Maybe he will be like Lachie Schultz and will be vastly improved in his second season when he works out where and how he fits in Collingwoodโs system. Maybe. Last season it felt like there wasnโt a suitable role for him in that system.
Daicos was a luxury behind the ball, given what the team also needed up the field. He previously won an All-Australian blazer on a wing, and the Magpies clearly need more of that type of class up closer to the ball.
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It should also be remembered the cameo he had against the Gold Coast when, in a losing team, he was thrown on the ball in the last quarter and had 16 touches, four clearances, five tackles and two goals … for the term. It was as dominant a quarter as anyone played for the year.
A year ago when the club brought Houston (and Harry Perryman as a free agent) into the team, Craig McRae famously, and ill-advisedly, said he wanted players not draft picks. It spoke to his urgency to climb through the window of opportunity he believed was open to the Magpies before it closed on them. He wanted to bring in proven talent, not patiently invest in youth.
When they didnโt win the flag, the cost of that plunge was evident at the draft, where they had already spent their first round pick a year earlier to help get Houston in the door. This time they knew they needed to invest heavily in rejuvenating their midfield.
Starting with their first pick at No.32, Collingwood chose three midfielders in this yearโs draft.
McRae re-signed for two more years as Magpies coach last week, and has shown signs already this summer that there will be changes as he tries to rejuvenate the side.
A team without a proven second ruck to Darcy Cameron jettisoned the premiership veteran Mason Cox. The rationale was that if they kept Cox on the list, the 34- year-old would always be the first-choice default option if Cameron was injured, meaning youngsters Oscar Steene and Iliro Smit would not get games.
The window on the future from the training track in pre-season suggests further shifts.
Scott Pendlebury has been training with the back line, plainly with an eye to him creating more opportunity for others in the midfield.
Pendlebury the defender will not improve the speed out defence but will help with the co-ordination behind the ball when Jeremy Howe is not there. When Howe was missing in 2025 Collingwoodโs defence was as stable as an over-dunked Scotch Finger.
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Isaac Quaynor has spent time with the midfielders, so this is potentially a shift to explore. Given his mix of power, speed and endurance, it is an attractive idea if he can make the transition and not get lost without the game in front of him.
The Magpies have a plethora of young defenders, such as Wil Parker, Jakob Ryan and Tew Jiath that need to start playing. They also need to look more closely at Ed Allan to see if he can play, while learning if first-round draftee Harry DeMattia is up to AFL level, and they will want to give their new draftees chances at some point.
These are not the types of players you can expect to make Collingwood better in 2026 and keep them viable against the midfields of Brisbane and Gold Coast.
But Josh Daicos moving onto the ball or a wing and freeing up Houston to rediscover the game they brought him in to play, could do more to keeping the Magpies connected to the top sides.
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