\n The Magpies will relish being questioned in their premiership pursuit, superstar Nick Daicos said\n <\/p>\n
Nick Daicos in action during the match between Richmond and Collingwood at the MCG in round 20, 2025. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n
NICK Daicos has warned critics to write off Collingwood at their own peril as goalsneak Bobby Hill takes steps towards an unlikely finals recall.<\/p>\n
Hill has managed just one senior appearance in more than two months, spending time away from the club while dealing with personal issues.<\/p>\n
The 2023 Norm Smith medallist asked coach Craig McRae to leave the door ajar for him to feature in the Magpies’ flag push, and has returned to training this week.<\/p>\n
Hill appears a long shot to be considered for selection in the qualifying final against Adelaide on Thursday night, but his presence at the club has buoyed teammates.<\/p>\n
“We know Bob’s super important to what we do and it’s sort of a day by day process with him,” Daicos said.<\/p>\n
“The (strength and conditioning) team just want to make sure he’s completing his training, which he’s doing at the moment.<\/p>\n
Bobby Hill celebrates a goal during Collingwood’s clash against Melbourne in round 13, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
“It’s so exciting to see him out there, running around with a ball in hand and taking blokes on.<\/p>\n
“That’s up to them when (they think) he’s fit to be ready and we’re just enjoying seeing him around.”<\/p>\n
Collingwood topped the ladder for 11 consecutive weeks but won only two of its last seven home and away games, finishing fourth after a last-round escape against Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The form dip, coupled with key defender Jeremy Howe’s latest injury setback, has led critics to question the Magpies’ flag credentials.<\/p>\n
“We relish that. Write us off at your own peril, I guess,” Daicos said.<\/p>\n
Nick Daicos celebrates with a goal during the match between Adelaide and Collingwood at Adelaide Oval in round 23, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
“We’re ready to go, we know our game’s in great shape and we can’t wait to get to Adelaide.”<\/p>\n
A fiery clash looms, after a controversial fallout from the Crows’ three-point win over Collingwood in round 23.<\/p>\n
Izak Rankine was handed a four-match ban for a homophobic slur directed at a Magpies opponent.<\/p>\n
“Playing over there a couple of weeks ago was such a great game and playing in front of that crowd with the momentum swings, we really relish,” Daicos said.<\/p>\n
“(We learned) that our game’s in really good stead. They’re the ladder leaders and we lost the game by under a kick.<\/p>\n
“It probably could’ve gone either way so we know that if we play our best footy we’ll take it right up to them.”<\/p>\n
Daicos claimed the AFL Players’ Association MVP award this week and was named in the All-Australian team for the third time.<\/p>\n
Nick Daicos after being presented with the Leigh Matthews Trophy for Most Valuable Player during the 2025 AFL Awards at Centrepiece on August 28, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
He is also among the leading Brownlow Medal contenders after finishing second behind Carlton’s Patrick Cripps last year.<\/p>\n
But the 22-year-old Daicos insists he isn’t distracted from the task at hand against Adelaide, with a home preliminary final the prize for the winner.<\/p>\n
“It’s obviously such an amazing award and it would be a privilege to even be in contention for it … but I’m solely focused on Thursday night,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s such an amazing opportunity to get back in a finals series and that’s where my focus lies.”<\/p>\n
Also on Friday, the Magpies announced Howe and fellow veteran Steele Sidebottom will continue next season on one-year deals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Magpies will relish being questioned in their premiership pursuit, superstar Nick Daicos said Nick Daicos in action…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-103818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}