Collingwood’s delicate handling of their most precious on-field asset – Nick Daicos – was reflected in the non-appearance of the precocious superstar at a two-hour plus training session at the club’s headquarters on Wednesday.
Daicos was confined to running indoors, but according to the Magpies, has been able to change directions and move laterally and is progressing steadily in his convalescence from injury, having been running in a straight line at training in recent sessions.
Jordan De Goey (left) and Nick Daicos are working through injury.Credit: Getty Images
That the younger Daicos did not take part in skills drills or in limited versions of match simulation was simply a case of treating his dancing feet – afflicted with plantar fasciitis, which his famed father Peter endured in the late ’80s – with a high degree of care.
Premierships cannot be won in January or February, but they can be lost, as AFL clubs say. Collingwood, it follows, are exercising caution, if not kid gloves, in their handling of both Nick Daicos, and arguably their next most influential midfielder, Jordan De Goey.
For Collingwood’s fiercest foe, Carlton, the same high stakes apply to their similarly critical duo of Charlie Curnow (knee and ankle) and Sam Walsh (hamstring strain). Curnow, a dual Coleman medallist, had “a small clean-up” operation to his knee in December and has recovered to the point that he was running at training earlier this week, without participating in match simulation; Walsh, meanwhile, is dealing with a standard hammy that will likely cost him a month of full training.
Carlton had lost ultra-consistent defender Nic Newman for much of the 2025 season after he ruptured the patella tendon on Friday. While the prospect of having Curnow and Walsh’s pre-seasons compromised sounded alarm bells for the faithful, Curnow, happily, is back on the track after his surgery and Walsh did plenty of pre-season work before pinging the hamstring.
Charlie Curnow has had ankle and knee surgeries during the pre-season.Credit: Getty Images
Unlike Daicos, De Goey did get out on to the ground at the old Olympic Park, and completed his share of drills without issue, the Magpies gradually easing him back towards full training after he went to Doha with Collingwood’s conditioning boss for 10 days in November to overcome the groin and abdominal issues he carried in 2024.
De Goey did not take part in the quasi match simulation, essentially sitting down for the last half hour or so, and Josh Daicos stepped up his training to complete skills work for the first time this year.
Who or what stood out at Collingwood’s session?
All-Australian half-back Dan Houston underscored his potent kicking skills, while young midfielder Ed Allan, close to the same height of Carlton champion Patrick Cripps (195 centimetres), showed further glimpses of the talent he showcased in the final game of 2024 against the Demons.
Darcy Cameron plucked a couple of nice overhead marks in the contested phase. Key forward Dan McStay looked in mint condition; overall, the Magpies looked sharp for January, albeit they are playing in Greater Western Sydney on March 9, so they would want to be.
Reef McInnes went down following a clash with the powerhouse small forward Beau McCreery, and briefly left the field before returning without hint of an injury. McInnes has been a major improver of the pre-season, playing as a tall defender and is certainly in contention for the season’s opener in his new role.
Critically, the match sim and regulation training yielded no further injuries for the Magpies, who – by the absence of losing no one – gained some ground. The success of their pre-season, though, largely rests on the boot – or the foot – of Nick Daicos.
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