By Jon Pierik
Two-time Brownlow medallist Chris Judd played one of the game’s greatest debut seasons, and even he is blown away by the staggering first-year campaign of Collingwood’s Nick Daicos - labelling it the best he remembers seeing.
Family life and a burgeoning career as a markets trader means Judd’s focus on football isn’t as great as it once was. But the former premiership captain has seen enough of the Magpies prodigy to know just how special he is.
“I am not watching every week, but I can’t remember, ever, a first-year player being anywhere near that sort of level, to be honest,” Judd said on Monday.
That’s what I am talking about: Nick Daicos appears a lock for the Rising Star award after a stunning afternoon against the Adelaide Crows.Credit: AFL Photos
“It seems like a pretty complete game already. Usually, there are some players in their first year that have some good games but you can see some gaping holes in the way they play. He has been pretty incredible. It would be amazing if he made All-Australian in his first year.”
That’s the burning question after Daicos all but rubber-stamped his hold on the Rising Star award as the league’s best first-year player with a stunning 40-disposal (at 82 per cent efficiency), three-goal effort in the five-point win over the Crows in Adelaide on Saturday.
“It was just wild, those numbers. The Pies would be very excited with him,” Judd said.
At just 19 years and 194 days old, Daicos is the youngest player in VFL-AFL history to have 40 or more disposals and three or more goals in a game, edging out former Richmond skipper Wayne Campbell (1991) for the record. Only 12 players have had 40 touches and three goals in a game since 2000.
That the son-of-a-gun had 11 touches and two goals in the final quarter alone to turn a three-point deficit into the Pies’ eighth-straight win highlighted a maturity beyond his years. Having begun at half-back at the start of the season, he has spent time in the midfield and, recently, also pushed forward.
Chris Judd, seen here towards the end of his time as a West Coast Eagle, had a standout rookie season in 2002.Credit: John Donegan
Now comes the debate, should he finish the season strongly, of whether he deserves to be the first man to win the Rising Star and be named as an All-Australian in the same season.
Judd, who had a largely stunning 2002 debut season with West Coast but was overlooked for both awards (Nick Riewoldt was the Rising Star but Judd was voted the AFLPA best first-year player), said he had not seen enough football to judge, but others have.
Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney has tipped Daicos to earn his first All-Australian jacket, while former Collingwood premiership half-back Heath Shaw, noting Daicos’ efficiency, declared he is a “big chance”.
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said Daicos’ form over the past six weeks had put him in All-Australian calculations, and a strong finish to the season would rubber-stamp his berth.
If his best chance of selection is at half-back, Daicos is vying with such talent as the Western Bulldogs’ Bailey Dale, Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw, Carlton’s Sam Docherty, St Kilda’s Jack Sinclair, and even Richmond’s Nick Vlastuin, should he finish with verve, for All-Australian selection.
Nathan Buckley is a Magpies great but it was with the Brisbane Bears that he was named the Rising Star.Credit: Vince Caligiuri
Magpies great Nathan Buckley - the man who won the inaugural Rising Star award in 1993 when with the Brisbane Bears - said Daicos was doing things others could not.
“His capacity to find that extra half step to make the right decision at the right time - clearly he’s got an engine under there that keeps him going as well, because he looks like he’s moving just as well in the last 10 minutes as he is in the first 10,” Buckley said on SEN.
“He’s close to the top 20 disposals for whatever disposals are worth, his are worth plenty because he doesn’t waste one.
“He’s amazing. Take the rookie tag away, his talent and his skill is at the top echelon in the game. There’s only a handful of players that can do the things that he’s doing, especially in the last month. He’s gone and impacted the result of games, tight games, three of the last four games.”
Across 17 games so far this season, Daicos has averaged 26.6 disposals, 5.2 intercepts and 403 metres gained. In the past six alone, he has averaged 32 disposals at an efficiency of 79.7 per cent, and conceded only 0.2 goals per game, highlighting his defensive efforts. He is ranked No.2 by Champion Data for defenders over the past six rounds.
So, it’s little wonder coach Craig McRae said after Saturday’s win: “(He) just seems to be going to another level. I haven’t seen [a first year like it] and he’s just doing it in different ways, too.”
As always when a first-year draftee shines, it raises questions as to why he was not taken higher in the national draft. Daicos, considered by some recruiters last year to be the best available player, fell to selection No.4.
North Melbourne took Jason Horne-Francis, still finding his way in a struggling team, with the top pick, while the Western Bulldogs settled on father-son forward-ruck Sam Darcy with pick No.2. Darcy has only recently recovered from injury and has yet to make his senior debut.
Greater Western Sydney claimed Finn Callaghan with pick No.3 but he is now dealing with a foot injury. The Gold Coast Suns did force the Magpies to match a bid for Daicos, whose brother Josh is also having a robust year.
One recruiter from a rival club said it was understandable why Daicos was taken where he was, and said a clearer verdict could not be reached for at least another two years when all players had been given more time to develop and find consistency.
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