AFL 2022: Follow all the latest news from Collingwood ahead of blockbuster qualifying final
Having earlier described Nick Daicos as a Ferrari in the garage, Collingwood coach Craig McRae says “Winx didn’t race midweek” while allaying fears about the rising star’s fitness.
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Collingwood Rising Star winner Nick Daicos is a certain starter for Saturday’s blockbuster qualifying clash with Geelong after overcoming back soreness following a weekend gym session.
Magpies coach Craig McRae said Daicos, Taylor Adams and Jeremy Howe are all “good to go” against the Cats after proving their fitness in a Thursday morning training session.
It is a huge boost for Collingwood and McRae - who celebrated 12 months in the role on Thursday - as the Magpies dream of extending their good form throughout September.
Daicos has played every game so far in a remarkable debut season but a sore back saw the Magpies rest him for a few days this week.
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“Nick is good to go,” McRae said.
“We rested him the last couple of days, (but) he trained really well today.
“I know (champion race horse) Winx didn’t race in the midweek meetings so we will save him for the weekend.”
“He is one of those lads who is always wanting to do more. He is an exceptional talent as you have seen all year.
“He constantly wants to get better and he came in on the weekend doing weights and we say ‘Next time mate have a weekend off.’
“There was nothing major. He just did a few too many arm curls and was a bit sore in the back, but there was nothing untoward.”
Daicos took part in all of the drills and looked fluent in his action, even if he and Howe acted as designated kickers in one high contact drill.
Howe also missed training on Tuesday, but looked in good shape, while Taylor Adams will make a welcome return from a groin injury for his first game since Round 20.
“Tay is significant in our pressure around the contest and in our first possession, which has been lacking,” McRae said.
“At centre bounce he gives us a spark as well ... we want to get better in contested possession and clearance and he will boost us in those areas.”
McRae said the vibe around the club was excellent, saying he and the players had spoken about the incredible situation they have in front of them across the next month.
“We have put that in front of the players,” McRae said.
“There is optimism when you start the season and when you get to the finals like we have there is optimism.
“There is an opportunity for us to stay in the moment (but) also to think what could be.
“We have addressed that last week … the opportunity is right in front of us.
“You win one game and you are in a prelim; you win two and you are in a Grand Final; if you win three, you are the premiers … it is that close now.”
Pies’ ‘Ferrari in the garage’: What’s up with Nick Daicos?
Collingwood has kept its “Ferrari in the garage” this week, with coach Craig McRae dismissing concerns over Nick Daicos entering Saturday’s qualifying final.
The Rising Star winner was seen in the Magpies’ cafe on Monday morning appearing to go through video edits on a laptop as his teammates trained.
He was also absent from the track on Wednesday.
The teenager who plays with a sense of adventure has a sore back, but that won’t stop him lining up against the Cats.
“It’s almost like put your Ferrari in the garage and we’ll just keep it nice and smooth, and we might even give it a bit of a clean,” McRae said on SEN.
The man set to be named coach wants his players to draw on the noise of the Magpies’ 100,000 members when they fight for a home preliminary final in front of a packed MCG.
“We’ve spoken about the Collingwood army and the advantage that can give us. It’s pretty loud, and there’s a lot of them,” McRae said.
Geelong requested a 4.35pm start on Saturday so its regional supporters would have time to travel home from the match at a sensible hour.
But the Magpies are still expected to dominate the stands at their home ground.
That supporter base, along with annual Anzac Day and Queen’s Birthday blockbusters, will also be a crucial selling point as the club targets rival stars including Tim Taranto, Daniel McStay and Bobby Hill.
McRae said clubs such as Gold Coast and GWS simply couldn’t compete with what the Magpies had to offer as they strive to become a leading destination club.
Collingwood jumped to a 37-point lead against Geelong in round 3 before fading fast in what was an early-season trend.
The Magpies kicked just two goals in final quarters from rounds 2-4 as they were overrun by the Cats and, in a shock loss, West Coast at Marvel Stadium.
But the lessons from the Geelong game have served them well all season.
McRae has since taught his players that they don’t need to keep the ball alive all the time, which they were guilty of at times against Geelong.
That method was sapping and unsustainable, but now players feel comfortable searching for stoppages to catch their breath or rotate.
McRae has zeroed in on Geelong’s blistering ball movement in the past two weeks, although he would’ve preferred to play last week instead of having a pre-finals bye.
Last Friday night’s match simulation was the club’s sharpest training session for the season.
Jeremy Howe has also missed a session but is good to go and with Nathan Kreuger returning in the VFL last week only Brodie Grundy is unavailable from McRae’s best 23
100,000 members ‘guaranteed’: Pie backs hometown team
—Sam Landsberger
A Tasmanian AFL team would match Collingwood’s record membership of 100,000 in a year, according to Magpie and proud Dodges Ferry boy Jeremy Howe.
The momentum for a 19th licence is starting to snowball and has the support of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as decision day looms for the AFL Commission.
“I know for a fact from talking to people down there, if they had their own team people down there — like my old man, who is mad Collingwood — would drop their team and support Tassie,” Howe told the Herald Sun.
“We’re (Collingwood) celebrating 100,000 members — I guarantee you if Tassie had a team they’d get 100,000 members in a year.
“People would jump on. They’re footy nuts down there, and if they got their own team the support would be through the roof.”
But Howe declared a relocated AFL club would not “get much traction at all from the locals”, despite repeated pushes from his old president Eddie McGuire to relocate North Melbourne.
“Even me, I wouldn't do that (support a relocated club) either if I was still living down there,” Howe said.
“They want something that‘s theirs, they want something that’s their own.
“You want to be attached to something that's your own, and something that’s been built from Tassie, started in Tassie, the support would be massive.”
Howe, 32, said he simply couldn‘t understand the case against finally granting football heartland the club it has long deserved.
“I feel like Tassie is worthy of getting a team. If you're going to do a case study, well why not? I really struggle to give a why not.”
Will Pies break with tradition on legendary Daicos guernsey?
Collingwood spent pre-season learning what it means to wear the Magpie jumper, and now Rising Star Nick Daicos wants to break with tradition and retain the No. 35 made famous by his legendary father, Peter Daicos.
Josh Daicos revealed club greats Tony Shaw, Gavin Crosisca and Denis Banks visited the Magpies on their pre-season camp as new coach Craig McRae draws on the club’s rich history.
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McRae also invited Mick Malthouse to speak to his players before Anzac Day in a moment that reunited the Magpies with their last premiership coach.
“It’s been awesome to learn from past club legends,” Josh Daicos told the Herald Sun.
“We had the pleasure of having Tony Shaw, Gavin Crosisca and Denis Banks come for our pre-season camp and talk to us about what it meant for them and some of the stories from when they were playing, which were quite interesting.
“I think that's just transitioned into playing, and there’s a real good spirit around the boys right now and we’re all playing for one another.”
The wallpaper in McRae’s office is decorated with the club’s iconic coaching figures and the nod to the past has helped players feel connected to their club.
But the looming question is whether the club will break with tradition and allow Nick Daicos to keep the coveted No. 35, which has been handed to Collingwood's first draft pick in recent years in honour of selfless fullback Simon Prestigiacomo.
Prestigiacomo famously pulled himself out of the 2010 grand final in a noble act that is part of Magpies’ folklore.
Collingwood chief executive Mark Anderson said the club would sit down at the end of the season to decide whether Nick Daicos would retain his dad’s jumper.
“The No. 35, we haven't got into those conversations yet. Clearly, there’s been a great tradition around Presti and the No. 35 and what that means for our first-year players,” Anderson said.
Josh Daicos said his younger brother would cherish the No. 35 forever if the club allowed.
“He’d definitely love to keep it,” Daicos told the Herald Sun.
“He definitely understands the tradition and the reasoning behind it, but he’d be happy to do either.
“He'd love to honour dad’s jumper and continue wearing it. It’s something he’s always done since a young age.
“But if he wasn't allowed to I’m sure he’d find another number and fall in love with it too.”
Does the No. 35 look nice on Nick?
“It does, doesn't it?” Daicos said.
The wingman who was named in the All-Australian squad of 40 spent 2018-2019 studying how “complete player” Josh Kelly played the role at GWS.
More structured than an onballer and with different running patterns, Josh Daicos has emerged as one of the premier wings in the AFL this season.
Playing with his brother has helped him rise to a new level.
Their magical moment came against Gold Coast, when Nick launched a cross to find Josh who threaded a critical goal in one of the club's many spirited comeback victories.
“When I saw Nick get that ball I was already yelling at him in the stoppage before that I'm free,” Josh Daicos said.
“He knew where I was and his kick was perfect to me and I was able to put it through.
“It was unbelievable and we were fortunate enough to have the whole family there and they were going crazy.”
The ‘repetition after repetition’ driving Pies’ finals surge
—Sam Landsberger
High-flyer Jeremy Howe has lifted the lid on the unconventional pre-season that powered Collingwood’s record-breaking run of heart-stopping victories.
The defender revealed players spent 100 summer minutes practising how to ice close matches and 300 gruelling minutes engaged in one-on-one battles – ground balls and aerial contests – to ingrain the incredible fight and knowledge to win from any position.
Howe, 32, said the Magpies did not start full-blown match simulation until January or February when they had previously started in week one of pre-season.
Instead new coach Craig McRae stripped the summer training right back and started by drilling in fundamentals, such as ground balls and tackles.
“We just did repetition after repetition,” Howe told the Herald Sun on Monday.
“Because of the way that we play there’s a lot of contests, a lot of ground ball, a lot of pressure and we defend really well.
“We didn’t do full match sim until January or February, whereas normally you come back in pre-season and by the Friday you’re into match sim.
“The drip-fed process has been really effective and we feel like the game plan is pretty simple.
“There’s an appreciation for role-specific players. Beau McCreery for instance, early days he was probably struggling because he wasn’t hitting the scoreboard.
“But then Fly’s (McRae) like, ‘You don’t need to. Your role purely is to put the fear of god up opposition’.
“And I hate playing against him at training, because I know if he’s in the vicinity, same as Jamie Elliott, I know that they’re there and I know the pressure they’re going to put on.”
The Magpies‘ miraculous run of 11 wins by less than two goals has catapulted them from 17th to fourth on the ladder and three victories away from a shock premiership.
But Howe said it was a record coated in good coaching rather than good fortune.
“Luck can come into it, but not 11 times,” he said.
“When the game is on the line that’s probably when we feel like we’re at our most calm.”
Howe revealed McRae would light up the scoreboard at training with different equations, set the clock for two minutes and split players into two teams of 18.
“We’ve done plenty of hours in the pre-season. But when you’re in the crunch of the actual moment on game day, that’s when you test it out to the absolute pinnacle,” Howe said.
“Sometimes pressure does weird things to players, and I’ve certainly been in those situations when it makes you do different things – miss a kick or make a wrong decision.
“But we’ve been in that scenario so many times, not only at training but in-game now, that everyone just has this moment where they click and understand what we need to do.
“Whether we need to chase a score down or we’re trying to defend a score we go into these modes of defending or attacking.
“You look at the way Melbourne won that game against Carlton and what that did for them as a group and how they celebrated. It made them up and about … well, we’ve done that 11 times in one year.
“Pendles (captain Scott Pendlebury) has probably done that 11 times in his 355 games, but he’s done it all in one season.
“We’ve been riding the emotions of that as well.”
The situational training focused on the defending team attempting to get a spare and absorb time with safe ball use and the attacking team attempting to get aggressive and send a player forward.
“Thankfully enough we’ve been in those scenarios so many times that we feel really confident that we know what to do whether we’re chasing or defending,” Howe said.
“It would be nice to be 10 goals up with 10 minutes to go, but we feel like in crunch games that’s when we’re most confident.”
Sidelined Pies star makes finals selection call
– Jon Ralph
Collingwood star midfielder Taylor Adams has declared himself fit to take on Geelong as he revealed coach Craig McRae had finally urged his players to strive for the premiership as their ultimate goal.
Adams only needs to get through training this week without a setback to his troublesome groin to be thrust into the Collingwood midfield against Geelong at the MCG on Saturday.
He revealed that as well as a small groin strain in the round 20 victory over Port Adelaide he has been battling with ongoing adductor soreness for some time.
The 28-year-old is aware there are no guarantees about how his body will pull up across the finals series but has put himself in the best possible position to manage his condition through September.
“It’s tracking well, so at this point in time I am playing,” Adams told the Herald Sun.
“I have to get through training. I had a really good week where we just put a plan in place and I am feeling a little bit of pain. I have groin overload so if I was able to rest it and get back to normal I wouldn’t be able to put my hand up for selection which isn’t an option.
“So I felt good at training on Friday, I felt really good. I had a really subtle tear in there. I am probably speaking out of school but I have had soreness in my groins for a long time. So I have been trying to manage that and against Port (Adelaide) I gave it a little nick and since then I have been managing it so I can get through the next three or four games.
“I have been training really hard, I am good to go, I just don’t know how it’s going to respond every time you run out there. I am confident but I am not getting ahead of myself.”
Adams would likely be the only team selection change against Geelong but given his exceptional finals record Craig McRae will be desperate to play him if he is passed fit.
McRae has been determined not to focus on the riches of September ahead through the season but vice-captain Adams said last week he finally relented.
First-year coach McRae believes his side can win the flag from 17th last season and will use it as obvious motivation for his group.
“We actually never spoke about finals all year prior to round 23 and I was driving in last week and thinking, “When are we talking about this because we are not here to make up the numbers,” Adams said.
“And we spoke about it last week as a group, it’s a great achievement to get to this point but it means nothing unless you go in with it.
“(McRae) said something like, “We have put ourselves in position. Percentage doesn’t matter. All we have to do is win games, and we are effectively three wins away from winning a premiership”.
“That is a long-term view and we will focus on Geelong but ultimately that is what we want to do.”
The Pies announced 100,000 members had joined the club on Monday fulfilling new president Jeff Browne’s goal when he came on board.
Chief executive Mark Anderson said the club would stick with its timeline to consider Jordan De Goey’s contract post season.
Why not Port, Ken? Swans show exactly why with finals lesson
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