Player Watch Will Ashcroft - Better than Nick Daicos?

[Cleansweep17]

What would be fairer would be to have Ashcroft / Sheezel vs Nick Daicos.

All Australians

Nick Daicos 2
Sheezcroft 0

Brownlow Votes
Nick Daicos 77
Sheezcroft 27

Coaches Award
Daicos 1
Sheezcroft 0

Who is a better finals player?

Should end the convo right there

Ashcroft v Walsh should be the real debate. Nicky is finito

 

[Elixuh]

Imagine how much the Pies nuffies would be frothing if Nick had been good enough to win a Norm Smith in his second year, under 30 games and 12 games off an ACL. You'd never hear the end of it.

 

[adammania9]

Imagine how much the Pies nuffies would be frothing if Nick had been good enough to win a Norm Smith in his second year, under 30 games and 12 games off an ACL. You'd never hear the end of it.

Initiated the premiership-winning play. That's good enough for us

 

[black is White]

Imagine how much the Pies nuffies would be frothing if Nick had been good enough to win a Norm Smith in his second year, under 30 games and 12 games off an ACL. You'd never hear the end of it.

Nick Daicos nearly won the Norm smith with a broken leg

 

[King Tut]

To keep it brief “NO” is the answer.

 

[Lockyer24]

Imagine how much the Pies nuffies would be frothing if Nick had been good enough to win a Norm Smith in his second year, under 30 games and 12 games off an ACL. You'd never hear the end of it.

We will settle for him being the best player in the comp year 2 and on track to surpass Judd, Ablett and co

 

[Elixuh]

We will settle for him being the best player in the comp year 2 and on track to surpass Judd, Ablett and co

But two time Brownlow medalist Lachie Neale won the Brownlow in Daicos' second year

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

But two time Brownlow medalist Lachie Neale won the Brownlow in Daicos' second year

And Crippa in his 3rd year... So far all Nicky has to his name in individual achievements is the rigged Coaches Votes from Fleabags Macrae and a couple of jackets.

Funny though when people list the best of all time and best of this generation they always have the one thing in common. A willingness to put their body on the line and their head over the ball... Something Ashcroft is more than willing to do.

 

[danster168]

We will settle for him being the best player in the comp year 2 and on track to surpass Judd, Ablett and co

I think every bit of his game is as good as these 2, except his attack on the ball in a contested situation is a glaring weakness in his game. And until he improves in this area, he won't be in the mix with these 2. And there's no shame in that.

People in the past have quoted contested ball numbers to try to convince others (and maybe themselves) that he's actually not weak in the contest but contested possessions aren't hard-ball gets and we've already seen Daicos proactively avoid physical contact in many contests in his first couple of seasons.

He's one of the best players in the comp but being brave and hard is something that he'll never be good at. He'll improve it but by how much I guess is the question. He played his best footy on the juicy half back line in my opinion.

 

[Mr Meow]

And Crippa in his 3rd year... So far all Nicky has to his name in individual achievements is the rigged Coaches Votes from Fleabags Macrae and a couple of jackets.

Funny though when people list the best of all time and best of this generation they always have the one thing in common. A willingness to put their body on the line and their head over the ball... Something Ashcroft is more than willing to do.

Yeah the umpires never give Daicos votes.

1.18 votes per game over his first 3 seasons. Already more BOGs than Butters.

If you call him a coaches pet you have to call him an umpires pet too. There's not really a discrepancy.

Where we have to get careful in these discussions are comparing Brownlow/Coaches votes average to players of previous eras. The vote inflation for star mids has gotten out of control. Look at the tallies of top 5/10s in the '20s compared to the '00s or first half of the '10s.

 

[danster168]

And Crippa in his 3rd year... So far all Nicky has to his name in individual achievements is the rigged Coaches Votes from Fleabags Macrae and a couple of jackets.

Funny though when people list the best of all time and best of this generation they always have the one thing in common. A willingness to put their body on the line and their head over the ball... Something Ashcroft is more than willing to do.

Most of the time Ashcroft puts his head over the ball it's to stage for a head high free kicks though. It's a huge disappointment in his game as he's a repeat offender. Doesn't mean he isn't going to be a gun (if not already) aka Selwood but as good as Selwood was, he'll never be able to shake the playing for frees tag.

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Most of the time Ashcroft puts his head over the ball it's to stage for a head high free kicks though. It's a huge disappointment in his game as he's a repeat offender. Doesn't mean he isn't going to be a gun (if not already) aka Selwood but as good as Selwood was, he'll never be able to shake the playing for frees tag.

I disagree with that, I think Ashcroft plays a very fair and respectable brand of footy. If we're talking staging for free kicks Daicos is just about the worst there is outside of some dreadful small forwards.

 

[Lingsface]

Very exciting to see these two coming through along with Sheezel it’s going to be a star studded competition, Serong is a jet as well. Daicos to be considered in the discussion for best player in the competition at this stage of his career is unheard of he is a special talent and Ashcroft coming back with no pre season and to win a Norm Smith wow!

 

[Fadge]

But two time Brownlow medalist Lachie Neale won the Brownlow in Daicos' second year

Are you suggesting Lachie Neale was better than Nick Daicos in 2023, courtesy of his (surprise) Brownlow win?

I hope you're not saying that?

I rated Daicos comfortably ahead of Neale in 2023, but Neale marginally ahead of Daicos in 2024. I didn't think Nick was too far ahead of Neale with regard to home and away season performance in 2024, and Neale's finals performances enabled him to leapfrog Daicos in 2024.

So over the past two seasons:
1. Daicos
2. Neale
3. Bontempelli

 

[Lingsface]

Are you suggesting Lachie Neale was better than Nick Daicos in 2023, courtesy of his (surprise) Brownlow win?

I hope you're not saying that?

I rated Daicos comfortably ahead of Neale in 2023, but Neale marginally ahead of Daicos in 2024. I didn't think Nick was too far ahead of Neale with regard to home and away season performance in 2024, and Neale's finals performances enabled him to leapfrog Daicos in 2024.

So over the past two seasons:
1. Daicos
2. Neale
3. Bontempelli

I think Jeremy Cameron gets a look in. If it was past 3 seasons he is close to the top.

 

[Mr Meow]

I think Jeremy Cameron gets a look in. If it was past 3 seasons he is close to the top.

This season Cameron didn't do enough against the best teams.

If he carried on his first half from the PF then it may have swung the result, but he was ineffective/invisible. He had a lot of quiet halves against the contending sides. 2022 he was brilliant, 2023 was disappointing. So I wouldn't have him quite up there.

 

[Fadge]

I think Jeremy Cameron gets a look in. If it was past 3 seasons he is close to the top.

He could have been.

But my assessment was done over the past two years, and he's been a couple of rungs below the 3 I mentioned over that time period.

 

[Miluxx]

Most of the time Ashcroft puts his head over the ball it's to stage for a head high free kicks though. It's a huge disappointment in his game as he's a repeat offender. Doesn't mean he isn't going to be a gun (if not already) aka Selwood but as good as Selwood was, he'll never be able to shake the playing for frees tag.

You never fail to impress me. You are the only person I've heard put Ashcroft in this bracket. Most of my footballing mates are non lions fans and they froth what ashcrodt is able to do. His clean hands, vision and ability to create forward momentum.

You are a delusional flog.

 

[Miluxx]

Very exciting to see these two coming through along with Sheezel it’s going to be a star studded competition, Serong is a jet as well. Daicos to be considered in the discussion for best player in the competition at this stage of his career is unheard of he is a special talent and Ashcroft coming back with no pre season and to win a Norm Smith wow!

I think one thing is for certain that footy is in great hands with the likes of Sheezel, Daicos and Ashcroft. There is probably another dozen potential hall of famers too like Serong.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Another one Fadge

On SM-A225F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Holmes or Daicos?

The answer is always Daics, Falcon

On SM-A225F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Judd2Sewell]

No, he's obviously not.

 

[draft_enjoyer]

Holmes or Daicos?

Come on mate this is ridiculous..

 

[danster168]

Will Ashcroft is way better than Daicos, the reason I say this is because he could play in any era, Daicos no.

Can you imagine a running machine like Criag Bradley (even a Judd or Buckley) playing in this era, cruising by to recieve a handball while the man on the mark can't move, this is what Daicos does to get 20 of his disposals every game.

Daicos is a great weapon to have in this era but you let the man on the mark move laterally, and Daicos becomes half the player he is right now. Daicos is the only one of all these young players that I would be concerned for if he was playing before 2021, all the others would have no problems in any era.

With that said, Ashcroft is getting it done in any era, so there's your answer guys, you can all move on now.

Now, if the question was is Daicos better than Max Holmes, I'm taking Max Holmes. Who you guys got?

I understand what you're saying. And I agree with parts of it. A lot of guys in other era's like Riccuito may not have been as good in this era. But Ashcroft is playing in this era. And he's not near AA calibre yet. Daicos is a yearly shoe-in for the rest of his career. And maybe I just don't see it with Ashcroft. His skills are decent, but not elite. Athletically he isn't gifted. And if anyone is a pure accumulator it's Ashcroft. The amount of unnecessary 1-2 handballs also inflate his numbers. The amount of times he runs into the backline to get the easy uncontested mark too. Obviously Daicos does this too but Daicos is always dealing with a tag, a hard tag, every week. Ashcroft has no-one, ever.

Like he is behind guys like Gulden, Mac Andrew, Rankine, Horne-Francis, Warner etc. And I'm taking Sheezel well ahead of him too. And obviously Harley Reid. And Walsh etc. And I'm also grabbing Nick Watson before him too because he has serious X factor. He's in the Serong tier for me. But it's each to their own.

He averages 22.9 touches a game, with no tags and plenty of unnecessary 1-2 handballs. I'm not going to overreact to a norm smith medal in a blow out grand final win. In my eyes, he was behind Neale, Lohmann and Starcevich.
.

 

[draft_enjoyer]

I understand what you're saying. And I agree with parts of it. A lot of guys in other era's like Riccuito may not have been as good in this era. But Ashcroft is playing in this era. And he's not near AA calibre yet. Daicos is a yearly shoe-in for the rest of his career. And maybe I just don't see it with Ashcroft. His skills are decent, but not elite. Athletically he isn't gifted. And if anyone is a pure accumulator it's Ashcroft. The amount of unnecessary 1-2 handballs also inflate his numbers. The amount of times he runs into the backline to get the easy uncontested mark too. Obviously Daicos does this too but Daicos is always dealing with a tag, a hard tag, every week. Ashcroft has no-one, ever.

Like he is behind guys like Gulden, Mac Andrew, Rankine, Horne-Francis, Warner etc. And I'm taking Sheezel well ahead of him too. And obviously Harley Reid. And Walsh etc. And I'm also grabbing Nick Watson before him too because he has serious X factor. He's in the Serong tier for me. But it's each to their own.

He averages 22.9 touches a game, with no tags and plenty of unnecessary 1-2 handballs. I'm not going to overreact to a norm smith medal in a blow out grand final win. In my eyes, he was behind Neale, Lohmann and Starcevich.
.