![\"Danny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/14200608ab3621357a740646c1e6f58c8cefb511.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
April 3, 2026 \u2014 12:44am<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Key pointsCraig McRae admitted Nick Daicos had a \u2018corkie\u2019 before the Lions clash.Steele Sidebottom copped a crunching hit during the game.With Daicos sidelined, Will Ashcroft\u2019s star shone even brighter in prime time.<\/p>\n Collingwood defended their decision to fly Nick Daicos to Brisbane to take on the Lions only to have the superstar midfielder withdraw with a calf injury just 15 minutes before the start of the game on Thursday night.<\/p>\n It followed the bizarre move by the Magpies last week to leave skipper Darcy Moore on the ground against GWS when he was clearly suffering from a hamstring complaint<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moore was later ruled out for the next three to four weeks.<\/p>\n But Craig McRae said Daicos had made the trip to Brisbane fully expecting to play.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a corkie in his calf,\u201d the Collingwood coach said.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Tuesday at training he just wanted to get moving, that was the intention. He didn\u2019t train and was hobbling around.<\/p>\n \u201cNick\u2019s an ultra-positive guy, one of the best professionals in the game, let alone at our club, and we gave him every chance to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cThen he gets out here [for the warm-up], and we thought he\u2019d start improving. He just didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n When Daicos stepped out onto the Gabba surface for the club\u2019s pre-game routine, he never looked comfortable.<\/p>\n His right calf was heavily strapped, and he could barely run. He wasn\u2019t subject to a fitness test \u2013 he failed the warm-up.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he was a horse, you wouldn\u2019t back him, would you?\u201d McRae quipped on Fox Footy pre-game, still not knowing at that stage if Daicos would be out of the game.<\/p>\n His shock withdrawal minutes later clearly hurt Collingwood. They were no match for the Lions\u2019 rampant midfield in a 54-point loss, 17.17 (119) to 10.5 (65)<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I felt like we got outplayed for most of the night,\u201d McRae said.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, the scoreboard would say that. The stoppages really got away from us. When you lose territory against this team, it makes it really difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to probably give credit more to them than [talk about] us. But I did say to the playing group, \u2018There\u2019s a lot of stuff right in front of us that we can fix really quickly, and we need to get to work on that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n McRae said he did not expect his side to be affected by the late change, bringing emergency Ed Allan in to replace Daicos.<\/p>\n \u201cThings that happen before the game shouldn\u2019t really affect the first contest or our stoppage structure. They shouldn\u2019t,\u201d McRae said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know you could make a case that you take your best player out of any team, and it is probably going to disrupt them, but you\u2019d like to think not.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article He indicated Daicos would play against Fremantle in next week\u2019s Gather Round clash on Friday night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hoping it improves,\u201d McRae said. \u201cWe do have three days off. We\u2019re back in [at the club] on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a corkie. You\u2019d think that it starts to move. I don\u2019t know, unless it starts to express as something else, but we\u2019ll see how that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n McRae said club great Scott Pendlebury was also on track to tackle the Dockers next week at Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n \u201cI left the club yesterday morning, and he\u2019s there doing rehab, and he said, \u2018I feel good\u2019,\u201d the Collingwood coach said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got to train, and he\u2019s got to get through training, but if his word\u2019s anything to go by, he\u2019d be hard to leave out.\u201d<\/p>\n Collingwood will sweat on winger Steele Sidebottom, who copped a heavy knock to the ribs during a bone-crunching tackle from Brisbane\u2019s Keidan Coleman.<\/p>\n Sidebottom left the ground just before half-time holding his side and disappeared into the change rooms for medical attention during the long break, but returned to the field in the second half.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a tough bugger,\u201d McRae said of Sidebottom. \u201cIt was a really good hit, and it was sort of symbolic [of] a bit of our night that we didn\u2019t play with good method at times.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we just didn\u2019t use the ball anywhere near what we\u2019re capable of, and then that puts a lot of pressure on you, handballing the ball out in front of guys to get whacked.\u201d<\/p>\n For Brisbane, it was a night to savour. Two-time Norm Smith medallist Will Ashcroft picked up the mantle as the match-winning midfielder in Daicos\u2019 absence.<\/p>\n He had 36 disposals and snapped a superb left-foot goal from the boundary that could be a contender for goal of the year. He has now surpassed ex-skipper Lachie Neale<\/a> (29 possessions) as the Lions\u2019 pre-eminent onballer.<\/p>\n The Lions kicked six goals from centre-square clearances, but coach Chris Fagan said the late withdrawal of Daicos had not altered their approach.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t change a lot because we made a decision after what happened last week [against St Kilda]just to back our midfield in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were just going to try and quell Daicos\u2019 influence at stoppage. So, when he didn\u2019t play, we sort of went to [Jordan] De Goey a little bit more to try and, you know, stop him from having a big influence.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there wasn\u2019t ever going to be a big hard tag like we had going on Nasiah [Wanganeen-Milera] last week.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lions will be strengthened by the return of premiership skipper Harris Andrews from suspension next week.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Craig](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ce4f1567e6612919a4d5d94d79daf34c8e1ee8e4.jpeg\")
Craig McRae and his Magpies after their heavy loss to the two-time reigning premiers.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/18fc11e6512b1a0e45cdfb4594fef9d222e7a297.jpeg\")
Nick Daicos pre-game at the Gabba.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Gerard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9b37c5973fa69bfa6022c868ef196464dd062342efb0cdadef2e6ed1da99162f.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/218340cbbefef45284088d601ea0000b80e6d812.jpeg\")
The tackle that flattened Steele Sidebottom.AFL Photos<\/p>\n