How Nick Daicos and Collingwood are taking on the tag and why it might not matter

It might cost Nick Daicos a Brownlow Medal — but win him another premiership. This is how Collingwood has turned teams targeting its superstar into a weapon of its own.

Craig McRae is spending plenty of time trying to get Nick Daicos through a tag and rival clubs are going to work to curb the brilliant Magpie.

But thanks to a series of plans and back-up plans, Collingwood is hardly being affected by the attention on the brilliant ball winner.

Clubs have come with detailed plans to clamp Daicos in the last three weeks and while the young star has still been good, his impact has been reduced.

Nick Daicos is wrapped up by Oisin Mullin and Tom Atkins. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Collingwood premiership captain, and a tagger himself, Tony Shaw had some simple advice on dealing with the attention.

“I would say to him, ‘Just know you are not going to get 35 possessions’ and go from there,” Shaw said.

“He’s going to have it (being tagged) for a long time and he is a good kid. I think body language, just don’t show frustration if it is getting to you. It’s hard to do it but you just have to keep moving, keep changing your angles and get help from your teammates.”

Opposition clubs have more blueprints to stop Daicos than you would find in the offices of Victoria’s Big Build.

Adelaide came with a clear plan last weekend, with James Peatling standing Daicos centre bounces and Alex Neal-Bullen pushing up to take him around the ground.

In response, Pies coach McRae slid Daicos’ magnet to half-forward in the first half and the Magpies thrived without him.

They won four of the six centre bounces without Daicos against the Crows.

He was stationed back on the ball in the final term and the Crows clawed back into the match, and for the match Collingwood lost 11 of the 17 bounces where Daicos was present.

Shaw said Daicos’ adaptability – to go to halfback or half-forward – allowed him to shift roles and still have an impact, throwing out the opposition tag.

Wags, the ultimate team man ⚓️

last night Corey Wagner helped reduce Nick Daicos' impact, keeping him to his lowest disposals since Round 15, 2024.#foreverfreo

— Walyalup Football Club (@freodockers) May 9, 2025

But the old tagger always felt he had a little win if a star midfielder was taken out of the guts.

“That is an indicator that a tagger has got it right,” he said.

Geelong put a genuine firm tag on Daicos in round 8, with Irishman Oisin Mullin glued to him tighter than a teenager and their iPhone.

Corey Wagner kept Nick Daicos in check. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Daicos still had 28 disposals in 110 minutes of that match-up, but the Cats would have been delighted he only had three in the final term as Geelong just won.

The normally unflappable Daicos gave away a 50m penalty to Mullin in the final term, sign of frustration that has snuck into the Pie’s game.

The next week, Fremantle had Corey Wagner come up to man from half-forward to man Daicos and he kept him to eight touches in 50 minutes together.

A sore foot meant Daicos spent 24 per cent of that match forward – a huge leap on only two per cent a week earlier – and recorded 18 disposals, the second-lowest tally of his career in a game in which he was not injured.

Against the Crows, Daicos had another 28 touches but was the 30th ranked player on the field.

He is not playing poorly, but that would mean likely zero Brownlow Medal votes in three weeks for a man who was unbackable at the start of this run of tags.

But the Pies beat Fremantle and Adelaide comfortably, and would have nudged out Geelong if not for a Jack Crisp miss after the siren.

Shaw said McRae’s even side was performing so well it could easily cover the gaps if Daicos was held.

Collingwood faces North Melbourne on Saturday night and last year, Alastair Clarkson sent Will Phillips to Daicos.

Phillips — who wasn’t picked for Saturday’s game — held Daicos to a pedestrian-by-his-standards 11 disposals in the first half as the Roos built a 48-point lead at the main break.

The Roos subbed Phillips out late in the third term and Daicos had 18 disposals and two goals in a remarkable comeback win.

Adelaide works to keep Daicos in check. Picture: Michael Klein

The Daicos blanket has clearly had an impact inside Collingwood.

McRae revealed after the Crows match that he pulled aside several senior players and told them to look out for their young star teammate.

And again on Thursday, McRae acknowledged there was plenty of time going into breaking the shackles.

“He works harder at his game than most and I think we are working towards even more protection of little things within our game, our systems. hopefully that brings that to the fore this week,” McRae said.

Daicos is only 80 games into what appears almost certain to be one of the great midfield careers, one which will include a tag until the mid-2030s.

Shaw, who coached the Magpies after his 313-game career, would be putting a man on the young star every time.

“I look at it this way, if you have a bloke who is a superstar and you think you can quell his impact and help you win the game, you go there,” Shaw said.

“And if you have a bloke you can take out of your system and it’s not going to worry your defensive system, then I would do it every single day.”