AFL Round 6 Collingwood v Essendon: Nick Daicos leads Pies to stunning comeback as Darcy Moore lauded for post-game speech
Darcy Moore spoke with eloquence and thoughtfulness in a stirring show of thanks to Australia’s servicemen and women, and an AFL great says its the best he’s heard. Watch the video.
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Has Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore delivered the best on-field Anzac Day speech ever?
One of football’s greats firmly believes so.
The Magpies captain — who took the reins of the powerhouse team at the end of last season and was a vital element of the team’s epic come-from-behind win over Essendon on Tuesday at the MCG — spoke with eloquence and thoughtfulness in a stirring show of thanks to Australia’s servicemen and women.
WATCH THE SPEECH IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
The speech upon accepting the Anzac Day clash trophy which he proudly held aloft as he entered the buzzing changerooms has been labelled one of the greats.
“First of all, I want to give a massive thank you to the 95,000 fans who are here, (a) record breaking crowd,” Moore said.
“No matter whether you wear the black and white stripes or the red sash, this game’s about so much more than the four points so you turning up today and showing your support means a lot and we’re incredibly proud to play our part in this game.
“To Essendon, both Andrew (McGrath, stand-in captain) and the team as well as the broader club, thank you so much for making this event what it is.
“It means a lot to us that we can come together with your football club and commemorate the sacrifices of not just the Anzacs but all service men and women who’ve served Australia all around the world, so thank you to the Essendon Football Club.”
Moore — who only continues to boost his credentials as one of the game’s leading captains — went on to wholeheartedly thank those serving Australia here and abroad, with Australian football Hall of Fame member Jason Dunstall declaring it was “one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard on this day”.
“I want to thank and mention all men and women who are serving our country’s interests both at home and abroad in war and in peacekeeping operations,” Moore said.
“It means a lot to me and the team and the whole club that we can commemorate your service and your sacrifice today by doing what you do, so thank you for your service.
“To the veterans, there are over 600,000 veterans in this country who have returned from service, we also extend our thanks to you for your sacrifice and we hope that, again, doing what we do today somehow honours your legacy and what you’ve done for our country, so thank you to those 600,000 veterans as well.
“And then finally to the families of those serving and those veterans, too often your stories go untold and on behalf of the Collingwood footy club, (I) just want to acknowledge the pain of war that runs through so many families across this country so it’s a real honour for us to run out there and play our game in honour of you and your service.
“So to the families of those who have served, thank you so much for your service.”
McRae lauds replacements, gives Pendles injury update
— Ed Bourke
Collingwood coach Craig McRae says personnel issues have had no impact on his side’s indestructible self-belief to come from behind in big games.
A “plug-and-play” attitude has helped foster an unshakeable faith in the Magpies’ game plan, which was on show for the first time this season as they stormed home with seven unanswered final quarter goals to claim a 13-point victory in front of a record Anzac Day crowd.
McRae said his makeshift ruck and key defensive options were slotting perfectly into Collingwood’s system without requiring any significant adjustments to how he wanted his side to play.
“That’s actually the same language you used, ‘plug-and-play’,” he said.
“You know, Trey Ruscoe got an opportunity today, he’s been playing terrifically at VFL level. We’re talking about selection integrity, we want to reward players that are playing above the level down there.
“Lots of injuries like you said, but Trey comes in and he just looks like us … we’re defending well as a team and he knows how to defend, he knows how to win one-on-ones, that’s his great strength, and we got to see that in the second half of the game today, I thought he was really important for us.”
McRae praised Billy Frampton’s performance in the ruck against Essendon’s in-form combination of Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips, with the Adelaide recruit booting his first goal for the Magpies at a crucial moment in the final term to go with 15 disposals at 100 per cent efficiency and 26 hit-outs.
With Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox out the ruck burden was left to Frampton, Ash Johnson and Nathan Kreuger, who was subbed out early in the final quarter but had got through his AFL return unscathed, McRae said.
“So it’s a plug-and-play mentality. We’ll get some troops back at some stage, but right now we trust the guys that are playing,” he said.
Scott Pendlebury did not return to the field after suffering a nasty poke to the eye in the final term, with McRae saying the Magpies star had been sent to see a specialist following the game.
The 35-year-old was bleeding profusely as he came from the field, and his coach said the severity of his injury was unknown.
“He got a poke in the eye, he’s going to see a specialist right now. We’re hoping he’s going to be okay, we’re anticipating he is, but we’re just precautionary sending him off to a specialist,” he said.
McRae said Collingwood’s fitness and the extraordinary support in the stands was a lethal combination for opposition teams at the MCG.
“You can just see the players just growing in confidence from the energy from the crowd, so thank you,” he said.
“We have this thing: we want to play the minutes, you’ve got to play the minutes to beat us.
“We’ve created that over time and today we made it come to life again.”
Scott says we all saw Daicos’ rise coming
— Ronny Lerner
Essendon coach Brad Scott admitted it was hard to think of a second-year player who has had as big an impact on the competition in the past 20 years than Collingwood youngster Nick Daicos.
Daicos proved to be the match-winner for the Magpies in their spectacular comeback win against the Bombers on Anzac Day, amassing 40 disposals and playing a huge role in his team’s final-quarter resurgence with two of their seven goals, including the one that put them back in front.
The performance not only earned him a maiden Anzac Day medal, but also shot him into outright Brownlow Medal favouritism just 31 games into his career.
“I think he’s just a very special player who is doing things that someone in the system for 10 years can’t do,” Scott said post-match.
“But we all knew this coming through. We all watched him as a junior.
“The father-son rule has worked for a few clubs over the journey and we think it’s a really good rule.
“He’s having a huge influence and teams have tried different things to try and curtail it and he finds a way to get around it.
“He’s always going to get the ball. You can do your best to stop it, but he went from the 18th-ranked player on the ground at three-quarter time to the first or second by the end of the game.
“That’s just a quality player stepping up at the right time and we couldn’t match it.”
As for the Bombers’ spectacular final-term capitulation, Scott said: “It was a combination of we ran out of a bit of gas a little bit and they seemed to stop at a petrol station somewhere.”
On the positive side for Scott, he was pleased with how well his developing side has played against the two hottest premiership favourites in the past two weeks, with a win against Melbourne and a 13-point loss to Collingwood after leading by 28 at three-quarter time.
However, the challenges keep coming for the Bombers with Geelong, Port Adelaide (away) and Brisbane (away) in their next three matches.
Concerningly for the Dons, they come up against a Geelong team clearly back to their best with three fewer days rest in round seven.
But again, Scott took a half-glass-full approach to the daunting task of facing the reigning premiers.
“We all probably felt we were waiting for this (Anzac Day) game to come for so long (10 days after they played the Demons),” Scott said.
“We don’t have that problem this week. We can get straight back into it, and we’ll get some good evidence again as to what let us down today and how we can improve it next week.
“You always want to play a good team.”
Meanwhile, the Bombers might have to make do without key defender Jayden Laverde who suffered a suspected AC joint injury and sat out most of the second half against the Magpies.
Bombers blow big lead as Pies pull off epic comeback
— Ronny Lerner
Collingwood has reasserted its status as the comeback kings of the AFL after fighting back from 28 points down at three-quarter time to defeat Essendon by 13 points in an Anzac Day classic at the MCG in front of 95,179 fans.
Not only was it a record crowd for home-and-away matches between these two Victorian powerhouses, eclipsing the previous high set in the first edition of the modern Anzac Day fixture in 1995 (94,825), but it was the second-biggest home-and-away crowd in VFL/AFL history, second only to the 1958 Queen’s Birthday clash between Melbourne and Collingwood (99,256).
Just like the last time these two sides met, when Essendon led by 20 points early in the final quarter, only to have their hearts broken by a famous goal after the siren by Jamie Elliott, Collingwood produced almost a carbon copy performance as they piled on seven goals to none in the final term to run over the top of the Bombers.
Young superstar Nick Daicos kicked two of those majors, including the one that put them in front just after time on, to cap off another spectacular performance, which also included 40 disposals and six inside 50, and will only enhance his chances of winning the Brownlow.
Daicos has two and the Pies are in front!#AFLPiesDonspic.twitter.com/4YUdkXLqk9
— AFL (@AFL) April 25, 2023
At the 24-minute mark, Essendon ruckman Sam Draper had the chance to put the Bombers back in front, but he missed a set shot from 35m out directly in front, in what proved to be the Bombers’ final chance.
In the end, Collingwood smashed the Bombers in inside 50s (64-45), including 20 to Essendon’s four in the pivotal final quarter, while the Pies also dominated the disposals (394-325), contested possessions (142-121) and marks (110-69).
Jordan De Goey (two goals) was also influential for the Mgapies with 28 disposals (13 contested) while Steele Sidebottom (one goal) was terrific with 31 (11 contested) and Darcy Moore was huge in what was an undersized defence.
BOMBERS GAIN CONTROL
After conceding four goals in a row and falling seven points behind early in the second quarter, Essendon regained control by kicking four of the next five goals, including back-to-back majors from Kyle Langford.
Despite Collingwood’s domination of the clearances in the second term, the Bombers led by 11 points early in the third term, as the Dons’ backline continued to repel numerous Collingwood forward thrusts.
Thanks largely to Draper and Andrew Phillips asserting themselves in the ruck, the Bombers then gained the ascendancy around the stoppages and the territory battle and capitalised by booting four goals in a row to lead by a game-high 28 points at three-quarter time.
The birthday boy joins the party for the Bombers 🥳#AFLPiesDonspic.twitter.com/bDrm6WSjwr
— AFL (@AFL) April 25, 2023
PIES FIRE UP
Undeterred, Collingwood continued to pump the ball inside 50 in the final quarter and completely overwhelmed Essendon who ground to a complete halt as Collingwood did all the attacking late.
PENDLEBURY INJURY SOURS RESULT
The win came at a cost for Collingwood, though, with Scott Pendlebury suffering an eye injury early in the final quarter and failing to take any further part in the game, while Essendon backman Jayden Laverde (shoulder) missed most of the second half.
Meanwhile, Essendon on-baller Jye Caldwell could be looking at a suspension for punching Nick Daicos in the stomach in the third quarter, and felling the Collingwood star.
LANGFORD’S LAST LAUGH
Kyle Langford has come up with the perfect response to an altercation with an unruly Magpies fan midway through the second term.
The Essendon swingman won a free kick for front-on contact right up against the boundary line in the Bombers’ forward pocket, but when he went to retrieve the ball from the arms of the supporter, he was met with a rude gesture and the ball was thrown to the ground.
Langford eventually slotted his second goal for the quarter with a tidy set shot, and immediately picked out the fan for some sweet retribution.
“Here’s the bloke saying ‘there’s the ball’, and then gives him something,” Channel 7 commentator James Brayshaw said.
Langford gets disrespected by a fan and has the perfect response by slotting the goal!
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 25, 2023
📺 Watch #AFLPiesDons LIVE on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/p4uoQtuxi1
âœï¸ BLOG: https://t.co/64gJ0IX9tC
🔢 MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/ydzjhVXtqIpic.twitter.com/xqxvtVzJDB
“So Kyle goes back and slots it, and finds him.”
Essendon holds a slender one-goal lead going into time-on in the second term, with Langford’s cameo providing the Bombers’ only two goals for the quarter.
Jack Ginnivan, Ash Johnson and Scott Pendlebury have hit the scoreboard for the Magpies, while the Daicos brothers have 15 disposals between them for the term.
TEMPERS FLARE AT THE ‘G
Tensions have boiled over between the Bombers and Magpies as more than a dozen players were drawn into a scuffle after the quarter time siren.
The MCG was at fever pitch after Jordan De Goey booted home Collingwood’s first goal from 50m out after the siren to bring the Magpies back within 10 points at the first break.
Collingwood’s celebrations attracted the ire of Essendon’s defenders, with Ash Johnson and opponent Jayden Laverde locking horns before more players piled in.
Magpies captain Darcy Moore intervened to help break up the scuffle as the players were escorted back to their huddles by the umpires.
Ouch! Jye Menzie has a big collision with the point post.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 25, 2023
📺 Watch #AFLPiesDons LIVE on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/p4uoQtuxi1
âœï¸ BLOG: https://t.co/64gJ0IX9tC
🔢 MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/ydzjhVXtqIpic.twitter.com/okXU2BUMem
It came minutes after Essendon forward Jye Menzie was crunched in a sickening crash into the point post at the other end of the ground.
Menzie had the ball near the behind line and was trying to evade Trey Ruscoe when he smashed into the post, leaving it shaking for more than a minute.
SCOREBOARD
MAGPIES 1.4, 5.7, 6.10, 13.12 (90)
BOMBERS 3.2, 5.5, 11.8, 11.11 (77)
LERNER’S BEST
Magpies: N.Daicos, De Goey, Moore, Sidebottom, J.Daicos, Pendlebury, Frampton.
Bombers: Langford, McGrath, Weideman, Martin, Redman, Kelly, Zerk-Thatcher.
GOALS Magpies: De Goey 2, Johnson 2, Ginnivan 2, N.Daicos 2, McCreery 2, Pendlebury, Frampton, Sidebottom.
Bombers: Langford 3, Weideman 2, Draper, Martin, Perkins, A.Davey, Menzie, Stringer.
INJURIES
Magpies: Pendlebury (eye).
Bombers: Laverde (shoulder).
UMPIRES Power, Gavine, Findlay, Mollison
VENUE MCG
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 Nick Daicos (Coll)
2 Jordan De Goey (Coll)
1 Darcy Moore (Coll)
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