Nick Daicos has shot down suggestions he could be traded away from Collingwood while endorsing the club’s interest in North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin. And the Magpies superstar has responded to the storm created by comments from coach Craig McRae during and after the club’s Best and Fairest night.
McRae has been criticised for his comments around the club’s awards night, after taking a cheeky dig at Matt Rowell’s Bronwlow Medal triumph. It backfired when Daicos didn’t even win Collingwood’s top gong, finishing second (like he did in the Brownlow voting) to Darcy Cameron.
McRae then created even more controversy when he revealed the club is considering changing the voting system for the Copeland Trophy. McRae said the club is looking at tweaking the 4,3,2,1 voting system because it results in too many votes overall.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae (L) landed himself in hot water with comments he made about Nick Daicos (R) during and after the club’s Best and Fairest night. Image: Collingwood
“The process is in place, but I always want to challenge them,” McRae said. “I think Darcy Cameron is a great winner, but I’d look at the process and there were times where I think Nick (Daicos) probably could’ve got more votes here and there.
“I’ll make sure, with the position I’m in, that I’ll be able to ask the right questions of the right people and make the necessary changes where we think there need to be.”
Fans felt the comments were somewhat disrespectful to Cameron and a “slap in the face” after his achievement. Speaking on Saturday, Daicos said his teammate was a deserving winner.
“Darcy Cameron is one of my good mates and he had a great year,” Daicos said. “Often I’m the beneficiary of a lot of the work he does in the ruck. There was probably a lot of boys that could’ve won it and I’m glad it went Darcy’s way.”
Nick Daicos responds to AFL trade rumours
Daicos’ legendary father Peter reportedly stormed out of the club’s presentation night, and was said to be perturbed by comments from McRae. That sparked rival clubs to contact Daicos’ management – and even the player himself – to see if there’s any appetite for him to leave.
The 22-year-old is contracted to the Magpies until the end of 2029, but that hasn’t stopped rivals making contact and launching audacious bids for the gun midfielder. “I guess it’s just that time of year, isn’t it?” Daicos said on Saturday at Caulfield racecourse.
“I’ll leave all that business with my manager, Robbie D’Orazio, he does a great job. He always says to me, ‘if it’s anything serious and I need to let you know, I’ll let you know.’ He hasn’t let me know as of yet. There’s always movement going on but I just wait to hear from a call from Robbie.”
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When pressed on whether Collingwood fans had anything to worry about, Daicos said: “I can put that to bed. I don’t think so. As I said, Robbie handles all that stuff and I haven’t heard anything, so it’s just business as usual and I’m contracted. I keep putting my effort and energy into the Collingwood football club.”
Nick Daicos keen on Collingwood getting Jy Simpkin
The Pies are said to be interested in North skipper Simpkin, who is frustrated by a lack of midfield minutes at the lowly Kangaroos. Collingwood have turned their attention to Simpkin after missing out on midfielder Clayton Oliver to GWS.
“That would be awesome,” Daicos said about the Pies potentially getting Simpkin. “As ‘Fly’ (Craig McRae) has said many times, we want to keep improving and become a better football club.
“So any time that you can welcome in a star player from an opposition, you’d jump at that opportunity, and I think the club’s doing their best to try and get him across. He’d definitely help us, so that would be great.”
Jy Simpkin and Nick Daicos could be teammates at Collingwood in 2026. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
with AAP