By Roy Ward
Collingwood midfielder Josh Daicos won his first E.W. Copeland Trophy as the club’s best and fairest on Friday night as his brother Nick’s late-season knee injury potentially denied him another award.
Josh Daicos topped off a premiership win and a first All-Australian selection with the award, polling 301 votes while playing in all 26 games for the Magpies.
Nick Daicos and defender Brayden Maynard finished equal second with 287 votes after the younger Daicos injured his knee in round 21 and didn’t play the last three games of the regular season and the qualifying final.
Brotherly spirit: Premiership teammates and brothers Josh Daicos and Nick Daicos.Credit: Eddie Jim
Nick Daicos similarly fell short in the Brownlow Medal count, where he was leading when he was injured before finishing third, three votes behind winner Lachie Neale from the Brisbane Lions.
Magpies great Peter Daicos still leads both his sons, having won two Copeland Trophies (1982 and 1988) during his 250-game career at the club.
Josh Daicos paid credit to his family and his girlfriend Annalise calling the past two years the best years of his life.
“To my girlfriend Anna, it’s no coincidence that I’ve played my best football since you came into my life,” Josh said.
“To Mum, you don’t get the credit that you deserve, you were definitely the hardest on Nick and I growing up, so we credit a lot of our success to you.”
Nick Daicos said it was a great honour to be on the stage with Maynard whom he tied with for second spot.
“Let’s get some more,” he told the room, referring to premierships.
Midfielder Tom Mitchell polled 283 votes in his first year with the Magpies to finish fourth while the ageless Scott Pendlebury had another stellar season with 282 votes to finish fifth. Pendlebury has made the top five in the Copeland Trophy in 15 of his 18 AFL seasons.
Captain Darcy Moore, who was centre halfback in the All-Australian team, was ninth.
Last year’s Copeland Trophy winner Jack Crisp won the Bob Rose award as best player in the finals.
2023 COPELAND TROPHY TOP TEN
- Josh Daicos (301 votes)
- Nick Daicos and Brayden Maynard (287)
- Tom Mitchell (283)
- Scott Pendlebury (282)
- Issac Quaynor (267)
- Jack Crisp (258)
- Brody Mihocek (254)
- Darcy Moore (253)
- Jordan De Goey (249)
Maynard also won the Darren Millane award for best clubman while Brody Mihocek won the Gordon Coventry award as the club’s leading goalkicker for the fifth time after kicking 47 majors.
Beau McCreery won his second Gavin Brown award for defensive pressure while defender Jakob Ryan was awarded the Harry Collier trophy as best first-year player.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae gave a spirited address to the room and started with a reference to his newborn baby daughter Maggie who came into the world on grand final morning.
“2023 will always be remembered as the year of the Maggies,” he said with a big smile.
McRae also listed a number of past players who had come back to the club this year or, in the case of Greg Phillips, visited the team when they played in Adelaide.
But McRae wants more past players to return to the club in 2024 including one player in particular.
“Alan Didak - I’ve got you in my sights,” McRae said.
McRae added that he wanted his players to stay humble in their celebrations but be ready to chase more success when pre-season begins.
“Our 16th premiership has been won, there is still a long queue in the tattoo line and the ink is still not dry,” McRae said.
“It’s a chance to smell the roses tonight but when you get back to work, and it is only a few months away, save room for more tattoos.
“Because we have plenty of work to do and will continue to get better every day.”
Magpies VFL captain Campbell Hustwaite won the VFL team’s best and fairest award while Will Crooks won the Victorian Wheelchair Football League’s Brendan Stroud medal as team best and fairest.
The Magpies also honoured the club’s VFLW best and fairest winner Jess Bates.
The Magpies also announced on Friday night that Trey Ruscoe, Trent Bianco, Tom Wilson, Arlo Draper and Cooper Murley would not be offered contracts for 2024.
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