Ahead of Nick Daicos’ 100th game, there’s a watch on who are going to be his Collingwood running partners for the rest of his career in black and white.
In and Under delves into footy’s hottest topics, with insights from behind the scenes.
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The Pies find themselves in something of a state of AFL purgatory.
They have arguably the best player in the game, Nick Daicos, and the most experienced list in the competition. Yet no longer appear to be in the premiership hunt amid major scoring problems.
In fact, it’s been 15 games since they’ve last kicked 100 points. Ironically, the last time Craig McRae’s side scored in triple figures was against arch rival Carlton, its opponent on Thursday night.
They’ve copped some heat for letting Brody Mihocek go this past off-season due to those forward woes. Tom Mitchell, Mason Cox and Will Hoskin-Elliott were among their other departures in a stack of experience out the door.
Separately, they could’ve paid overs for Jy Simpkin to help beef up their midfield.
But it’s the first time in a few years that the club seemed to accept its fate; that it needs to start preserving draft assets with an eye on addressing its void of youth. Instead of continuously kicking the proverbial can down the road.
They’re now faced with a crucial three-year window to show Daicos it’s worth sticking around.
That openness to losing Mihocek is a perfect microcosm of the way they should be thinking moving forward.
As good a servant as the 33-year was, Collingwood almost needed to force itself to start finding new, younger pieces. And freeing up funds for their next generation that will lead them forward, instead of overly prioritising what worked in the past.
Even though, sure, in a perfect world they’d have kept five-time club leading goalkicker Mihocek.
But it probably wouldn’t have been the difference in them contending in 2026 or not anyway.
Having a quieter off-season crucially meant the Pies went into 2026 with their first-round pick for the first time since 2023.
After that winning that flag, they sent out their 2024 and 2025 first-rounders to get Lachie Schultz and Dan Houston.
You can’t knock them for continuing to top up to try and prolong that run.
But even in their last two years they had first rounders, they were at the end of the round; they used Pick 25 on Harry DeMattia (2023) and Pick 19 on Ed Allan (2022).
Therefore, part of the problem is the lack of high-end picks and thus lack of access to elite young talent, as much as not having the high-end picks themselves.
Rival list bosses still rate Collingwood’s top 15 or so players, but suggested what’s below that isn’t the answer.
Aside from Nick Daicos, the list of promising Magpies 25 and under is worrying low. Especially when you consider recent debutants Oscar Steene and Angus Anderson have shown more than several others.
It’s largely Daicos, Beau McCreery, who himself is showing he might have a ceiling as a player, then a whole lot of question marks. Roan Steele and Ned Long have shown a bit without blowing your socks off, and the club still has high hopes for Reef McInnes.
Swans are the kings of chaos | 03:15
COLLINGWOOD PLAYERS 25 AND UNDER
24 – Beau McCreery, Jack Buller, Roan Steele
23 –Wil Parker, Reef McInnes, Nick Daicos, Ned Long, Angus Anderson, Oscar Steene, Harvey Harrison
21 –Ed Allan, Jaokob Ryan, Tew Jiath
20 –Iliro Smit, Harry Demattia, Noah Howes, Charlie West, Joel Cochran
19 – Will Hayes, Sam Swadling, Tyan Prindable
18 – Jai Saxena, Zac McCarthy
COLLINGWOOD PLAYERS NEARING THE END?
38 – Scott Pendlebury
35 – Jeremy, Howe, Steele Sidebottom
33 – Jamie Elliott
32 – Jack Crisp, Tim Membrey (turns 32 in May)
It’s worth noting that the club lost two younger players from that 2023 flag, while another’s status is up in the air.
They traded Jack Ginnivan to Hawthorn in a move that’s not ageing well.
Nathan Murphy was forced to retire on medical grounds.
And Bobby Hill, despite an encouraging recent return to training, has played a half of senior footy in 10 months.
It’s meant some core pieces that were going to help transition the list into the future aren’t there anymore to exasperate a wider question mark; who’s going to be the new torchbearers of this club when the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Jeremy Howe depart?
Just how will this side look in 2027? 2028? 2029?
One list manager spoken to by foxfooty.com.au suggested the Magpies have to replace the senior players they lose with more experience. If they lose three, they need to replace three, with an eye on players in the 25 to 28 age bracket — like when they got Schultz, Houston and Harry Perryman.
Staggering the departures of those experienced names will also be important, so it makes sense why they let so many veterans go this past off-season from a broader list management strategy perspective.
That idea would suggest Collingwood needs to attempt to do two things at once — find elite young talent and replenish their departing veteran stocks.
It crucially comes ahead of a series of compromised drafts from 2027 set to be dominated by Tasmania.
Another list boss noted that clubs needing to shore up their long-term future would’ve been planning around the Devils’ impending arrival.
To ensure they got good access to the draft before the Devils dominate it.
In other words, it’s not a good time to be rebuilding.
It means this upcoming draft, which, one list manager is already bullish on the first round, is the last draft that won’t be impacted at all by the Devils.
Even though it’s a draft that already has top prospects Dougie Cochrane (Port Adelaide) and Cody Walker (Carlton) linked to clubs. Even if we’re still none the wiser on exactly how much capital those clubs will need to give up to get them.
But if the Pies were to try and get more stock in the 2026 draft, there’s a view that the Daicos brothers are their only players with true trade value.
Swans demand answers from AFL | 00:59
The consensus is that Collingwood will largely try and double down its strategy of topping up, but with a more balanced approach, and avoid a traditional rebuild.
Key Collingwood people have already suggested as much.
Of course, clubs that aren’t using all mechanisms available to build their list — including trade, free agency, the national draft, rookie draft and mid-season draft — are missing a trick.
But every club is uniquely placed and needs to play on its own strengths and individual blueprint that’s worked.
One key benefit for Collingwood is simply being Collingwood.
They’re a powerhouse club with an innate advantage in that they’ll always attract marquee players.
Like when a player such as Jy Simpkin is on the outer at their club and looking for a new home, Collingwood’s presence always looms large.
Another list boss pointed out that Geelong is the “outlier” that’s avoided a traditional rebuild and still found ways to keep regenerating its list with young talent.
Even the likes of Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle endured short periods of pain. Call them accelerated rebuilds.
While many suggested the acquisitions of Houston and Perryman were made for some final, all-out flag push, it’s as much about bridging the gap between this era and the next.
So, how do you continue to add talent through trade and free agency while maintaining your draft hand at the same time? It’s a fine needle to thread.
You can always pick off talented players on the outer of good clubs that won’t command much in a trade.
In Collingwood’s case, the common suggestion that came up from rival list managers was the F word — free agency.
The Pies have, by all accounts, opened up significant salary cap space to use on the player market.
Though one problem with this upcoming free agency class is that all the big names, like Zak Butters, Ben King and Zac Bailey, have restricted status and their clubs plan to match any offers that come their way.
But then again, clubs have very rarely matched free agency offers over the years. So it clearly shapes as a key tool for the Pies to maximise as a big Victorian club.
King would be an ideal addition to Collingwood’s forward line, while it could like a rung down to fellow key forwards free agents Mitch Lewis and Joel Amartey.
That forward line clearly needs more talent and would appear to be a priority. But then, same as the midfield and they should be desperate to find long-term options to surround Nick Daicos with.
This looming transitional phase comes with the fascinating backdrop of Daicos’ future coming into the spotlight amid talk Tasmania is set to make a big-money play for the superstar ahead of their entry in the competition in 2028.
But there’s even suggestions other Victorian clubs — not just the Devils — are queuing up for Daicos.
He’s contracted until 2029, so perhaps the noise around Daicos is overblown and partly leverage from he and his camp to have his current deal reworked.
Daicos could easily already be a two-time Brownlow medallist and deserves to be the highest-paid player in the game.
So, the Pies wouldn’t want to treat it as a bluff and in any way put the future of a generational player, that’s far and away their best asset, at risk.
Reading between the lines, the message is pretty clear; Daicos wants to continue to chase success and won’t blindly stay in black and white forever just because of the family link. Which, itself is seemingly a bit frosty right now.
Perhaps the best thing to set up Collingwood for more success long-term is to take a step backwards.
That said, most list managers think it’s highly unlikely Daicos would ever actually leave Collingwood.
If it were to happen, there’s one view that Tassie is the only realistic landing spot given the massive funds the 19th club could offer; with help from a $5 million sign-on bonus.
But then again, if he were to leave Collingwood to chase success elsewhere, why would he join a start-up club that have historically taken years to be competitive? Unless the lure of helping start a club from scratch — along with the mega payday — is that appealing.
Another list boss said they wouldn’t be shocked if Daicos ended his career up north away from the Melbourne bubble.
Some believe Daicos would be best served in the long term, from a commercial perspective, staying at Collingwood. But it could be argued his own personal brand has surpassed that need to stay tied to the biggest club in the land.
Plus, by the end of 2029, Daicos would have served eight years at the Pies and already entrenched himself as a club great. Heck, he’s already done that in 100 games!
Again, Daicos has three more years to run on his contract, so this isn’t a major priority right now. Even if Daicos’ future should, in a sense, always be.
But he’d surely be looking at the players around him similarly aged and asking the question we’re all thinking: What is this going to look like in a few years?
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