63 - Nick Daicos
59 - Rory Laird
56 - Mason Cox
52 - Brodie Smith
51 - Reilly O'Brien #SuperCoach
— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) June 25, 2023

Daicos remains a $3 favourite to win the Brownlow Medal in his sensational second season, averaging 33 disposals a game.

And his brother, Josh, was equally damaging racking up a career-high 33 possessions to challenge Nick and Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson (35 touches) for the three votes.

But Nick Daicos said plaudits for the win should go to speedy defender John Noble for laying two crucial late tackles on the wing which helped break Adelaide hearts after Taylor Walker booted his fifth goal to reduce the margin to one point near the siren.

“It reminded me of (Sydney Swan) Marty Mattner in the 2012 granny out on the wing (tackling Hawthorn’s Grant Birchall),” Daicos said.

“It was very reminiscent of that

“Johnny, some of his efforts late in the game were extraordinary.”

Pies pinch another thriller in mid-season ‘final’

– Ronny Lerner

Collingwood has reclaimed top spot on the ladder after winning a winter classic by two points against Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday.

The match featured multiple dramatic momentum swings and resembled a final more than a round 15 clash.

After kicking seven of the first eight goals, including six in a row, to lead by 34 points late in the second quarter, it looked like Collingwood was heading for a huge victory.

But the Crows responded in spectacular style, kicking the next eight majors, three of which were scored by star forward Taylor Walker, to take a 14-point lead late in the third term, in which the Magpies were held goalless.

However, just as they did in round 7, Collingwood ran over the top of Adelaide in the final quarter, piling on five goals to two to lead by seven points at the 24-minute mark.

Jamie Elliott celebrates a goal for the Pies. Picture: Michael Klein

When Walker kicked his fifth goal with 3:23 to go to cut the deficit to one point, the Crows’ hopes of a famous win were reinvigorated. But they failed to get their noses back in front as the Magpies held firm to win 12.10 (82) to 11.14 (80) in front of 65,930 fans – a record home-and-away crowd between these two teams.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae said he would be looking forward to his traditional “red wine replay” of his team’s latest final-quarter Houdini job.

“Only one glass (of wine) – drink responsibly,” McRae smiled post-match.

“The will to compete and scrap and fight and all the things we want to be proud of, or to see in us, I’m looking forward to watching them, because there was many.”

He said the Magpies’ ability to shift the momentum back in their favour after three-quarter time came down simply to going “back to basics”.

“Up until halftime they (Adelaide) had two goals – one of the best attacking teams in the comp,” McRae said.

“We’re defending the ground really well and then all of a sudden we go away from that, and they put stress on us and they kick seven goals, and we get back to it (strong defence), and they kick two in the last quarter … it’s a pretty simple game, really.

“Ideally, we didn’t put ourselves in those positions … you’ve heard it all before, I suppose, we just want to win. There’s a great will to win.

“There’s a number of players who just don’t want to give up … there’s a butcher’s queue for who wants to get involved and make us win – they’re all lining up, they all want their turn.”

Nick Murray takes a spectacular mark over Ash Johnson. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

When the final siren went, Adelaide must have thought they were re-living a nightmare and instead of sitting in fifth on the ladder, the Crows are now clinging onto eighth spot, just 0.9 per cent clear of ninth-placed Geelong.

The result also continued the Crows’ poor road record, which now reads 1-5 this year.

The loss was exacerbated for the Crows with important defender Nick Murray subbed out at halftime due to a hamstring injury, while Collingwood star Brayden Maynard appeared to seriously hurt his shoulder with less than three minutes to go in the game.

The Crows finished with more inside-50s (57-49), but poor goalkicking cost them at crucial times. Their first 13 shots on goal saw them kick a horrible 1.8, while another four failed to score, and they could only manage 2.5 in the crucial final quarter.

Darcy Fogarty and Darcy Moore chase a loose ball. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Nick Daicos was outstanding for the Magpies, and was the major reason why the momentum shifted back in Collingwood’s favour late. He ended up with 37 touches (15 contested), nine clearances and a goal. His brother Josh was also superb all day with 33 disposals, six clearances and a goal.

For the Crows, captain Jordan Dawson was their only four-quarter performer, ending up with 35 touches, 12 tackles and 10 inside-50s, while Walker continued his sparkling form, booting five goals on superstar Collingwood defender Darcy Moore.

QUICK-THINKING DAICOS

In the pulsating final term, Nick Daicos gave a handball to Will Hoskin-Elliott in the centre square, and was held off the ball before Hoskin-Elliott passed it to Brody Mihocek. Initially the umpire paid advantage, but the quick-thinking Daicos pointed out to the umpire that it should’ve been a 50m penalty for him from the point of the infringement. After much deliberation, the umpire changed his mind and gave Daicos a set shot from 30m out directly in front, which he nailed to put the Magpies back in front by a point.

Nick Daicos weaves his way through traffic. Picture: Michael Klein

COX SPARKS BRAWL

Earlier in the final term, Mason Cox kicked back-to-back goals to get the Magpies back within a point. The second one came courtesy of what seemed like a soft off-the-ball free kick, but that didn’t stop Cox from getting stuck right into Adelaide’s Josh Worrell after splitting the big sticks. It lead to a massive all-in brawl, and Keays removing Cox’s glasses from the big American’s head.

HOLLYWOOD MAGPIES

In the second term, Nick Daicos executed an extraordinary 25m soccer off the ground from congestion on the wing which bounced perfectly in the path of Bobby Hill who burst clear of Josh Worrell, took two bounces and handballed it to Jamie Elliott. Elliott attempted to spot up Ash Johnson deep in attack, but the latter failed to take the mark. However, Hill followed up his great play by collecting the crumbs and snapping truly in between two Crows from 20m out to put the Magpies up by 28 points.