Nick Daicos’ Collingwood future is reportedly in “absolute doubt” as he continues to refuse a contract extension.
The 23-year-old midfielder has been linked with a move away from the Magpies when his deal expires in 2029.
Last week, it was reported by the Herald Sun that Tasmania have joined a host of Victorian clubs in the race to sign the prodigious youngster.
That came amid talk he was “unhappy” with coach Craig McRae last season when deployed in roles that “limited his influence around the contest”.
And Collingwood’s 93-79 defeat to Adelaide on Saturday has only ramped up speculation around where Daicos could end up later in his career, despite his dad, Peter Daicos, being a legend at the club.
Speaking on Channel 9, AFL journalist Sam McClure said: “I think there’s absolute doubt (whether Daicos will stay at Collingwood).
“We know what Tasmania’s going to do to the draft in the next few years. We know the Collingwood list profile is going to be very, very different in 2028, 2029 – the last two years of his contract.
“Nick is a guy who is very, very savvy with his career — not just from a football perspective. He is not going to hang around, just because his dad was a legend at the club, if they don’t look like they’re going to win flags.
“Outside of Daicos, who at Collingwood would you hang your hat on under the age of 25?”
McClure then went on to detail what those in Daicos’ team will be thinking about his future given Collingwood’s inconsistency.
“I think Nick and the people around Nick are very well aware that he is a once in a generation player,” he added. “Once in a generation means you want to be competing for Premierships as often as possible.
“This Collingwood team are so well coached, they’ve done so amazingly well to stay up. But if the cliff comes quickly, from what you saw at the weekend, and what we’ve seen of their list to start with, they are going to struggle to score.”
The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph estimated on Fox Footy earlier this month that Tasmania could offer Daicos a 10-year, $25 million contract to be the expansion club’s marquee player.
“A lot of these things depend on where Collingwood are on the ladder,” Hall of Fame legend and Magpies premiership coach Leigh Matthews said in response.
“The salary cap doesn’t work to the way it’s designed because players want to go to certain clubs, particularly clubs that might be in premiership contention.
“The idea of the salary cap is everyone gets paid exactly their value – good clubs have got too many good players. Players have got to go to the bottom clubs to top up the bottom clubs but it doesn’t work that way.
“If Collingwood happen to drop to the bottom half of the ladder, that might be a slightly different situation than if they stay up in the top three or four.”
Daicos has one goal and 37 disposals in his two games so far this season – the defeat to Adelaide coming after a 78-66 victory over St Kilda on the opening weekend.
