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The underrated marvel: Peter Daicos

Roar Guru
1st September, 2017
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Roar Guru
1st September, 2017
10

Born 20 September 1961 to Macedonian parents, Peter Daicos grew up a South Melbourne supporter with a passion for football.

He was invited to try out for Collingwood and, in 1978, played for the Under 19s in their losing grand final side. In 1979, he graduated to the Reserves, where coach Ronnie Richards (brother of Lou) took a liking for him and mentored him.

‘Daics’, as he’d come to be known, debuted for the seniors in R4, gathering 26 possessions (19 kicks and seven handballs), and kicking four behinds in Collingwood’s record smashing of St Kilda, 31.21.(207) to 3.11.(29).

During those years, Channel Seven’s World of Sport covered all football and awarded a player of the round each week, chosen by Lou Richards. This round it was Daicos – although this had been arranged as a form of encouragement between Ronnie and Lou.

Daicos played a handful more games in the seniors and showed the poise and class for which he’d become renowned. Unfortunately, he also suffered the ignominy of playing in Collingwood’s Reserves’ losing grand final team in 1979 (on a day Collingwood’s Under 19s, Reserves, and Seniors all lost the grand final).

Through 1980 Daicos consolidated his place in the senior team as a classy centreman, always beautifully balanced, showcasing an awareness in which he seemed able to glide through traffic, the ability to bamboozle opponents, and equally sublimely skilled on either side of the body. He wasn’t overly quick, but was never rushed. He was also a key in Collingwood’s finals assault, a team which fought its way up from fifth position (in a Final 5) to play off in the grand final, only to have Richmond humiliate them by a then-record 81 points.

In the lead-up to 1981, Collingwood traded for two South Australians – Michael Taylor from Norwood, and Mark Williams from Port Adelaide. A centreman with a sheer relentlessness about him (and who’d become a future Collingwood captain), Williams was so determined to be a success he told Daicos he’d take Daicos’s position and, sure enough, come 1981, Williams was in the centre, and Daicos was shifted to a half-forward flank.

But this is perhaps when the Daicos legend truly began to be forged. Daicos kicked 76 goals for the year, many mercurial. His highlights were seven against Carlton at Carlton’s then-home, Princes Park, on Carlton legend Bruce Doull (in Collingwood’s 57-point win), and nine against Richmond at Victoria Park (in Collingwood’s 55-point win). Not a bad CV for a 19-year-old olds.

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Collingwood marched into another grand final in 1981, this one against Carlton, and yet again unravelled after leading at three-quarter time. Daicos also landed awkwardly in the game early and injured his ankle, which dampened his influence – a shame, as he played well against the Blues.

Following the latest premiership failure, Collingwood struggled throughout 1982 due to low morale and player unrest. Coach Tommy Hafey was sacked mid-year and Collingwood plummeted dispiritedly, winning only four games and finishing 10th (of 12 teams). Daicos shone, though, kicking 58 goals, winning his first best and fairest, and also earning the first of his VFL/AFL Team of the Year representations.

The off-season brought a revolution – a new administration, the New Magpies, who toppled the incumbents and promised to drag the club into the modern era. They spent big, bought lots of players, and tried to emulate the success of the likes of Carlton, who regularly raided interstate leagues for gun players. John Cahill, who’d coached the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL to great success, was appointed coach.

Collingwood won 12 games in 1983 to finish sixth, a season in which Daicos had a groin operation – the first of what was to become many operations. In 1984, Collingwood won 13 games to finish fourth. The highlight of Daicos’s finals campaign was Collingwood’s 25-point win over Carlton in the First Semi Final, a game in which Daicos kicked 7.4. Collingwood went on to the preliminary final to face eventual-premiers Essendon, and lost by a record margin of 133 points, a game in which Daicos was injured.

Cahill left and club legend Bob Rose was appointed coach. And Daicos suffered a knee injury that wiped out almost all of 1985. Off-field, by 1986, the New Magpies whirlpooled the club almost into bankruptcy – to a point that the banks recommended the club close its doors. Players were forced to take pay-cuts (two refused and left – this in an era where players could move clubs during the season), and fans rattled tins.

Early in the season, Bob Rose stepped aside to allow newly-appointed assistant coach, Leigh Matthews, to become senior coach. Matthews was uncompromising.  Daicos struggled to get back on the park, and following a bad loss to Hawthorn, Matthews warned Daicos that he thought the game had passed him by. Foot stress fractures restricted Daicos to just nine games in 1987 – a season that was injury-riddled for the club as a whole – and he was reduced to a performance-based contract.

Collingwood finished an inglorious 12th (from 14 teams), but the Under 19s won the flag and provided Matthews with a nucleus to build upon. A frustrated Collingwood also tried to offload Daicos to North Melbourne in a deal that fell through.

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From 1988, Collingwood was resurgent as they charged back up the ladder to finish second. Daicos, spurred on by Matthews’s condemnation, worked  harder than ever, and was returned to the centre and among Collingwood’s best, winning his second best and fairest, and his second VFL/AFL Team of the Year guernsey.

It was hard to believe that he’d missed so many games over the last three years. All the Daicos traits were on display. Collingwood bombed straight out of the finals in straight sets, although Daicos did his best to haul them over the line in the Qualifying Final against Carlton, amassing 34 possessions.

Daicos had another strong year in 1989, although Collingwood’s was a little more uneven, winning 13 games and finishing fifth, and losing their one and only final to Melbourne. But they’d got experience into their inexperienced players, and astute recruiting would net two pacey rovers – Tony Francis and Scott Russell – for 1990 to add to the burgeoning midfield of Tony Shaw, Mick McGuane, Darren Millane, Graham Wright, and Gavin Brown. Out of necessity, Daicos was swung up forward.

It’s because Daicos’s 1990 was so scintillating that it not only became the epoch of his career, but – for many – seems to eclipse everything that came before it. Playing as a small forward who roamed the F50, he kicked 97 goals, and was a major contributor to Collingwood becoming a genuine premiership contender.

In Leigh Matthews’s autobiography, Accept the Challenge, Matthews says:

I would go so far as to say that Daics averaging nearly four goals a game as a non-target forward was of greater value to Collingwood’s season in 1990 than the great Hawthorn full-forward Peter Hudson was when averaging over six a game when he kicked his VFL-record-equalling 150 in the Hawks’ 1971 premier year.

Daics mightn’t have been able to kick the same quantity of goals as Huddo [Peter Hudson], but his ability to manufacture goals from half chances, on either his left or right foot, was often breathtaking. He wasn’t blessed with great speed or stamina but was a footballer with ball skills to die for. Every little kid in a Collingwood jumper dreamt of being able to make the ball talk like the number 35 they flocked to see. His contribution in getting the team up into second place going into the finals was critical, and the handful of cameo goals he kicked at pivotal moments during the finals campaign was invaluable.

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The goals he kicked were miraculous: snaps, bananas, torpedoes (regularly), and dribbling and bouncing the ball through from all angles.

In 1990 – The Final Story, the documentary of the 1990 grand final, Collingwood’s Dennis Banks talks about concerns in the first quarter as Collingwood dominated, yet couldn’t put a goal on the board.

Meanwhile, the ball had gone up the other end twice for Paul Salmon to mark and convert truly. Enter Daicos, who roved a punch from a pack deep into the pocket, got hemmed into the boundary, and yet kicked truly. Teammate Gavin Brown said “… it gave me a massive lift, you know, to think, yeah, that’s right, we’ve got this bloke on our side, and we’re a chance here, because he can do that.” Watch Terry Daniher’s look of sheer disbelief as he walks from the goal square following the goal.

Daicos would kick only one other goal for the grand final – a banana running out from the point post, leading to commentator Sandy Roberts to proclaim, ‘The Master!’ – but it was again at a vital time, with Essendon challenging and trying to get back into the match. Daicos’s goal was virtually the sealer.

In Daicos Magic, the old AFL profile video of Daicos which was made following the 1990 success, Daicos talks about his desire to play in another flag. Sadly, the drought-breaking premiership resulted in celebrations at Collingwood that derailed the first half of 1991, and by the time Collingwood got into gear and made a charge for the finals, it was too late, and they fell just short. Daicos, playing now predominantly as a full forward, kicked 75 goals, as well as a career-high 13.1 against Brisbane. He missed three games with an ankle injury.

Collingwood were desperate to make amends in 1992 for the poor season, and in the absence of captain Tony Shaw at the start of the year, Daicos captained the side and displayed maturity and leadership. In Collingwood’s Round 10 clash against Geelong, Daicos kicked what at the time was declared ‘Goal of the Century’ – on the run, a defender close behind, and soccering the ball through from the point post.

He was later injured, dislocating his shoulder in a tackle. He missed five games, but returned with a bag of 7.1 against Richmond and would kick 52 for the year. Collingwood’s season, however, sputtered to an injury-riddled close, and although they finished third, due to the finals’ system place in time a loss against St Kilda in the first final meant they were straight out of the finals.

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By the time 1993 rolled around, Daicos was 31, going on 32. In the first game of the season against the Bulldogs, he was underwhelming, managing ten possessions and kicking 1.1. Media speculated that he was past it. Daicos was never quick and he’d had a number of leg-related injuries, so losing any pace could finish him.

The following week at Victoria Park, Collingwood played Geelong, Daicos in a shootout against the great Gary Ablett. Daicos kicked 8.1 to Ablett’s 7.2, although Daicos did twinge his knee. He lined up the following week against Essendon, and kicked 2, but was struggling and taken off at half-time – the knee problem was worse than anticipated.

He came back against North Melbourne seven weeks later, but floundered, and then was a late inclusion – for his 250th – five weeks later at Victoria Park against the Swans. The cheer squad had to hurriedly remedy the banner to pay tribute to his milestone. But Daicos was glacial and had lost all agility.

Many suggested age and injuries had finally finished him, overlooking how he’d kicked eight earlier in the year. The truth was his knee injury had been misdiagnosed, and instead of returning in four months – as should’ve been the case – they’d tried to bring him back in seven weeks, and then again just another month later.

The following year during the pre-season, Leigh Matthews sacked him, and Daicos considered going elsewhere to continue his career, but was so moved by fan indignation over his dismissal – fans appealing to the club – that he felt he could never play for another team.

I spoke to him a few years later, and suggested that I thought he might spend a few years in the pocket, expected to kick a couple of goals every other game, and he said that’s what he thought would happen also. But it was not to be.

In Peter ‘Crackers’ Keenan’s autobiography, Ten Years in Black and White, Crackers tells of story of being at training (as ruck coach at the time) when Daicos was jogging around the boundary, bouncing a ball. When Daicos got to the point post, he kicked the ball and dribbled it through for a goal.

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Keenan challenged him to do it again on his next lap and, sure enough, when Daicos came back around, he kicked the exact same goal. Keenan explained that Daicos would practise to learn exactly how the ball would react depending on where he kicked it and how it hit the ground. In Daicos Magic, Daics himself talks about ‘Perfect practice making perfect’ as opposed to just ‘Practice makes perfect.’ Is it any wonder he earned nicknames like ‘The Macedonian Marvel’, ‘The Magician’ and ‘The Master’?

Daicos lost his prime to injury, and his goal-kicking exploits have overshadowed that he was also a champion on-baller. Collingwood people remember him as a gun, but he doesn’t get the acclaim he deserves from the greater football public, and particularly the media, even when they acknowledge his brilliance.

One simple reality exists, however people want to regard him: Daicos changed the way the game is played.

How many players can say that? Nowadays, players drill the ball in low when running into a goal, or they dribble it and bounce it through from snaps and banana kicks. We accept it as commonplace, but it started not with Gary Ablett or Wayne Carey or Tony Lockett or Leigh Matthews or any of the other greats, but Peter Daicos.

The thing is modern players will try to be fancy for the sake of being fancy, or generating a highlight. Not Daicos. He was like a champion golfer, who always chose the right club for any given situation. Need a straightforward kick on the run, that’s what you got. Needed a snap, that’s what you got. Needed to be kicked low, and that’s what you got.

Listen to him talk, and you understand that he instantaneously assessed what was required and what would give him the best chance of converting truly, as opposed to simply attempting to be glamorous for the sake of it. There was no ‘fluke’ about his goal-kicking, however self-depreciating he was.

That’s what truly made him a champion.

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