Source :- THE AGE NEWS
By Michael Gleeson
In a move with further shades of his dad’s career, Nick Daicos expects to spend more time this year playing forward out of the goal square.
Unlike Peter, who kicked more goals in a season than any “small” forward in the history of the game when he booted 97 in 1990, the move for Nick is not permanent and not a product of injury forcing him out of the midfield.
At just 23, Nick Daicos is one of the game’s best players.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s more about Fly [Craig McRae] and the coaches wanting me to help out the forwards and provide another option and [I] think it can give you a bit of a rest from playing in the midfield,” Daicos said at the Kayo season launch at the Cleo rooftop bar.
Always deferential to his dad and other great players, Nick said he was not attempting to be a permanent goal-square forward like Peter became, nor did he expect to play the role akin to the most recent player who crafted a new role as a rotating midfield-forward, Dustin Martin.
“I don’t know about doing it the way Dad did it – he was pretty special the way he played up forward,” Nick said.
“I just think the coaches think we can do some damage that way, and it can also free up Jamie Elliott and some players to get up the ground and involved in the game. I would love to get more forward craft going, kick more goals [and] add another string to the bow.
“I’ll try and play full-forward, so marking is one of those things I definitely need to improve on, so hopefully I can get there.
“I don’t know about Dusty’s role – I think there is only one bloke who can do that, and that’s Dusty. I will probably go down there and have to apply a little bit more pressure than Dusty did, but I can’t quite do what he did, he was unbelievable [and] he’s kicked so many goals. For me, it will just be a bit of a rest at full-forward [and] then back up there [in the midfield].”
The shift in the balance of playing time for Daicos to spend more time forward than he has done might be replicated in a change in balance by others. Firstly, Elliott will be the obvious one who will alternate with Daicos to spend more time in the midfield than he has done.
Secondly, Nick’s brother Josh will spend slightly more time rotating through the midfield from half- back than he did last year.
Daicos with Bailey Smith and Toby Greene ahead of this month’s State of Origin.Credit: AFL Photos
Josh played on the ball in the most recent intra-club match and there is an argument that he spend the majority of his time, if not move permanently, up the field to help regenerate the midfield and simultaneously give more opportunity to Dan Houston to be the freewheeling distributor off half-back.
“I think [Josh] will do a little bit of mid, but I think he will predominantly be half-back coming off his career-best season in his first year down at half-back,” Nick said.
“He gives us so much drive and helps our ball movement, he did win All-Australian on a wing, but I would say he will predominantly be featuring at half-back.”
The arrival of key forward recruit Jack Buller as a replacement for the aerial competitor Brody Mihocek (who moved to Melbourne), and the development of talls Charlie West, Noah Howes and young ruck Oscar Steene will likely see Elliott spend less time this season as the target forward and more as an opportunist small, thus the preference for him to also spend more time on the ball.
Nick Daicos has had his right calf heavily strapped through the past few weeks and during the State-of-Origin game, but he said that was more of a preventative measure, and he had played and trained through all sessions and would be fit for opening round.
“The body is feeling good, that was just for a couple of weeks [of strapping], I played the Origin and felt good, pulled up awesome, so [I’m] feeling good going into round zero,” he said.
“As a team, I think we are in a great position to attack the season, and some of the young players that are coming though are really driving the energy among the group and our older players are hitting PBs in the gym and out on the running track.
“If that is anything to go by, physically they are ready to go for the season. Now it is just execute the game plan.”
Pies, Bombers fans made to wait for Anzac Day tickets after PayPal glitch
Footy fans will have to wait to buy tickets to this year’s Anzac Day blockbuster between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG due to a since-resolved technical difficulty related to PayPal.
The Asia Pacific-wide payment gateway issue impacted various platforms, including the AFL’s official ticket provider Ticketek, meaning the club member on-sale for the annual match was postponed by 24 hours until tomorrow (Friday) at 10am AEST.
Zach Reid and Dan Houston clash in front of more than 90,000 at the MCG on Anzac Day.Credit: AFL Photos
Every platform that used PayPal was impacted, but there is not expected to be further delays now that the problem has been addressed.
Ticketek chose to push the on-sale time back to not impact ticket-buyers who typically use PayPal.
The attendance at last year’s Anzac Day clash was 92,055, after 93,644 turned up in 2024 and a record-setting 95,179 showed up in 2023. The average crowd for the match is almost 85,000 fans across the past three decades.
The AFL and Ticketek are yet to confirm when tickets will be on sale for non-members.
Tickets to the 2026 Anzac Day match are going on sale separately to the two clubs’ other matches from rounds one to 15 in an attempt to provide an improved buying experience for members and fans.
