Nick Daicos

[Cdog71]

I’ve heard Nick Daicos mention a few times the amount on of time he put to training as a kid with his brother and father and the fact is his father was one of the most skilled kicks of the footy I’ve ever seen.
Peter Daicos did things that others didn’t then and there’s no doubt it’s because he practiced it for thousands of hrs.

I remember seeing an interview with Michael Jordan and he was talking about the way he plays and he said the percentage of moves in games he came up with that he had never done before or where completely creative was less than 2%, he practised and repeated 100’s of moves over and over.
The theory behind repeat rehearsal of patterns of play or set plays is that when the pattern is stuck in your head then you can predict and change to suit the circumstances and then people look like abstract thinkers and creative players but it’s the repeat practice to learn patterns.

The other thing is check out this vid from the 90’s from Peter Daicos.
It’s obvious he is a really high quality communicator and teacher and he would have spent thousands and thousands of hrs with his kids.

 

[loki04]

This is fair. So is the point that kick outs should be removed from the stats line for ALL players. Especially if it impacts Brownlow and other awards....

From a hawks perspective...this would of course hurt Sicily and Hardwick a fair bit.

Why when someone great at it can start scoring chains vs someone not great at it will get you hemmed in on your own back pocket and needing to go long boundary to a contest invariably defended.

Nick sets up the play we often go length of field from his kick ins, he also through the year would end up hack in that chain of possessions.


It's ridiculous to try downplay his impact just because a kick in is not "earned".
What is earned is the trust his team has in him to execute the kick and make the best decision to create drive from FB.

NICK very rarely takes safe kick in options.

 

[loki04]

Anyone who doesn't think he is a great player is biased or stupid. I still don't understand why he isn't actually manned up more though.

Hawks weren't the only team to do it they were just the most successful, couple other teams had a run with player with him opposed to a tag and he still got big numbers.

Fin just did it well and also more traditional tag over run with, I suppose, especially cutting his outside game down to be more inside at the contest.

 

[Reg Grundy35]

Nothing against Josh.....exceptional kicking skills...terrific player.

But that's crazy that Nick didn't win the b'n'f.

The way they do the voting - you just cant miss 4 games or 3 like de goey and moore.

 

[Caligo]

Hawks weren't the only team to do it they were just the most successful, couple other teams had a run with player with him opposed to a tag and he still got big numbers.

Fin just did it well and also more traditional tag over run with, I suppose, especially cutting his outside game down to be more inside at the contest.

Agreed, but in general teams didn't do it, and often ignored him altogether. I get he is only 20 but he is already a fine player. Insane to just let him run around free.

 

[Defabs]

This play and moment will be regarded as one of the greatest GF plays in history. Maybe not fully appreciated now but the passing of time will judge this moment very favourably. Possibly the greatest handball in history.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Given you got such joy from our ‘false hope’ I’m assuming you’re now sad, angry and bitter that the hope turned out to be valid?

This gives me joy.

Yes I am bitterly disappointed a Josh Daicos led Collingwood won 3 finals by the smallest combined margins in history to take the most unlikely of Premierships back to the AIA Centre or whoever you sold naming rights to now.

Worst B & F winner in the history of flag teams + lowest winning margins in finals in the history of flag teams = weakest Premier in history.

However, what it does show is that false hopes sometimes actually come to fruition. Just ask Stephen Bradbury.

Fake laughter, false Premier. So appropriate.

I knew it was time for Collingwood to win a Grand Final when I saw a hen waiting to see my dentist.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

This play and moment will be regarded as one of the greatest GF plays in history. Maybe not fully appreciated now but the passing of time will judge this moment very favourably. Possibly the greatest handball in history.

It is true young Nikos has mastered the please-don't-tackle-me handball.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Yes I am bitterly disappointed a Josh Daicos led Collingwood won 3 final by the smallest combined margins in history to take the most unlikely of Premierships back to the AIA Centre or whoever you sold naming rights to now.

Worst B & F winner in the history of flag teams + lowest winning margins in finals in the history or flag teams = weakest Premier in history.

However, what it does show is that false hopes sometimes actually come to fruition. Just ask Stephen Bradbury.

Fake laughter, false Premier. So appropriate.

You are one jealous, miserable human being.



Seriously 95 percent of people are like you. They try to turn someone and somethings extreme positivity into negativity. You are very sad.

 

[Jim Levenstein]

Yes I am bitterly disappointed a Josh Daicos led Collingwood won 3 finals by the smallest combined margins in history to take the most unlikely of Premierships back to the AIA Centre or whoever you sold naming rights to now.

Worst B & F winner in the history of flag teams + lowest winning margins in finals in the history or flag teams = weakest Premier in history.

However, what it does show is that false hopes sometimes actually come to fruition. Just ask Stephen Bradbury.

Fake laughter, false Premier. So appropriate.

I couldn’t be more stoked. Premiership is a premiership, stay salty all summer please.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

You are one jealous, miserable human being.



Seriously 95 percent of people are like you. They try to turn someone and somethings extreme positivity into negativity. You are very sad.

You have the jealous part right, miserable not so much. I am a happy jealous person.

I was deliriously happy when Stephen Bradbury won his gold medal, but I did find myself wishing it was me. And equally ecstatic when Collingwood became the worst Premier in the history of the competition, but I did wish it was Richmond.

 

[loki04]

Comparing Judd to Daicos is laughable.

Daicos is fantastic, but he isn't a patch on the dynamic game breaking contested beast (that kicked goals) that Judd was at 20/21 years of age.

Daicos is obviously still younger, but he just doesn't have the game style (and never will tbh) and very few in history ever had of Judd in his early WCE years.

It's not all about possessions.

It's the same discussion people have regarding Carey vs players that kicked 100-300 more goals than him. Essentially people that never watched him.

Judd had his team mates clear space for him to burst into, he wasn't the contested beast made out to be early days.
He exploded from stoppages into space.
There are articles from Aker about how much his team mates would obstruct Judd's opponent's with blocks and grabs so they couldn't stop his run.

Daicos himself has had Judd like moments of burst from stoppages and play just not as regular as that version of Judd.

Unlike Judd though Daicos actually hits a target by foot something that was not young Judd's strong point. As well as a higher footy iq and Williams esque handball. Nicks game is much more rounded then young Judd's.
Often kicking over team mates heads or at their feet, he also acknowledged as much at the time interviews.

Great running kick at goal and probably the best ever burst from stoppage player the game has seen.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

I couldn’t be more stoked. Premiership is a premiership, stay salty all summer please.

I will try, but it doesn't come natural to me.

Did I mention the made-to-order umpiring and the highly effective Collingwood PR department, which is otherwise known as the AFL media industry?

 

[loki04]

Did your statistical analysis take out his game against Hawthorn when he was off in the 3rd quarter and had 5 touches?

Did it also question the kick in stats of all the 13 that were apparently above him?

Daicos is not hard as a Selwood type at the ball. But people need to get their head around the fact he doesn't need to be. When you have the best all round skill in the game at 20, why the hell would we want him doing the dirty work?

Judd wasn't the Selwood type either (that was Luke Ball in Judd's draft) people combing the broken Carlton contested Judd with his early explode into space Judd....

 

[Jim Levenstein]

It is true young Nikos has mastered the please-don't-tackle-me

I will try, but it doesn't come natural to me.

Did I mention the made-to-order umpiring and the highly effective Collingwood PR department, which is otherwise known as the AFL media?

Sounds like a good recipe.

 

[Jim Levenstein]

You have the jealous part right, miserable not so much. I am a happy jealous person.

I was deliriously happy when Stephen Bradbury won his gold medal, but I did find myself wishing it was me. And equally ecstatic when Collingwood became the worst Premier in the history of the competition, but I did wish it was Richmond.

Great public speaker Bradbury, so much more to his journey than I gave him credit for. His shocking injuries and the rotten timing of them really changed the way I viewed the gold he won.

 

[loki04]

People have to remember that Judd in his crazy, million miles an hour stoppage mode lasted only 3.5 seasons (at an elite level). He was still very good after that but didn't have (or rely on) such electric pace and agility.

Agree about the rest.

The team also created space for him to work into, he wasn't the contested Luke Ball selwood type either which people keep referencing to N.Daicos being outside.

 

[loki04]

This is spot on and I’ve long thought the same re analogy to soccer. Also Bucks earlier in the year said something along these lines, great players reinvent the game in their own way.

People looking for like for like comparison are going to struggle because he doesn’t really play like other players I’ve seen play (Judd was the same in terms of reinventing a style of play).

He looks a bit like a Sam Mitchell with great acceleration and pace and better endurance. That allows him to play that half back / mid hybrid role and essentially cover the entire ground (you will find him many times at the start of the forward transition chains from half back, all the way to the last or second last touch before a scoring shot).

The main reason this is so damaging is that he is basically a ‘creator’. Creates opportunities from nothing positions and nothing balls.

Imo his best like for like is Gaz Jnr.

 

[Mr Meow]

Imo his best like for like is Gaz Jnr.

Agreed. Maybe peak GAJ had a splash more pace? But it took him longer to start displaying his very best qualities (his 2004-2006 were underrated but he obviously wasn't AA level yet).

Daicos is way too young to compare to the very best years of the very best players YET. Let's just enjoy what he's doing without comparisons, for now. Which is exceptional work.

 

[Cdog71]

Imo his best like for like is Gaz Jnr.

Kick ins, coming off the back flank, rotating in and out of the play.
That’s not GAJ.
Daicos is better opening up the play, at making others better and releasing them, his repertoire for different kicks and being elite at them is crazy.
GAJ was a stoppage player or HF, traditional positions and could play under the pack.
I don’t think Daicos plays traditional positions.
I think they’re pretty different IMO

 

[loki04]

Kick ins, coming off the back flank, rotating in and out of the play.
That’s not GAJ.
Daicos is better opening up the play, at making others better and releasing them, his repertoire for different kicks and being elite at them is crazy.
GAJ was a stoppage player or HF, traditional positions and could play under the pack.
I don’t think Daicos plays traditional positions.
I think they’re pretty different IMO

At stoppages and field play there are a lot of similarities between the 2, imo he projects much more gaz jnr then any other comparison. Including physical attributes, I know some people say Nick doesn't have gaz pace but I'd argue that I think his pace is very much on par and gets undersold.

Obviously not talking about his back half role.

Also similar does not mean identical. Nick obviously has his own differences as all players do.

 

[loki04]

Agreed. Maybe peak GAJ had a splash more pace? But it took him longer to start displaying his very best qualities (his 2004-2006 were underrated but he obviously wasn't AA level yet).

Daicos is way too young to compare to the very best years of the very best players YET. Let's just enjoy what he's doing without comparisons, for now. Which is exceptional work.

Yeah he ain't peak gaz yet, just projects that way in coming years imo with a bit more handball game added in.
Nick is a 20yo 2nd year player there is plenty of growth to go in his game.
Far from a finished product.

As for pace. I reckon nicks pace is about on par with Gaz jnr, Nick gets a bit under sold in that department by neutrals imo.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Why when someone great at it can start scoring chains vs someone not great at it will get you hemmed in on your own back pocket and needing to go long boundary to a contest invariably defended.

Nick sets up the play we often go length of field from his kick ins, he also through the year would end up hack in that chain of possessions.


It's ridiculous to try downplay his impact just because a kick in is not "earned".
What is earned is the trust his team has in him to execute the kick and make the best decision to create drive from FB.

NICK very rarely takes safe kick in options.

I wouldn't worry too much mate, we have him, that's all that matters, it funny how lots try to put him down, then argue how we were gifted him and because of that also gifted the GF.

 

[DopeMaster]

Yes I am bitterly disappointed a Josh Daicos led Collingwood won 3 finals by the smallest combined margins in history to take the most unlikely of Premierships back to the AIA Centre or whoever you sold naming rights to now.

Worst B & F winner in the history of flag teams + lowest winning margins in finals in the history or flag teams = weakest Premier in history.

However, what it does show is that false hopes sometimes actually come to fruition. Just ask Stephen Bradbury.

Fake laughter, false Premier. So appropriate.

I knew it was time for Collingwood to win a Grand Final when I saw a hen waiting to see my dentist.

Like music to my ears!

Please sir, can I have some more?

 

[Cdog71]

At stoppages and field play there are a lot of similarities between the 2, imo he projects much more gaz jnr then any other comparison. Including physical attributes, I know some people say Nick doesn't have gaz pace but I'd argue that I think his pace is very much on par and gets undersold.

Obviously not talking about his back half role.

Also similar does not mean identical. Nick obviously has his own differences as all players do.

Not sure why you think so.
The difference in ave
Tackles, clearances, contested possesions, Goals and Goal assists.
It’s not close.

I like watching Daicos play, I really do.
IMO the closest player to him and the way he plays is probably Pendlebury.