No Pendlebury, no Moore: The Pies need superhero Daicos to don his cape

May 9, 2026 — 11:52pm

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Collingwood need Nick Daicos more than ever. Not the shackled version that missed more than half his kicks on Saturday night, but the superhero in the cape who wins games off his own boot.

The Magpies’ Friday-night blockbuster against the ladder-leading Swans was already shaping as mission impossible. But it became that bit harder after a nine-goal thumping by Geelong, which was compounded by a concussion to captain Darcy Moore and confirmation Scott Pendlebury will break the games record the following week.

Veteran Steele Sidebottom is also in doubt – his availability off a six-day break dependent on a GPS data assessment by the club’s high-performance team.

The black-and-white army formed the majority of the 83,166 in the stands for Pendlebury’s record-equalling 432nd game, but the crowd had noticeably thinned well before the final siren.

When Daicos gained possession late in the final term, there were not enough Pies fans left to retaliate to the resounding jeers he received from hooped faithful. They had seen enough.

Though Daicos was among Collingwood’s better players, he was a long way off his best. His tally of 29 disposals was flattered by six kick-ins. Ten of his 17 kicks were deemed ineffective or clangers. He operated at 55 per cent disposal efficiency.

Granted, he had Oisin Mullin glued to him like a barnacle on a ship........

© WA Today