Daicos Smashes The Record Books And I’m Not Even Surprised
Forty seven votes. Forty seven. Say it again if you need to, because I’ve said it about ten times since Monday night and it still doesn’t feel real.
Nick Daicos has won the Brownlow Medal, and he hasn’t just won it, he’s torn up the record book and thrown the pieces in the Yarra. This is the greatest individual season I have watched from a Collingwood player in my lifetime, and I’m not being dramatic. Well, maybe a little. But carn the Pies, we earnt this one.
The old record never stood a chance
Forty five votes was the number everyone talked about heading into count night. That record had stood for a while and plenty of good judges reckoned it might never get touched again given how tight votes get spread around in the modern game.
Daicos didn’t just beat it. He smashed it by two clear votes in a season where he was arguably best afield more often than the umpires even gave him credit for. And look, I’ll say what every Pies fan is thinking – there were nights this year where he was best on ground and only picked up a two. Does that happen to blokes at other clubs? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
But even with the tickets sometimes going against him, the class shone through so bright the umpires couldn’t ignore it for long.
Nine from three to start the year
Think about this for a second. Daicos opened his season with maximum votes in three straight games. Nine votes from three matches. That’s not a purple patch, that’s a bloke announcing to the competition that this year was going to be different.
From there he never really let up. He led the count from round 11 onwards and by the time round 21 rolled around it was basically a formality. Six consecutive best afield performances sealed it. Six in a row! I can barely find six good park bays in a row at Victoria Park let alone six best on grounds in the toughest competition in the world.
Bontempelli and Smith ran him close on paper, not in reality
Marcus Bontempelli and Bailey Smith rounded out the podium and look, credit where it’s due, both had ripping seasons. Bont is Bont, he’s been the benchmark for years and every Collingwood supporter respects what he brings every week even if we don’t love watching him do it against us.
Bailey Smith’s year was a great story too, the bloke has turned his career around and been terrific for his club. Good on him.
But lets be honest, when you’re talking about a gap that big in the vote count, this wasn’t a photo finish. This was Daicos in a canter. The margin tells the real story even if the names next to his on the dais make it look close.
Why this feels bigger than just one medal
Collingwood supporters have had our fair share of Brownlow heartbreak over the journey. We’ve watched blokes get robbed by a vote here or there, we’ve had the Match Review process go against us at the worst possible times, and don’t even get me started on some of the free kick counts we’ve copped in finals over the years.
So when a bloke in the black and white runs away with it by a record margin, you better believe we’re going to enjoy it. This isn’t a consolation prize or a nice moment in a quiet season. This is one of our own being crowned, definately, as the best player in the competition in a season where nobody could argue otherwise.
And he’s 23. Twenty three years old and already the best player in the AFL by his own peers’ judgement, effectively, given how the votes get cast. What does that mean for the next five or six years of Nick Daicos footy? It should terrify every other club in the competition, and if it doesn’t, it should.
The bloodlines and the burden
People love bringing up his old man whenever Nick’s name comes up, and fair enough, Peter Daicos was a magician in his own right for this footy club. But I reckon Nick has now stepped so far past any comparison that we should probably just let him be his own player from here on in.
Carrying the family name at a club like Collingwood is no small thing. The expectation, the scrutiny, the constant comparisons – it would crush plenty of players. Instead he’s used it as fuel, if anything, and turned himself into arguably the most complete midfielder the game has seen in years.
His disposal efficiency, his ability to read the play a split second before everyone else, the way he just seems to have more time than blokes half a metre away from him – it’s not luck. It’s a generational skill set married with a work ethic that his teammates rave about behind closed doors.
What it means for Collingwood going forward
We should of known this was coming if we’re honest with ourselves. The signs have been there since his first game. But actually seeing it happen, actually watching him get presented with the medal, hits different.
For a football club that lives and dies on its history, on its characters, on its larger than life moments, this is another one for the pool room. Every Collingwood supporter who was watching on Monday night will remember exactly where they were.
It also sends a message to the rest of the competition. This Collingwood side isn’t just building around a good player. They’re building around a genuine great of the game, still in the infancy of his prime, still with premierships to chase and medals to add to the cabinet.
Time to celebrate, Pies fans
Look, I know footy people love to find the negative in everything. Someone somewhere is already having a crack about vote splitting or arguing his teammates should have got more of the ball. Ignore them.
Tonight, this week, this month – enjoy it. Nick Daicos is a Brownlow medallist. Not just a Brownlow medallist, a record breaking one. The best player in the country wears the black and white stripes.
Carn the Pies. We’ll take this one and we won’t apologise for how loud we celebrate it.
