Mick McGuane: 12 reasons why Nick Daicos is already a genuine star of the competition
Nick Daicos is already one of the best first year players we’ve seen, writes Mick McGuane. But the scary thing is that he will get even better.
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I was lucky enough to play alongside my childhood hero at Collingwood.
My locker ended up being next to the Peter Daicos who wore No. 35 on his back, so I got to know his nuances and studied his games very closely across seven seasons we spent together with the Magpies.
I remember bumping into Peter and his two young sons — who grew up Carlton supporters — in the car park at Princes Park about eight years ago.
Josh would have been about 15 years old and Nick would have been around 11, and, as I had a chat to Peter, I watched his two boys have a kick.
They had technique and control and, even at a young age, you could tell they had the potential to be something special with the way they handled a football.
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In watching Nick in his first year of AFL football this season, my mind can’t help but draw comparisons to Peter, with his sublime skill level, attention to detail, the way he uses the ball and the decisions that he makes.
Collingwood has itself another beauty — who would not look out of place in the All-Australian side this year if he keeps up his current form.
Here are 12 reasons why Nick Daicos is already a genuine star of the competition.
1. His Footy IQ is off the charts
If you haven’t seen Nick’s kick to Josh which set up a goal in the last quarter against Gold Coast last week, go and watch it.
If you have seen it, go and watch it again.
Nick was switched to the forward line at that point of the game and rolled up as an extra player at the stoppage on the wing.
He gathered the loose ball after it spilt free from the ruck contest in a one-touch motion and had the nous and the knowledge to understand what his team was doing with its off-side wingman – which in this case was Josh.
Nick didn’t turn towards goal and bomb the ball long like many first-year players would, but instead looked laterally across the ground.
In one step, he assessed the situation and weighted the ball perfectly to his brother on the other side of the ground.
Josh didn’t break stride in his run and kicked what was an important goal for the Pies.
You could see Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury pointing to Josh as Nick gathered the ball, but Nick was already one step ahead and had decided that for himself without instruction.
He knew what was next before it happened and that is how smart players become great players.
It was like the baton change had taken place before our eyes.
The Daicos connection is so pure!#AFLSunsPiespic.twitter.com/xR4SykGTsQ
— AFL (@AFL) July 2, 2022
2. His ball handling
I’ve always had a philosophy that there are three cornerstones of being a good footballer – you have to win your own footy, you have to handle the footy well when you do win it and then you’ve got to use the footy well when you dispose of it.
Greg Williams was a great ball winner who handled the footy as well as anyone and then used it with class.
Williams wasn’t overly quick, but the game was played at his speed because he rarely fumbled and then had time to dictate what he did with the ball.
There is a little bit of Williams in Daicos, who has similarly elite ball handling skills.
He rarely fumbles, doesn’t get flustered in traffic or when put under pressure and has great composure when he makes a decision on how he is going to use the ball.
3. His ball use by hand and foot
Much like his father, Nick rarely wastes a disposal by hand or foot.
He sees options that others don’t and then executes the skill to give it to a player in a better position.
He is going at a disposal efficiency of 75.5 per cent this year, including a kicking efficiency of 71.2 per cent which rates him above average in his position.
4. He stacks up among his peers
We’ve seen some great players come straight out of underage football and have an impact over the past decade, but the numbers suggest Nick Daicos is the best we’ve seen.
From his 15 games for the Magpies this year, Daicos has averaged 26.1 disposals – the highest disposal average by a teenager that Champion Data has recorded.
Toby Greene averaged 25.6 disposals before he turned 20, while Clayton Oliver averaged 25.1 disposals, Sam Walsh averaged 23.7 disposals and Jack Macrae averaged 23.4 disposals.
They are all different players, but Daicos has superseded their ability to find the footy so far.
As the legendary Richmond great Jack Dyer would say, “He goes where the footy is, not where it ain’t.”
5. He is an exceptional reader of the play
The reason why Daicos is having such an impact for Collingwood this year is his ability to read the play, especially behind the ball.
He has got a midfielder’s mindset as a defender and that’s why he ranks 13th in the competition for intercept possessions between the arcs this year.
Daicos has conviction with his decisions and is happy to back himself to impact the next play, particularly when the opposition are coming forward with the ball.
He’s got the courage to leave his post or his opponent, which is totally aligned to Collingwood’s overall defensive philosophy. They come forward to defend as a team and Daicos does it so naturally he inevitably wins the ball back.
And if his opponent wants to run to an irrelevant area, he will let them go and back his own judgment to position himself where the ball is going to end up.
6. He can make the game stand still
We often talk about Scott Pendlebury’s ability to slow down time in the contest.
David Rhys-Jones is another player from yesteryear that had similar abilities.
It is a relatively rare quality — but Daicos has it.
He can find space in a phone box, but he can also use that space to his advantage to get out and make an effective disposal on the back of already knowing what is around him.
7. He has leadership qualities
I get the sense that Daicos is going to become a real instructional and organised leader on the field, given what he is showing already.
He is not directing teammates to benefit himself, but instead to make sure the side is well set up structurally around stoppage and he puts himself and others in the right positions to cover exits defensively.
The fact that he is already doing a lot of good finger-pointing as a 19-year-old is a credit to him and his leaning capacity to carry out the instructions of the coaches and put in place what’s needed then and there.
I love players who see trends within a game and react accordingly by ensuring teammates play their roles at any point of a game.
On-field leadership is paramount and Daicos is already exhibiting that feature.
8. He brings class to the Magpies
Aside from Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom, I’ve felt in recent years that Collingwood has lacked a little polish.
There are plenty of good grunt players like Taylor Adams, Brayden Maynard and Jordan De Goey.
However, Daicos compliments those players and adds the polish to distribute the ball to advantage of the team. Collingwood’s ball movement is as good as it currently is because Daicos is a huge driver of it.
His run and dare with the footy is as good as I’ve seen from a youngster in his first year.
He just oozes class.
Time will come that opposition coaches with start to use a defensive forward against him to dilute his influence.
9. He wants the footy
Watch Daicos closely and you will see him regularly put up his right hand out on the field when demanding the footy.
It’s like it’s a deliberate ploy to give him some extra height so he becomes more noticeable to teammates that have the footy.
He wants the ball in his hands and I love that in players.
That doesn’t mean he’s calling for it every time to just get a possession, but it says he is a player who wants to take responsibility and ownership of the game and has enormous self-belief in what he can do with it once he gets it.
10. He has exceptional balance
How many times have you seen Daicos go to ground this year?
He keeps his feet. He just doesn’t go to ground. His ability to veer right or left to buy extra time comes from the confidence of his balance.
His balance and agility gives him an extra half-second to evade an opponent and make the right decision on how he uses the ball.
11. He’s in the All-Australian discussion
Over the past four weeks, Daicos has averaged 32.8 disposals, 505 metres gained, 7.5 intercept possessions and 1.5 intercept marks.
If he keeps that form up over the final seven weeks, why shouldn’t he be in the mix to at least make the All-Australian squad of 40 this year?
Some people will ask whether a first-year player deserves such an honour.
Why not?
Former Adelaide defender Ben Hart burst onto the AFL scene in 1992 after playing senior football in the SANFL as a 16-year-old and won All-Australian honours in each of his first two seasons.
12. He can get even better
There is no doubt that Daicos is a future midfield star in waiting.
He’s got quick feet around stoppages, good anticipation and doesn’t fumble. He is very creative.
When his body naturally develops a little more, he will be able to win more crucial contests, handle more opposition attention and have the strength to manoeuvre opponents to win a ground ball or a marking contest.
The sky is the limit.
MICK’S OTHER STANDOUT FIRST-YEAR STARS
Josh Rachele (Adelaide) – he just seizes the moment. He wants the ball in his hands in the forward 50 and wants to be a goalkicker. He’s a bit like Jack Ginnivan – he doesn’t shirk responsibility when it’s his time to stand up. He’s a natural forward.
Nic Martin (Essendon) – I saw Martin play in an intra-club practice match at the start of the year and he looked something special. He’s athletic, covers the ground well and finds pockets of space easily with great reading of the play. He rates elite for disposals and score involvements, but the area for improvement is his defensive transition which the Bombers would be working closely with him on.
Ben Hobbs (Essendon) – He is brutal in the contest, he’s clean around stoppage and he’s got a lateral thought to buy some space to give him a chance of having an effective clearance after his first-possession gain. And he’s brave – whether he’s playing forward or midfield. The Bombers have a 200-plus game player there, and possibly a future leader.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda) – He’s not an overly high possession winner at this stage playing on a wing or high half-forward role, but he gets into space and runs his patterns well. He has composure and poise with the ball. He has a good read on when to move it fast and when to go slow because the side is not structurally set up in front of the ball.
Jason Horne-Francis (North Melbourne) – What he stands for in assaulting the footy and winning contested situations is admirable. If he stays focused on what his assets are and he adopts a team first approach every time he plays he will become a serious weapon. You can see why he was rated as highly as he was to be the No. 1 draft pick.
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