Nick Daicos has this incredible ability to put his team on his back and say ‘come with me here, lads’ and we saw it on full display on Anzac Day against the Bombers.
With the Pies starring down the barrel of defeat after conceding six of the first seven goals, Collingwood chipped away at Essendon’s lead courtesy of some colossal efforts from Daicos.
Daicos’ second quarter was the definition of stuffing the stat sheet. He had nine touches, one goal, five kicks as well as big metres gained numbers.
He realised his team needed him and he delivered in spades and at 21 years old, it’s pretty special to watch this kid do his thing and it’s why David King sits back and marvels at Daicos' work.
“The game itself was a cracker,” King said.
“The start from the Bombers was electric, they kicked the first five goals and looked like they had total control of clearance.
“Anytime the ball when in the contest, they just hammered Collingwood and I just thought ‘wow, this is over’, the game looked done and they constantly showed Craig McRae on the bench and he looked concerned but he knew, he has this unbelievable belief in this group that they’ll find as they did the previous week against Port Adelaide.
“I marvel at Nick Daicos, I know we talk about him a lot but he just gives you so much content, when the game needs to be swung, he’s always the one.
“When they had to launch a comeback at the end of the first and second term, he was the man and that’s why we elevate him the way we do because he doesn’t do it when they’re downhill skiing and five goals in front, he does it when they need the game to shift.”
Adelaide great Mark Bickley concurs with King and says Daicos reminds the yongster's former coach in Nathan Buckley with the way he demands the footy and the self-confidence he possesses.
“The other thing that he has is he has this look of ‘give me the ball’ and it reminds me of Nathan Buckley,” he added.
“Buckley was like that where he was just like ‘give me the ball because I’ve got so much self-assurance that I know that I’ll use it well and his teammates know that he’ll use it well so they do give it to them.
“He just makes great decisions and executes well.”
Daicos ended the game with 27 touches and finished the game third with six votes in the Anzac Day Medal, an award he was a runaway winner in last year.
