‘Judd-like’ Pie’s rise sparks ‘mindless drivel’; Swan must ‘consider retirement’: Talking Pts

Nick Daicos did his utmost to keep Collingwood unbeaten – and in the process sparked a bizarre debate about his incredible talent.

Plus the Swan who simply must make a very hard call, and the puzzling race for the top four.

The big issues from Round 4 of the 2023 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!

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20YO PIE PRIMED FOR JUDD-LIKE FEAT… DESPITE FANS’ ‘MINDLESS DRIVEL’

It’s been almost two decades since a 20-year-old won the Brownlow Medal.

And 19 years after Chris Judd famously claimed the AFL’s highest individual honour, the black and white-hot Nick Daicos appears primed to achieve a similar feat.

Daicos on Friday night kicked 2.2 from 38 disposals, 16 contested possessions, six intercepts, five clearances and 633m gained against the Brisbane Lions. He went at 78 per cent by foot and, according to Champion Data, was the highest rated player on the ground, despite the Magpies’ loss.

Those are numbers you’d expect from an AFL superstar in their mid-20 and in the prime of their career. Yet the Lions-Magpies clash was just Daicos’ 29th AFL game.

Such is the hype and expectations on him, though, that commentators and fans weren’t even surprised by Daicos’ brilliance. In fact, a few instead focused on a few questionable Daicos moments: A shanked shot at goal in the third term, a shirked ground-ball contest in the fourth quarter then an alleged dive after copping contact from Will Ashcroft.

Feel free to point out those moments, guys. But they didn’t cost the Pies victory. Nor did they hinder Daicos’ influence. Nor did they tarnish his reputation.

After polling maximum votes last year to win the Rising Star award, Daicos has had a blistering start to his 2023 campaign, accumulating at least 32 disposals in all four games. Should he keep that form up – and should the Pies continue to be a premiership threat – Daicos could be bound for a Judd-like season.

Judd, though, won the 2004 Brownlow in his third AFL season. Daicos has only just started season No. 2 as a Magpie – and the Collingwood coaching staff already rate him so highly they’re prepared to play him wherever he can influence a game the most.

“He’s a talented player and we want to put him in positions where he makes us better,” Pies coach Craig McRae told reporters on Thursday night.

“If the game is there to be chased, we’ll probably put Nick in the areas where he’ll help us chase it. He’s a terrific talent and tonight he showed that again.”

Only four players in the past 10 years have made the All-Australian team as 20-year-olds: Jake Stringer (2015), Marcus Bontempelli (2016), Clayton Oliver (2018) and Sam Walsh (2021). All four players were taken within the first five selections of their respective drafts.

Somehow, the Pies snapped father-son gun Daicos up with Pick 4 in the 2021 draft. Despite many recruiters believing he was the best player in the draft class, both North Melbourne and the Giants opted not to bid on him, leaving the Magpies to happily match a cheaper Gold Coast bid.

Pick 4 is still a mightily valuable pick. But Daicos is still looming as a terrific draft bargain.

He was on the AFL Awards stage around September last year as a Rising Star winner. He could find himself on the Brownlow stage in a few months’ time as the youngest winner since one of the modern-day greats stunned the league.

SWAN MUST ‘CONSIDER RETIREMENT’ AFTER LATEST AWFUL MOMENT

It is an impossible question to answer. And a very hard one to even ask.

But Sydney defender Paddy McCartin must “seriously consider” retiring, according to a leading brain injury expert, after the awful scenes at the SCG on Saturday night.

McCartin has faced serious issues for years after a series of head knocks since being drafted with Pick 1 by St Kilda back in 2014.

But an innocuous incident in Round 4’s loss to Port Adelaide saw the 26-year-old suffer what’s believed to be his 10th concussion, and second since joining the Swans.

Scary footage showed McCartin needing to be carried off the field, his legs barely able to support his weight, and he was removed from the game.

He, unfortunately, has become the poster boy for concussions in the modern game. And it means he faces a call that would be incredibly difficult to make – but also incredibly important for the rest of his life.

“While I’m not privy to Paddy’s latest concussion, [given] his history of this injury, he needs his medical doctors to discuss with him the risks to his long-term brain health, and seriously consider retirement,” Dr Alan Pearce, a leading concussion expert and LaTrobe University professor, told the Nine papers on Sunday.

“It’s a very difficult decision for Paddy psychologically, and he would need support to deal with this, but medical retirement should be considered. Athletes need protecting from themselves.”

McCartin was cleared to resume playing when he joined the Swans ahead of the 2022 season, with a panel of experts declaring he was not more susceptible to concussions than any other player.

The fact he has had two in less than 12 months, including Saturday night’s which involved a very minor incident, has that advice looking questionable.

“The evidence shows clearly that a history of concussions poses increased risk for further concussion, the lower the impact force is required for subsequent concussion, the risk of worse symptoms, and risk of longer recovery periods,” Pearce said said.

”If these sports espouse ‘the health and well-being of our athletes are our top priority’, then why do they let players continue to suffer brain injuries? It wouldn’t happen in other workplaces.”

The incident saw former Geelong and Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins question whether the AFL could step in and make the call on McCartin’s behalf.

“I think it does come to a point where enough is enough,” Jenkins said on SEN’s Sunday Crunch Time.

“We can’t quantify what it looks like for him in 10 years, in 30 years, and in 40 years. We just can’t tell him, ‘Look, you’ve got three more hits in you and then you tip over the edge.’ We can’t tell him that.

“And I think a telling aspect is the nature of how he became so wobbly last night. It didn’t look like a forceful blow on the ground … and yet he was left so dazed and so out of it.

“They’ve (the Swans) already done the right thing by him by taking him out of the game, but I wonder whether the AFL might step in and put their two cents in at the very least.”

The AFL making that decision for a player would be very controversial, and would likely see them needing to pay out the player’s contract – given they are forcing them to give up their career.

But we have seen the league take more care with concussions as time goes on, most notably this year with the Match Review and Tribunal elevating the grading of incidents that involve high contact to ensure longer suspensions.

Fox Footy analyst Garry Lyon, a family friend of McCartin, said on Sunday we shouldn’t “race to try and be the first to retire (him”. And that’s true. Any decision has to come from him.

But this a massive, worldwide problem, and it’s clear McCartin has suffered more than almost any active player. Brain injuries, and how they impact athletes for the rest of their lives, remain one of the greatest issues in all of sport. There are infinite complications and arguments to consider.

Yet the health and safety of players must be weighed heaviest. Even if that means trying your best to influence said players into making a decision that’s incredibly hard, but perhaps for the best.

IT’S THE KING’S BIRTHDAY PAIR… AND THEN WHO?

A good rule of thumb is that if a team makes a preliminary final, it can win the flag – after all, they’re just two wins away.

So on that logic, there are always four true contenders. Shall we try and seed them?

Melbourne goes to No.1 having recorded a third big win; Collingwood remains No.2 off the back of its brilliant start to the year. Both teams lost to Brisbane up there, but almost every team loses to Brisbane up there (unless it’s September); most betting markets still have the Demons and Magpies as the top two.

Alright, that was easy enough. But, uhh… who’s the No.3 seed?

Is it St Kilda? They’re on top of the ladder, and the only 4-0 team, but can we really pump them up given the opponents they’ve faced? Sure, Freo and the Bulldogs made finals last year, but the former looks nowhere close to that form and the latter is only now getting better.

Is it Carlton? They’re also unbeaten, but all three of their wins were pretty tight; yes, inaccuracy hurt them against GWS, and they ran away from North Melbourne late, but those are two bottom-six teams. Wouldn’t a true contender be more impressive than they’ve been?

Is it Brisbane? After all, they’ve beaten our top two seeds. But they’re the AFL’s Golden State Warriors – a title threat at home and terrible on the road, with a larger gap between their best and worst than your usual team. Remember how badly Port blew them away? And how dour they looked against the Dogs? How can you trust this team when they’re so inconsistent?

Is it Sydney? In retrospect their impressive 2-0 start against Gold Coast and Hawthorn wasn’t so impressive, and backing up a big loss to Melbourne with a home loss to Port Adelaide was less than ideal. They don’t appear to have fallen off that far from last year but they’re not exactly the team that surged into a Grand Final either.

Is it… well, are there any other real candidates? Essendon is 3-1 but hasn’t beaten anybody of note. Adelaide has had a very good two weeks, but it’s just two weeks. Kinda the same for the Bulldogs, except the wins haven’t been as impressive (but they have a better recent track record of contending).

Port Adelaide is as up-and-down as Brisbane, but even less predictable. Richmond has only won one game and just lost Tom Lynch for up to two months. Fremantle, who many tipped to rise from last year’s fifth-place finish, looks terrible.

…is it Geelong? No, of course not, they’re winless, they can’t be the No.3 seed right now, that’s absurd. But would it really shock you if they got it all together and stormed back up the ladder?

Anyway, you see the point we’re trying to make. The competition is crazy-even between third and, what, 12th? And so right now, we’d have to say it’s Melbourne No.1, Collingwood No.2 and blank No.3.

But there are four slots available in the preliminary finals. At least two will go to a pair of teams we’ve named above – a pair of teams we have major doubts over.

Feel free to throw some darts to try and tip who it’ll be.

‘WORLD RECORD’ STAT AMID BLUES’ ‘CLINICAL’ COMEBACK

Facing the prospect of a Good Friday flop, Carlton flipped the script and blitzed North Melbourne in an ominous second-half display.

And the Blues did it via one of the most unique scoring profiles ever seen in the AFL.

The Blues on Friday night kicked 11.5 to 6.10 to run away with a 23-point win.

Remarkably, 31 of those second-half points (5.1) came from kick-ins, compared to 4.2 from turnover and 2.2 from stoppages. According to Champion Data, Carlton’s 31 points from kick-ins were the most ever produced from that score source in a half of footy.

“World record statistical announcement … no one has ever done that in the history of stats,” five-time All-Australian Garry Lyon proudly announced on Fox Footy.

Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis added: “It was clinical.”

What made the scores-from-kick-ins feat even more remarkable was the fact Carlton was severely struggling to move the ball during the first half.

The Kangaroos in the first half, according to Champion Data, used the corridor to transition out of their defensive arc 45 per cent of the time. The Blues, conversely, didn’t use the corridor at all, with their slow ball movement giving Alastair Clarkson’s side ample opportunity to set up behind the ball.

For Carlton coach Michael Voss, who spoke to reporters post-game, his side needed to reset at the coalface, with the Blues -10 for contested possessions at the main break.

And reset the Blues did, with Voss’ troops +10 for contested possessions in the third term alone.

“We weren’t really getting our hands on it – our defenders were – but around the ball, North really challenged us in a lot of areas,” Voss said.

“We had a chat at half-time and really spoke about our contest, playing too safe and we needed to light up the ball a bit more and give our forwards more looks.”

Carlton’s ability to win the ball at the source translated to slicker ball movement, hence the high score from kick-ins. It also led to more scoring opportunities for twin towers Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, who kicked five of their 10 goals in the second half.

Lyon in the lead-up to Friday’s match claimed the Blues had a “rooster problem”, as McKay and Curnow too often were getting in each other’s space.

But against the Kangaroos, the Coleman Medallists worked superbly in tandem together and combined for 10 majors.

“I didn’t see him (Curnow) or Harry McKay compete for the same footy once,” Lyon said.

“If you get him one-out like this, then he is almost unstoppable

“They are unbelievable athletes – that’s another thing they’ve got in their favour.”

Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown added: “The roosters are crowing tonight.”