Collingwood's son-of-a-gun Nick Daicos is one of the competition's best players and as a result, is spoken about at length.
And why not? What he can achieve at the raw age of 21 has him rivalling legends like Chris Judd, Gary Ablett and teammate Scott Pendlebury.
In 2024, Daicos has taken his game to a new level (shock horror), which is surprising given how close he was to taking last year's Brownlow medal home until a knee injury derailed his chance of becoming the second youngest recipient of 'Charlie'.
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
But how? What has changed in the 21-year-old's game?
From the perspective of statistically driven fans, not much has changed between 2023 and this year.
| 2023 | 2024 | |
| Disposals | 31 | 31.8 |
| Marks | 3.2 | 3 |
| Tackles | 3.8 | 4.4 |
| Goals | 0.9 | 0.6 |
However, his permanent move to the midfield has yielded many different outputs that have shot him right back into Brownlow calculations, alongside Sydney duo Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner.
SEE MORE: 2024 AFLCA Champion Player Leaderboard
Daicos has also been rewarded with 52 coaches' votes since Round 2, the most of any player in the competition. This includesย a near-perfect four-week stretch that was credited with 39 out of a possible 40 votes.
Most @AFLCoaches votes polled in a 4 game span
39 - NICK DAICOS - 2024 R08-11
39 - Dustin Martin
39 - Patrick Dangerfield
38 - Zak Butters
38 - Gary Ablett jnr
38 - Nat Fyfe
37 - Adam Goodes
37 - Alan Didak
37 - Daniel Kerr
37 - Jack Steele— Swamp (@sirswampthing) May 27, 2024
So, what has the positional change altered in Daicos' game?
For starters, football fans can witness the 21-year-old's intent to win and hunt the ball at the coalface (+4.6 contested possessions, +2.6 clearances), which has wrongly been accused as a knock of his, shaking the tag of 'soft' quite clearly.
His willingness to get after opposition players (+4.9 pressure acts) whilst also increasing his involvement (+3.2 inside 50s) in getting the ball to his forwards.
In a matter of weeks, and with good assistance from teammates, Daicos has converted his game from a purely outside approach to a hybrid standpoint that only greats of the competition can achieve.
| 2023 | 2024 | |
| Contested possession (rate) | 9 (32.8%) | 13.6 (42.7%) |
| Clearances | 4 | 6.6 |
| Inside 50 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Ground Ball Gets | 7 | 9.3 |
| Score Involvements | 6.6 | 7.4 |
| Pressure Acts | 19 | 23.9 |
Despite all the glory we bask Daicos in, there are parts of his game that he'd admit would need some improvement to what we know it to be.
Across his opening two years, the No.35 went at a disposal efficiency of 75.6% and 75.1% respectively, whilst his kicking was just as high.
However, as a result of increased midfield minutes, ergo, pressure around the ball, his kicking has tailed off.
His first season saw a 71.2% kicking efficiency but has since plummeted to 61.4% in 2024, with his 21 kicks against Adelaide in Round 10 a big marker, producing a 28.6% effective rate, the lowest of his career.
Nevertheless, in all of Collingwood's injury turmoil, Daicos has been the Pie to stand up.
The All-Australian has generally run unimpeded through the course of games, with St Kilda (Marcus Windhager) and Hawthorn (Finn Maginness) the only clubs to put time into the gun.
Coming up against the Western Bulldogs, opposition coach Luke Beveridge has usually opted against a tagger but might face no choice on Friday night.
If not, the Bulldogs could witness another masterclass under the roof at Marvel Stadium.
There was always greatness expected from the name, but in 2024, Daicos is reaching heights that not many people predicted. Especially at his age.
