Collingwood gained senior players, and the Giants lost three mature players over the post-season, as Harry Perryman left the latter to join the former and two other teammates – neither of them stars – went to the Crows.
But the Giants, as ever, gained more draft capital and young legs, while Collingwood – despite a team that looks formidable on paper – ran the risk of becoming slow if they lined up with their multitude of veterans without compensating with speed and verve.
Nick Daicos tries to stretch out his cramp.Credit: Getty Images
That risk would be even greater if Nick Daicos, their extraordinary playmaker, was either subdued or hurt.
In this second game of 2025, Daicos was not himself, cramped badly for more than half the match, took a knock, and his relative lack of productivity was instrumental in the one-sided outcome.
The Magpies said that it was cramp, rather than an injury, that had been the cause of his visible physical struggles – which will be the subject of much discussion in the next few days.
“I just think it was cramp to be honest,” said Collingwood coach Craig McRae. “I think a few of our players were cramping, it’s 28 degrees out there … we were aware that Nick was cramping at half-time.”
The heat might also have been an excuse for a testy, boundary-line exchange between McRae and his opposite number Adam Kingsley when the Giants’ Toby Bedford conceded a 50m penalty in the second term. Unsurprisingly, both coaches played down the incident post-match.
It’s difficult to fathom that Daicos was so badly afflicted by cramps, or that he was equally afflicted by Toby Bedford, a player who stuck to his task as few do when matched to Daicos. Perhaps the son of Peter wasn’t as well conditioned due to his pre-season foot injury.
Thus, the Magpies copped a second consecutive opening round pasting at the Giants’ home, in a game that suggested the Giants will be formidable again and posed questions about Collingwood – given their age profile – that will make their forthcoming five or six weeks an interesting watch.
Granted, it’s not even round one, and therefore weeks too soon to render judgements – Brisbane were 0-3 and Hawthorn 0-5 in 2024, after all. On what was shown, however, GWS covered the ground and were much sharper by hand and foot, and most clearly, had the energy and dare of a team that has had further infusions of young talent.
Finn Callaghan was dominant in the Giants’ win over the Magpies.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
The Magpies went into the game without Jordan De Goey and their prime recruit Dan Houston, while the Giants were missing gun forward Jesse Hogan and their best inside midfielder Tom Green.
The home team covered those A-grade absentees exceptionally well, in part because they replaced Green – a superb player but no speedster – with quicker legs against a team that shuffled around like Joe Biden.
GWS defender Sam Taylor flies high for a mark.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
The difference between the teams was captured by the outstanding form of Finn Callaghan, the early draft pick – from the same pool as Nick Daicos – whose Bontempelli-like traits were evident, as when he burst from the middle and then regained the footy to slot a goal near the boundary in the first quarter. He finished with a ton of the football and was among the best few afield.
Lachie Ash and Josh Kelly were sharp and decisive, and Sam Taylor enjoyed the benefits of Collingwood tendency to kick speculative high balls in his vicinity.
Bedford gained only 14 touches, but will likely get best and fairest recognition – or even a coach’s vote – for his disciplined shutdown role, which is short odds to be highlighted by Kane Cornes as further evidence of the necessity of tagging champions such as Daicos, rather than “backing our system.”
Daicos had 21 disposals, about half of what he might gain if left unmolested, and few of them were in space or without pressure.
The Giants lost their ruckman Kieran Briggs in the first quarter when he was taken to hospital with a neck injury and concussion sustained in a marking contest. GWS said later that Briggs was sitting up and able to watch the game on his phone.
This worrying injury to Briggs assisted Collingwood’s Darcy Cameron in the ruck, though his excellence – 19 contested possessions and a domination of the ruck – did not translate into any advantage for the Pies, who closed to within a goal in the second quarter before GWS put its foot down with three goals (Callan Ward, Callum Brown and Toby Greene) that created the gap of nearly four goals.
Collingwood had 17 of the first 21 forward thrusts in the third quarter, but their forays were disorganised and without enough fluency to score even a solitary goal. They finished with an inaccurate score of 6.16 (52). De Goey’s absence – coupled with Daicos’ struggles – rendered their midfield slower than usual. Perryman, while an excellent footballer who did win the ball, isn’t quick.
By the final term, as the margin extended to an embarrassing 52 points, the watch was on Daicos, who spent the last 15 or so minutes on the bench, an apparent precaution for Collingwood’s six-day break before hosting Port Adelaide, when Houston will return to meet his former team.
The Pies will be better, the Giants will face sterner tests. As far as opening rounds go, this wasn’t a game that delivered, and one can be sure that Collingwood won’t have a visit to GWS on their requested fixture for the first game of 2026.
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