Nick Daicos
Personal information
Full name Nick Daicos
Date of birth (2003-01-03) 3 January 2003
Place of birth Victoria
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers (NAB League)
Draft No. 4 (F/S), 2021 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2022, Collingwood vs. St Kilda, at Marvel Stadium
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder/Defender
Club information
Current club Collingwood
Number 35
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2022– Collingwood 47 (26)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2023 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Nick Daicos (born 3 January 2003)[1] is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Daicos is the son of Peter Daicos, who played for Collingwood in the VFL/AFL, and the younger brother of Josh Daicos, who also plays for Collingwood.

Daicos was drafted with pick 4 in the 2021 AFL draft under the father–son rule. Gold Coast made a bid for him with a later draft pick, but Collingwood matched their bid and secured Daicos.

State football

Daicos captained the Oakleigh Chargers in the 2021 NAB League. He impressed across five matches, averaging 35.8 disposals and 2 goals per game.[2] Noted for his consistency and clean skills, Daicos was tipped for a high pick in the 2021 AFL draft.[3] Prior he played community football for Greythorn Falcons and Kew Rovers in the Yarra Junior Football League.[4] In 2019, he was part of a school football premiership for Carey Grammar alongside future AFL stars Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.[5]

AFL career

2022

In 2021, Daicos was drafted to the Collingwood Football Club as a father-son pick, following in the footsteps of his father, Peter Daicos, who played for the club from 1979 to 1993. He chose to wear 35 as his guernsey number, the same number worn by his father.[6] Daicos was the subject of widespread media attention prior to his drafting, due to his potential to provide a much-needed contribution to a Collingwood side that finished second-last in the ladder in the 2021 Season.[7]

Daicos made his AFL debut in Round 1 of the 2022 AFL season. In the win against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, he produced an impressive 27 disposals, 10 contested possessions, and 5 marks.[8]

Over the subsequent rounds, Daicos continued to impress as a rookie. In Round 3 against Geelong, Daicos earned a Rising Star nomination after collecting 26 disposals and kicking his first goal at the AFL level. A Round 18 win against Adelaide saw Daicos earn a season-high 40 disposals, while also kicking 3 goals.[9]

In the 2022 AFL Finals, Daicos played in his first finals series, where he continued his impressive performances with an average of 24 disposals across three games until the Magpies' season was ended by the Sydney Swans in a 94–95 defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the Preliminary Final.

Throughout the 2022 season, Daicos’s performance was considered one of the most impactful and talented rookie seasons of all time, averaging 25.7 disposals per game while primarily playing in the half-back position.[10] For his outstanding performance, he was awarded the Rising Star award given to the AFL’s best young player. Daicos received an all-time record 60 votes for the award, surpassing Sam Walsh’s previous record of 54 in 2019, and finishing above Geelong’s runner-up Sam De Koning (48 votes) and fellow Magpie Jack Ginnivan (21 votes) for the 2022 season.[11]

2023

Daicos began his second professional season with 35 disposals and 7 marks in a Round 1 win against Geelong.[12]

In Round 6, during the annual Anzac Day Clash between the Collingwood and Essendon football clubs, Daicos was awarded the Anzac Medal for his best-on-ground performance where he produced 40 disposals, six marks, and two goals in the Magpies' comeback victory against the Bombers.[13]

After the bye rounds, Daicos slowly shifted to playing an on-ball role, flagging this with a best-on-ground performance against the Gold Coast Suns in round 16, with 36 disposals, 10 tackles and seven clearances.

Showing promising signs as an on-baller, he signed a lucrative 4-year extension to his contract alongside his brother Josh Daicos until the end of 2029 (and Josh until the end of 2030).[14]

In Collingwood's Round 21 clash against Hawthorn, Daicos was tagged by Hawks midfielder Finn Maginness and was kept to a career-low 5 disposals.[15] During the same game, he was subjected to a bump from Hawks defender James Blanck which caused a hairline fracture in the lateral tibial plateau of the right knee joint, ruling him out for the rest of the home-and-away season, and for Collingwood's first final.[16]

At the end of season awards, Daicos was awarded with the AFLCA's Best Young Player award for 2023[17] with 129 votes. He also achieved 3rd in the 2023 AFLCA's Champion Player of the Year award, trailing winner Zak Butters by 10 votes. He was also named as the starting Rover in the 2023 All-Australian team.[18]

In the 2023 Brownlow Medal awards night, Daicos came 3rd with 28 votes (the most of any second-year player in the AFL era), narrowly behind winner Lachie Neale, who polled 31 votes, and Marcus Bontempelli, who polled 29 votes.[19]

In the 2023 AFL Grand Final, Daicos claimed his first premiership medal in an impressive performance, polling 4 votes and finishing 3rd in the Norm Smith Medal.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2023 season.[20]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2022Collingwood35 2577361283644102540.30.314.411.325.84.12.211
2023#Collingwood35 22191335732568271840.90.616.214.831.03.23.828
Career 47262071860813261731380.60.415.312.928.23.72.939

Personal life

Nick Daicos and his family are proud Greek Macedonians as Peter was named in the Greek Team of the Century.[21][22]

His dad's parents were Greek immigrants from the village of Vevi.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Nick Daicos". Collingwood Football Club. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Draftee Fantasy Analysis – Nick Daicos". The Keeper League. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Nick Daicos Draft Profile". Draft Central. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Paus, Aidan (30 November 2021). "AFL Draft selects 9 of the YJFL's best". YJFL. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "Immovable object v irresistible force: Ex-teammates to shape huge clash". afl.com.au. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  6. ↑ "Nick Daicos | AFL". collingwoodfc.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "Draft Watch: Pies son of a gun produces whopping display to score third consecutive BOG". Fox Sports. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "New coach unleashes fresh 'electric' style as Pies overcome 26yo Saints 'cult figure'". Fox Sports. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "Nick Daicos | AFL". collingwoodfc.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Lerner, Ronny (23 August 2022). "Rising Star: Nick Daicos set to cap brilliant debut season with award". The Age. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Collingwood's Nick Daicos has been crowned the 2022 NAB AFL Rising Star". afl.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "Nick Daicos | AFL". collingwoodfc.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "ANZAC Day Medal Votes". AFL. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Brother, what a deal: Nick and Josh Daicos ink mega-contracts". afl.com.au. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  15. ↑ https://www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/4960#match-report
  16. ↑ "Brownlow favourite Nick Daicos out for six weeks with fractured knee in blow to Pies' flag hopes". ABC News. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Association, AFL Coaches. "AFL Coaches Association Best Young Player - AFLCA Awards". AFL Coaches Association. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "AFL names the 2023 All-Australian team". afl.com.au. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Lion King Lachie wins second Brownlow in thrilling count". afl.com.au. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  20. ↑ "Nick Daicos - Player Statistics". Collingwood Football Club. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  21. ↑ Hill,Peter: "The Macedonians in Australia", page 132, Hesperian Press,1989
  22. ↑ "Nick's Collingwood Page - Collingwood Football Club".


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