Daicos ‘unwilling to sign’ mega Magpies deal right now as Vic rivals ready to enter $25m race

Nick Daicos is currently “unwilling” to sign a long-term contract extension at Collingwood with Victorian rivals joining Tasmania in the queue for the superstar’s services.

The Age reported as it stands, Daicos does not want to commit beyond his current contract with the Magpies, which lasts until the end of 2029.

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That’s despite the club, where his family is royalty, “showing a willingness” to offer a long-term deal which would make him a Collingwood player for life.

Daicos was “unhappy” with how coach Craig McRae used him at times last year, “particularly when deployed in roles that limited his influence around the contest”, according to the report.

The midfielder spent even more time outside the contest in Opening Round, racking up 41 disposals but just six contested possessions.

There was also the drama at the Collingwood best and fairest where Daicos surprisingly finished runner-up after McRae joked about him coming runner-up in the Brownlow earlier in the night. The club has since changed its voting system.

Daicos’ reticence to sign on has seen Victorian clubs join the Devils in watching him closely, though the expansion club still looms as the top suitor because of their huge draft assets and $5 million of sign-on bonuses to spend.

Daicos will be a free agent when he comes out of contract meaning should he flag an interest in leaving the Magpies, it could be in the club’s best interest to consider a trade.

Tasmania will have 11 first-round picks in their first three drafts, six of which have to be traded away, with the AFL attempting to ensure the Devils have an experienced player base rather than following Gold Coast and GWS in being so heavily built on draftees.

They will enter the AFL in 2028.

“It would be remiss of us as a company not to sit down with Tassie and see what they would think,” Paul Connors, who runs CDG Sports Management and looks after Daicos through agent Robbie D’Orazio, told AFL Media recently.

“I think Nick’s the best player in the competition, he’s a leader, he’s an outstanding person, so if you were (Devils list boss) Todd Patterson you’d be remiss if you didn’t want to have a conversation with Robbie at some stage.”

The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph estimated on Fox Footy last weekend Tasmania could offer Daicos a 10-year, $25 million contract to be the expansion club’s marquee player.

“A lot of these things depend on where Collingwood are on the ladder,” Hall of Fame legend and Magpies premiership coach Leigh Matthews said in response.

“The salary cap doesn’t work to the way it’s designed because players want to go to certain clubs, particularly clubs that might be in premiership contention.

“The idea of the salary cap is everyone gets paid exactly their value – good clubs have got too many good players. Players have got to go to the bottom clubs to top up the bottom clubs but it doesn’t work that way.

“If Collingwood happen to drop to the bottom half of the ladder, that might be a slightly different situation than if they stay up in the top three or four.”