Collingwood are set to seal a mega deal for young gun Nick Daicos to extend his time at the club for another four years, taking him until the end of 2029.
In what is reportedly going to be the richest deal signed by a 20-year-old in AFL history, the Magpies are keen to lock in the Brownlow Medal favourite long term – he is already under contract for two more seasons.
He was targeted by Port Adelaide’s swarming defence in Collingwood’s narrow win last week after he destroyed Port Adelaide the previous round with 36 disposals, seven clearances and a goal.
Daicos did likewise to the Bulldogs earlier this month with a team-high 29 possessions, with 15 of them contested, plus 11 clearances and six tackles along with his two goals.
“It’s just week after week – press ‘play’ and repeat on the messaging. He’s an incredible talent,” coach Craig McRae said.
Nick Daicos. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The Magpies are looking to finalise an extension for his older brother Josh as well.
With captain Darcy Moore and controversial star Jordan de Goey also signed long term, the Pies believe they have the nucleus in place for a perennial contender.
Collingwood (16-2) sit two games and percentage clear on top of the ladder heading into Friday night’s blockbuster clash with in-form rivals Carlton at the MCG.
Josh Daicos, Bobby Hill and Isaac Quaynor all missed the Magpies’ main training session on Wednesday through illness but the trio are not considered in any doubt to face the Blues.
Under McRae, the Magpies take no risks with colds and viruses, telling players and staff to stay away from the club however minor an illness may appear to be.
“We just don’t want them in the building, sniffily nose or a cough – that’s just what we do,” McRae said. “We trust that they’re going to be all OK to play.”
The Magpies’ injury list is vacant except for young midfielder Finlay Macrae, who is sidelined with a broken thumb.
Exciting midfielder Jack Ginnivan has struggled to find his best form this season and has not played at AFL level since round 12.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
But Ginnivan was excellent in Collingwood’s VFL victory last weekend, kicking two goals and gathering 29 possessions.
“He’s been training at a really high standard for probably about a month and hasn’t quite got the reward on matchday, up until last week,” McRae said.
“He really played above VFL level, looked like an AFL player on top of the ground and we’re really pleased with his performance.
“We’ll pick a team that we think will win on that day. We’re not having an eye on the future, we will concentrate on this week.”
McRae dismissed suggestions Tom Mitchell could be used in a different role after the Brownlow medallist was subbed out against Port Adelaide.
The former Hawthorn and Sydney midfielder has been used sparingly by the Magpies during the last two weeks, after starting the round-18 clash with Fremantle as the substitute.
Dashing defender Oleg Markov was brought into Saturday night’s match against Port late in the third quarter for Mitchell as the Magpies chased another classic comeback victory.
“I had a good chat to Tom (on Tuesday), I won’t share all the details of the conversation other than that he’s an integral part of what we’re doing,” McRae said.
“The game itself we felt we had to get the ball to the outside and transition. We hadn’t done that for three quarters, so we had to give up a little bit at stoppage to do that.
“Those conversations were probably around five or six players, who could we sub.
“Small margins in the end (made) the decision … but we stand by it. We got him to the club (at the end of last year) to be a first possession, clearance player that puts pressure on if he doesn’t get it. That’s what he’s here to do.”
Richmond have recruited Melbourne Storm football manager Frank Ponissi and Football Australia director Paddy Steinfort to help the AFL club choose their next senior coach.
The Tigers released a statement on Thursday to unveil the six-person panel they have appointed to find a replacement for the departed Damien Hardwick.
The panel will be led by Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale, football manager Tim Livingstone and talent manager Blair Hartley.
Richmond vice-president Henriette Rothschild will also sit on the panel, with the two surprise names being Steinfort and Ponissi, who have both been engaged externally.
The Tigers hope to have a coach in place by September.
Steinfort, who spent five years on Richmond’s list without playing a game after being the No.16 pick at the 1996 national draft, is now the performance director at Football Australia.
He has previously held high-performance roles at elite sporting teams such as Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Damien Hardwick. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Ponissi has been at NRL club Melbourne Storm since 2007, forming a strong partnership with head coach Craig Bellamy to deliver four premierships and seven grand-final experiences.
Caretaker Tigers coach Andrew McQualter, who has guided Richmond to six wins from his eight games in charge, has built a strong case to become the club’s permanent coach.
But with names such as Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, Adem Yze, Troy Chaplin, Don Pyke, Dean Cox, Ash Hansen, Daniel Giansiracusa, Josh Carr, Corey Enright and Justin Leppitsch having been thrown up as possible contenders for the role, McQualter is no shoo-in.
“They’re going to run a thorough process, which I fully support and encourage. Whatever happens will happen,” McQualter told reporters on Thursday.
Meanwhile, McQualter says the club will leave it up to Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin to decide whether they play on next year. Riewoldt and Cotchin are nearing the end of their decorated careers and there’s a chance both could pull the pin at the end of this season.
Cotchin is 33 years old and has played 304 games, while 34-year-old Riewoldt has notched 343 matches. Both players have shown signs of slowing down this year with Cotchin averaging 16.7 possessions per game and Riewoldt kicking only 26 goals in 17 matches.
“Jack’s earned the right to make whatever decision he feels right,” McQualter told reporters on Thursday.
“He and Trent are in the same boat. They’ve been absolute warriors for this football club.
“So whatever they decide to do, they’ll have my full support and the club’s full support.”
Riewoldt said earlier this week he’s still undecided about whether to play on next year.
The three-time premiership forward said the injury-enforced absence of fellow spearhead Tom Lynch had placed an extra challenge on him this season.
Richmond’s finals credentials will receive a stern test on Sunday when they take on top-four fancies Melbourne at the MCG.
Inspirational Carlton captain Patrick Cripps is set to return from injury in a huge boost to the Blues’ chances of toppling arch-rivals Collingwood in their blockbuster AFL clash.
Cripps missed last week’s thrashing of West Coast – the barnstorming Blues’ fifth straight win – with a corked hamstring.
The Brownlow medallist did not participate in Thursday morning’s light training run with teammates but has been given the green light to play at the MCG on Friday night.
“He did run around earlier, so he’s right to go,” Carlton coach Michael Voss told reporters on Thursday. “He’ll take his position in the team, which is good news.
“He’s had to have some patience with it … but he’s done all the work, so he’ll be ready to go.”
Adam Cerra (hamstring tightness) has also been cleared to play against Collingwood, while Voss confirmed Marc Pittonet will return to the lead ruck role.
Pittonet had been managing a knee injury since Carlton’s round-15 bye but got through his VFL comeback unscathed last week.
The physical big man’s return comes with key forward Harry McKay (knee) out injured and young ruck-forward Tom De Koning required to spend more time in attack.
“There’ll be no real secrets there for us,” Voss said.
“(Pittonet) performed really, really strongly (in the VFL) so he’s a bit of an automatic for us into the team and provides that aggression around the ball.
“It’s going to start with contest and plenty of pressure, which Collingwood have been able to bring across the whole year, so we know what’s coming.”
Like McKay, Sam Walsh (hamstring) and Jack Silvagni (knee) are out of the side that beat West Coast, with Jack Martin (calf) among the possible inclusions. Collingwood, the ladder leaders, are near full fitness and have won their last three encounters with Carlton.
That run features a pair of single-figure-margin losses for the Blues last season, including the heartbreaking one-point defeat that put them out of 2022’s finals race.
“You’ve got to play 120 minutes, and if it needs to be 124 then you’ve got to play 124,” Voss said.
“We know that’s what they bring. You’d expect any side that’s on top of the ladder to know how to play the entire game.
“That’s what they’ll ask of us; to be able to play to the intensity we need.
“We feel like we’re well prepared. We’ve been making some steady progress in a few important areas … and we need to put that out there on Friday night.”
Simon Goodwin is not ruling out an AFL return for Brodie Grundy in Melbourne’s MCG clash with Richmond.
Speculation continues to mount that Grundy will need to find a third club in as many years at the end of the season but Goodwin insisted he has seen enough to encourage him the split ruck duty could still work.
“We’re really open minded … we love the combination,” the coach said.
“What we’re trying to do is get a bigger impact when either of the rucks are forward of centre, and Brodie’s a big part of that. This isn’t just a short-term thing, this is about getting better.”
Two games on from sending his ruckman back to the VFL to work on his forward craft, the Demons coach insists Grundy remains in the club’s plans, despite the dominant form of captain Max Gawn.
Grundy was unconvincing for Casey against the VFL’s bottom-ranked Coburg last weekend, kicking 1.3 to go with 12 disposals and 12 hitouts.
But Goodwin says the 202-centimetre South Australian remains “in the mix” to face the Tigers on Sunday and reprise his shared ruck role with Gawn.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
“There’s a fair bit of talk about Brodie but the plan hasn’t changed,” Goodwin said. “He’s working incredibly hard on his game, we got him some forward exposure last week at VFL level which we’re really encouraged about.
“We don’t have to pick our team for a couple of days. We’ll get to our main training session, assess how things are going and then pick our team accordingly. He’s in the mix, he’s progressing well.”
Goodwin said the Demons still have no definitive timeline for the return of star midfielder Clayton Oliver from his hamstring injury.
Oliver’s absence has allowed Melbourne to experiment with different combinations at centre bounces, with some positive early touches from livewire Kysaiah Pickett in their four-point win against Adelaide last Sunday.
“We’ve added a lot of variety to our midfield group and Kozzy (Pickett) is a part of that,” Goodwin said.
“We wanted to have some high rotation through the middle of the ground. It’s not only Kozzy, it’s Christian Petracca getting through there at times, we’ve got Tom Sparrow, James Jordan that have certainly stepped up without Clayton.
“We’ve got some really good depth through the middle of the ground, and we’re going to continue to utilise that.”
with AAP
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