Collingwood star Nick Daicos has found himself embroiled in controversy again this week for his on-field antics, with many pundits left outraged by a pair of free kicks he drew against Melbourne on Friday night.

In the Magpies thrilling comeback win to all but cement themselves inside the top four, Daicos led a fourth quarter Collingwood surge, with Melbourne opting to drop the tag by Ed Langdon on the 22-year-old after falling behind in the first half.

However, it hasn’t been Daicos’ team-high 27 disposals and six inside 50s leading the conversation post-match, with attention turning to his alleged “flopping” acts that have been rewarded by umpires with free kicks.

The infamous incident on Friday night occurred during the second quarter, following a Daicos tackle on Langdon which forced the pair over the boundary line. A small push and shove between the sides ensued as the players attempted to get back on their feet, with a push from Melbourne’s Jai Culley appearing to send Daicos on to the turf.

However, other angles of the incident have revealed that Langdon was also holding on to Daicos’ lower leg, further causing him to lose his balance.

‘A little bit of mayo on that one!’ 😅 – Nick Daicos certainly made the most of this to draw a cheeky free kick 🫣

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Earlier in the quarter, Daicos was awarded a holding the man free kick, raising his arms to indicate to the field umpire that he was being hampered, which drew the ire of rival fans online.

The criticism has been growing off the back of similar incidents involving Daicos earlier in the season, including last week against Adelaide where he received a free kick after being hit in the chest by Crows defender Brodie Smith.

However, Melbourne interim coach Troy Chaplin was quick to defend the superstar midfielder when asked about his thoughts on the matter, stating that the free kicks “were probably there”.

“It’s a tough game to umpire. They were probably there [the free kicks],” Chaplin said post-game.

“There was a lot of feeling in the game and when you’re getting tagged, you’ve always got someone on you. You can, not play for [free kicks], but when you’ve got someone right on you there’s going to be some holding.

“I didn’t sit there and go, ‘the umpiring is one sided’. I thought it was a great game of footy. When you don’t notice the umpiring, that’s an awesome thing. It’s a bloody hard game to umpire, so I thought they got a lot of it right.”

Chaplin explained his reasoning behind the decision to drop the tag on Daicos at the start of the second half, a tactical adjustment he believes worked well despite the eventual loss.

“We were tagging Nick to start with, and Ed was doing a really good job, but the turnover metres were killing us,” Chaplin said.

“We had to adjust from putting one in at stoppage where Ed was tagging to going back to six forwards. We just talked to the backs about their positioning behind the ball, how we could get a bit more corridor density…

“It was almost a bit of a risk because Ed’s doing a job on one of the best in the game, to then say to him, ‘We need you to drop that and go after our game’, I think the guys responded really well.”

Melbourne conclude their 2025 season with a record of 7-16, unable to provide Chaplin with a taste of victory as senior coach. The Demons next senior coach is to be announced in September, with Chaplin set to return to an assistant coaching role for the club in 2026.