‘Doesn’t faze me’: Pies star happy to be among best
Roger Vaughan |
Nick Daicos has brushed off his curious run of near misses for individual AFL honours as he plans to spend time playing out of the goal square this season.
The Collingwood star shone for Victoria in last Saturday’s State of Origin win over WA, but GWS defender Lachie Ash won the EJ Whitten Medal as their best player.
Daicos was a surprise runner-up to ruckman Darcy Cameron in last year’s club best and fairest voting. He also finished second in the last two Brownlow Medal counts after finishing third in 2023.
It’s prompted plenty of talk about whether one of the game’s best ball users and runners is being judged more harshly because of his ability, or whether Daicos does enough on the ground.
“I find that I’m so focused on moving onto the next thing that it doesn’t really faze me. That’s not my focus,” Daicos told AAP at Thusday’s launch of the Kayo Sports AFL coverage.
“Of course, it’s nice if they do come, but it definitely doesn’t make me less motivated. If anything, it just adds fuel to the fire and I feel like I’m ready to go.
“I don’t feel hard-done by at all. Every award … there have been multiple players who could have won.
“So I’m just one of those players in contention. Even just to be in contention is a huge honour for me and I just want to make sure I put my best foot forward every season.”
Daicos also said Ash thoroughly deserved to be named Victoria’s best player.
“We put on a great spectacle and it was played the right way, super-competitive,” Daicos said of Saturday’s match at Optus Stadium.
“Ashy had a great game, it probably could have gone to a number of players, it was such an even-spread team.
“On the night, Ashy was huge … he also played on blokes like Kozy Pickett and Shai (Bolton), who are so dangerous. He did a great job.”
Daicos also said on Thursday he wants to go forward more often. He is best known – and most lethal – for breaking lines with his pace and ball use.
“I’d love to get my forward craft going, kick a few more goals – just add another string to the bow, try and play full forward,” he said.
“Marking will be one of those things I definitely will work on.”
That begs the obvious question – does he try to be more like Richmond great Dustin Martin, who was as lethal in attack as he was around the ball.
“I dunno about Dusty’s role – there’s only one guy who can do that, and that’s Dusty.
“I feel like there’s heaps of improvement – I’m a real competitor, I think we all are.
“We know there are different levels to our game and still so much to evolve.”
While Collingwood made a preliminary final last year, there are predictions they might struggle this season. But it is only three years since they won a premiership and Daicos remains bullish.
“Ultimately Brissy won it last year, so there’s a lot of work that Collingwood and myself to do,” Daicos said.
“It’s a proven formula, in 2023, and even last year for the first half of the year we were going really strongly and you make it to a preliminary final.
“It’s only minor tweaks that we need to make.”
AAP