AFL Round 24 Collingwood v Melbourne: Craig McRae on what’s next after Nick Daicos pushes Brownlow Medal claims
Pending a miracle, Collingwood will become the third reigning premier in four years to miss out on the finals. So, a big trade and free agency period awaits – what do the Pies need?
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Collingwood coach Craig McRae said his team will be watching this year’s finals series with “a sick feeling in our guts” after completing an inconsistent season that will almost certainly see them finish outside the top eight.
To make the finals, Collingwood would need St Kilda to beat Carlton by about 150 points on Sunday and Port Adelaide to defeat Fremantle.
All of that means the Magpies will more than likely become the third reigning premier in four years to miss out on September footy, despite winning four of their last five matches and losing just one game between Rounds 3 and 14.
“We’re sitting here not where we want to be,” McRae said after thumping Melbourne by 46 points.
“We want to be playing finals this time of year but the game gives you feedback.
“We’re here 24 rounds in, the game tells you where you sit and we, right now, sit on the out, so we’ve got work to do.
“It’s been a challenging year ... it (finals) is going to be hard watching. It will be.
“You could say that we’re playing a brand of footy that may challenge a few in the finals, but that’s been a bit pie in the sky stuff.”
However, McRae isn’t giving up on his current playing list just yet.
The club is set to take all nine of its players aged 30 and over into 2025 and with a kinder run with injury next season, the Collingwood coach believes his group has at least one more run at a premiership left in them.
“I haven’t looked at the live ladder, but I can imagine that we’re only a couple of games off second, are we? Third? I’m not sure,” he said.
“So that’s small margins, isn’t it?
“We’re not far off based on 24 rounds.”
But McRae will also be looking for outside help to improve his list this off-season, and a readymade key forward is high on his priority list.
“I’d love a key forward,” he said.
“I don’t want to denigrate Dan (McStay) or ‘Checkers’ (Brody Mihocek) but they’ve been out for a major part of the year which has left a big hole.
“So if you know any just out there that want to come play for Collingwood, let me know, but they’re hard to find.”
McRae hoped Collingwood would be active in the trade and free agency periods.
Meanwhile, superstar Nick Daicos all but earned himself another three Brownlow votes against the Demons, which might be enough to clinch him the sport’s the most coveted individual award.
“It’d be nice for him to get rewarded,” McRae said.
“He’s an elite player in the competition but there’s a couple of really good players out there.
“We got exposed to Isaac Heeney in a quarter (in Round 22) - wow, that guy is a really good player.
“I’m a massive fan of ‘Bont’ (Marcus Bontempelli). Massive fan.”
Did dominant Daicos just win the Brownlow Medal?
– Glenn McFarlane
Melbourne forward Kozzie Pickett could miss next year’s opening round clash after a bump that left Darcy Moore concussed as Collingwood’s Nick Daicos made one big last down payment on a potential Brownlow Medal.
On a night that had the whiff of ‘dead rubber’ for the teams that played in a qualifying final a year ago, as well as a stunning 36-minute lightning delay in the last term, it was Pickett’s clumsy ‘oh no’ moment and Daicos’ sheer class that stood out on a bleak MCG night.
Pickett faces the prospect of a second successive late start to a season, having missed this year’s opening round due to a 2023 semi-final suspension for bumping Patrick Cripps.
The Demons will be hoping the fact that Moore was going to ground just before the contest might help in Michael Christian’s MRO assessment, but the Magpies defender was subbed out with concussion. which could tilt the ledger.
It came as Collingwood’s Nick Daicos almost certainly pocketed one more three votes to shorten his Brownlow Medal quote even further.
In what looms as one of the closest, most exciting Brownlow counts in recent memory, this will add some extra final-round pathos from the AFL’s vote-calling Andrew Dillion.
Daicos finished third in the Brownlow last year, beaten by only three votes, and is again one of the medal’s leading contenders alongside Cripps, Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli and Lion Lachie Neale.
Daicos had 40 disposals with two goals in his 70th game, on a night where he became the fastest VFL-AFL player to record 2000 possessions, beating Greg Williams by one game.
It was almost a ‘Daicos-off’ as the superstar siblings collectively had 80 disposals.
to every collingwood player not named nick daicos, feed 35 that ball like he’s a hungry hippo. 3 votes, N. Daicos is critical
— poultergeist (@Daicosian) August 23, 2024
Nick Daicos gets us on the board - his 19th major of 2024, taking him to equal fourth on our goal kicking tally! 🔢
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) August 23, 2024
Nick is almost certain to take the three votes and brother Josh is in the frame for two votes on a night that Magpies fans could at least close out the season on a high.
“I’m sure he’ll be up there (in the Brownlow) … I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Josh Daicos said of his brother on Channel 7.
There will be frustration and what ifs for Collingwood about missing the finals, but this win gives the Magpies a good base for 2025.
Having had most of the footy world question how good their kids were, coach Craig McRae would have been glass-full about the way some of the generation next closed out the year.
Ed Allan started his second game in the midfield and had some real impact early before nailing a late goal, ensuring more game-time next season.
Joe Richards had a good night out in what was one of the smallest Magpies’ forward lines in recent years. He is out of contract and being courted with a four-year contract offer from Port Adelaide, but the Magpies’ list management team will be looking to lock him away soon.
Will Parker kicked his first goal for the Magpies, which brought the entire team in to celebrate with him, Charlie Dean was solid in defence, while sub Fin Macrae got his chance to get involved relatively early when Moore was subbed out of the game.
And the veterans were good, too, with Steele Sidebottom surely locking in a one-year deal with a shutdown role on Jack Viney.
While the Magpies fans closed out the season with a bit to look forward to for next season, Melbourne supporters would not have had the same sort of solace.
It was another disappointing result for the Demons in what has been a miserable year, complete with off-field distractions, injuries and a lack of on-field cohesion.
This will be a soul-searching off-season, with question marks over some of the club’s important players including the injured Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, with Alex Neal-Bullen set to return to South Australia, and with changes to the game plan and structure looking critical to the road ahead.
The pain lasted longer than it needed to last night as a band of lightning with less than 10 minutes left to play saw a postponement of play for more than half an hour.
The final term was played out over an agonising 65 minutes and 47 seconds – with a 36-minute delay – which seemed an eternity for the Demons as the Magpies revelled in one last hurrah for season 2024.
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