There is no doubt about it, Collingwood have found themselves a beauty in Nick Daicos.
The father-son pick had massive wraps on him in his final few years at underage footy, but even still, the Magpies couldnโt have possibly dreamed of the impact that the 19-year-old wouldโve had in his rookie season.
Perhaps motivated further by the fact that he "slid" to pick No.4 in last year's draft, after North Melbourne and GWS elected not to make a bid for him, Daicos has hit the ground running this season.
Heading into Round 18, he is ranked No.1 at the Pies for disposals and uncontested possessions, as well as third for rebound-50s. Heโs also sixth in the league for uncontested possessions.
His ball use and decision-making off the half-back line are a sight to behold, and really make you second guess whether he actually still is a teenager or not.
His aim is to eventually graduate into the midfield, where he will no doubt wreak even more havoc in the years to come.
So good has Daicosโ debut season been, that some are even posing the question: is he the best first-year player in VFL/AFL history?
And this is where the platitudes, as well as recency bias, start getting a little bit out of hand.
Daicos probably does hold his own with modern greats such as Nathan Buckley, Joel Selwood, Toby Greene, Sam Walsh and Chris Judd, who all had fantastic first years in the big time.
And he wouldnโt even be out of place with mature-age recruits such as Allen Jakovich, Adrian McAdam, Tim Kelly and Michael Barlow who all burst onto the scene after taking a little longer than usual to get their chance at AFL footy.
But amongst the maelstrom of comparisons and debates, two names that too often get overlooked make the entire exercise a moot point, really: John Coleman and Haydn Bunton Sr.
Maybe they get left out of the conversation because their careers took place in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, but the mere mention of those two legends of the Australian game immediately kills off any debate about who was/is the best ever first-year player.
Letโs look at Colemanโs debut year first, shall we?
The champion Essendon full-forward kicked 12 goals on debut against Hawthorn, which remains a VFL/AFL record.
In fact, Coleman remains the only player in league history to kick 10 or more goals in his first game, and his bag of 12 is still three better than the next-best debut effort of nine, shared by Footscrayโs Bill Wood and Carltonโs Warren Ralph.
But wait, thereโs still more.
Coleman went on to kick 100 goals in his first season, won the 1949 premiership with the Bombers, and snagged six in the grand final against Carlton, cracking the ton with his sixth major for the day.
He was the first, and only, player to bring up a century of goals in his debut season.
Daicos is good, but he ainโt that good.
And then thereโs Bunton, who won the Brownlow Medal in his very first year after polling 26 votes.
The Fitzroy superstar then incredibly backed that up with another Brownlow in his second season, before clinching a third in five years in 1935.
Itโs always tempting, and a lot of fun, making comparisons between players and trying to figure out where everyone sits in the pecking order on an historic scale. Itโs human nature.
But sometimes, the exercise becomes pretty pointless, pretty quickly, especially when it comes to the first-year player debate.
Make no mistake, Daicos certainly is one of the best rookies weโve ever seen, and deserves to be commended for the outstanding body of work he has already produced in such a short period of time.
However, rather than trying to pump his tyres up to unrealistic levels and overblow just how good he actually has been, letโs just sit back, and enjoy what has been, and continues to be, a sensational debut season from the Collingwood son of a gun.
Because when it comes to the best first season in the VFL/AFL, the likes of Coleman and Bunton will almost certainly never be matched in that department.
