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What Nick Daicos is doing is completely and utterly bonkers.
There is a strong argument he is the modern era’s greatest ever young player. So what is ‘young?’ 21 or under. What is the ‘modern era?’ When the VFL became the AFL.
And what is ‘great?’ Easy. Just watch Daicos every week.
After 41 games, the 20-year-old is on track to win the Brownlow Medal and a best and fairest in a premiership season. And even if neither eventuates, he is a lock for the All-Australian team.
Comparing eras is fraught with danger, but below is my attempt at ranking Daicos among the greats of the game two seasons into their careers.
Players who performed exceptionally in their late teens or very early 20s are elevated above those who arrived as established SANFL or WAFL performers.
While Tony Modra (150 goals in 31 games), Ken Hunter, Allen Jakovich, Alex Jesulenko and Brad Hardie were all incredible from the get-go, they had already dominated at senior level elsewhere.
Their achievements were remarkable, but not in the same category as Daicos.
The purpose of this list is to compare Daicos, who admittedly has not won anything yet, against the greats of the game at a similar age.
1. JOHN COLEMAN (Essendon)
The Essendon champion’s first two seasons in 1949 and 1950 yielded two flags, two VFL leading goalkicker awards (before it was named after him), a best and fairest and 220 goals in 40 games.
He was 20 when he kicked 12 goals on debut and achieved all this before his 22nd birthday.
2. HAYDN BUNTON SNR (Fitzroy)
Bunton was 19 when he debuted for Fitzroy, 20 when he won his first Brownlow and 21 when he won his second Brownlow. He’s the only player in history to win Brownlow Medals in his first two seasons at the top level.
3. PETER HUDSON (Hawthorn)
From Tasmania, Hudson kicked 182 goals in his first 36 games across 1967 and 1968. In his second year, at the age of 22, he finished sixth in the Brownlow Medal.
4. DICK REYNOLDS (Essendon)
Reynolds debuted in 1933, but it was in 1934 – at the age of 19 – when he became the game’s best player. He won the first of seven best and fairest awards that year and the first of three Brownlow Medals.
5. DES FOTHERGILL (Collingwood)
Slightly built but hugely impactful, Fothergill won Collingwood’s best and fairest in each of his first two seasons in 1937 and 1938. All as a teenager, he kicked 93 goals in 36 games across this two-year block.
6. GEOFF SOUTHBY (Carlton)
At the age of 20, Southby walked into a star-studded Carlton team and won the best and fairest in 1971. He then backed it up in 1972 in a premiership year.
7. NICK DAICOS (Collingwood)
Champion Data rates Daicos as the best second year player they’ve ever recorded and the third best overall player in the AFL after 17 rounds. The best modern-day comparison is Chris Judd, though his breakout season was in year three.
Nick Daicos of the Magpies celebrates a goal. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
8. GREG WILLIAMS (Geelong)
The prolific ball-winner was named the league’s most valuable player and Geelong’s best and fairest in his second season. Since disposal stats have been recorded, he is the only player ever to have more possessions in his first 41 games than Daicos (1208 to 1175).
9. NATHAN BUCKLEY (Brisbane & Collingwood)
Buckley was a dominant player from the start, winning the AFL’s Rising Star award and finishing equal 4th on Brownlow night in his debut season. A year later, he won Collingwood’s best and fairest. He’s not higher on this list because he was already an established – albeit young – SANFL player before joining the AFL.
10. BEN HART (Adelaide)
The defender had an outstanding career at Adelaide, and it began perfectly. As a teenager he was named in the All-Australian team in each of his first two seasons.
Honourable mentions: Tim Kelly, Paul Salmon, Nick Riewoldt, Chris Judd, Patrick Cripps, Peter Matera, Joel Selwood.
You can quibble over whether Daicos should be slightly higher or lower (I hope you do!) But what’s unequivocal is how consistent he’s been so early in his journey. Even last year, he finished 7th in Collingwood’s best and fairest and polled 11 Brownlow Medal votes.
Another layer on all of this is how little football Daicos played in the two years before he was drafted.
In 2020, the global pandemic ruined the season for Victorian-based teenagers. Then in 2021, there was also very little football in Melbourne due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It has not seemed to impact Daicos, who has looked perfectly at ease from the moment he arrived on the scene.
One criticism – admittedly from opposition supporters – is that Daicos does not win his own ball.
I checked with Champion Data and as I thought, this is completely wrong. In the past three matches alone he notched 42 contested possessions.
While he is more of a traditional ‘outside’ player, he is certainly capable of doing things himself. Several clubs have tried and failed to tag him.
No player has more disposals and effective disposals in the AFL this year. Daicos’ 22 goals show how dangerous he is forward of centre and an Anzac Day – probably the biggest stage on the home and away calendar – he was best afield.
If he’s not the AFL’s finest player, he’s right up there. At 20 and in his second year in the system, that’s almost unheard of since the formation of the VFL in 1897.
Daicos is already in esteemed company. Imagine if the current trajectory continues for the next 15 years.
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