Nick Daicos is set to miss the rest of the home-and-away season – and potentially finals as well – in a massive blow to Collingwood’s premiership hopes.
Scans on Saturday evening revealed the Brownlow Medal favourite had suffered a hairline fracture in his knee after a heavy collision with Hawthorn’s James Blanck during the Magpies’ 32-point loss to the Hawks.
Daicos, who was restricted to just five disposals by Hawks tagger Finn Maginness and spent the last quarter on the interchange bench, is expected to miss six weeks with the injury, which if accurate would leave him sidelined until a preliminary final should the Magpies make it.
Defender Nathan Murphy is also expected to miss 2-3 weeks due to an ankle injury in the final quarter of the loss.
“We are disappointed for both Nathan and Nick who will unfortunately miss games through injury for an extended period,” Magpies football general manager Graham Wright said in a statement.
“Both players underwent scans after our game last night which confirmed Nathan suffered a low-grade syndesmosis injury in his right ankle and is expected to miss the next two to three weeks, while Nick has a hairline fracture in the lateral tibial plateau of the right knee joint.
“Nick has been seen by a specialist knee surgeon this morning and, while fortunately this does not require an operation, it will need time to heal before he returns to football. At this stage, the expected timeframe for Nick is six weeks.
“Both Nathan and Nick have played important roles this season, they are consummate professionals and will do all they can to progress though their rehab to make themselves available and we will support them through that recovery.”
The Magpies have a tough run home featuring games against Geelong and Brisbane, but are two games and percentage clear atop the ladder.
However, the premiership favourites have lost their last two matches, following their Round 20 defeat at the hands of Carlton, and if the Brownlow fancy is sidelined for the start of the finals series, their flag hopes will take a hit.
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