Commonwealth Games
League
Rugby
Football
Cricket
Golf
Sport Nation
Racing
Motorsport
Netball
Combat Sports
Basketball
Other Sports
Thursday Fallout: Cats got the points, but who won Daicos-Mullin battle?
SEN • July 31st, 2026 11:12 am
We know Geelong beat Collingwood by 25 points (97-72) at the MCG on Thursday night. It certainly was an impressive victory.
But who won the battle between Nick Daicos and Oisin Mullin?
Magpies coach Craig McRae reckons Daicos came out on top with his 35 disposals, nine clearances, eight score involvements and seven inside 50s.
“Nick’s pretty hard to stop. He’s a remarkable player,” said McRae post-match.
But Kane Cornes would split the points given the Irish Cat had 16 touches, seven score involvements and five clearances and limited Daicos in the first half when the game was on the line.
“Oisin got him in the first half with a lot of his disposals in the back half, and one inside 50 in the first half,” he said on SEN’s Fireball.
“Nick got him in the second half. They moved him forward, he came up as a high half-forward and won a lot more of his ball in the forward half of the ground.
“The longer the game went the better Nick got. I’ll give you Oisin first half, Nick second half, and he probably ends up in the coaches votes again I assume.”
David King felt both players were worthy of recognition.
“I think they’re both in the coaches votes. On Brownlow night Nick probably still gets votes, but I think Oisin still gets coaches votes and he may get more than Nick,” King added.
“It’s not often you see Nick’s opponent almost go head-to-head for score involvements. You’re trying to negate Nick which is very hard to do, he’s always going to get volume. So you try to take away his kicking efficiency.
“In the frantic 40 minutes at the start Nick kicked at around 55 per cent. So if he has 14 and is turning over half of them, tick, you’re doing your job.
“It was a great battle which was intriguing to watch for the whole night. Credit to all parties.”
From an overall perspective, however, the Cats were far too good, particularly in the first half.
They blew the Pies off the MCG with a five-goal-to-one first quarter and at one stage led by 49 points during the second term.
While the Maggies pulled it back to 17 by three-quarter time, they were never seriously a chance of knocking off the Catters.
Ollie Dempsey was enormous with 29 touches and two goals, Bailey Smith was industrious with 28 and nine clearances, Tom Stewart pulled the strings from defence, and former Pie Ollie Henry was dangerous with 3.2 and six marks
Chris Scott’s Cats got the four points - even if the umpiring was iffy - and have put themselves in a fairly handy position in fifth, just a game out of the top four.
A soft run with Essendon, North Melbourne and Richmond to truly get their game in order before yet another September campaign.
For the Pies, it feels like there was a bit too much to do without the inspirational Brayden Maynard, and their backline will now be without Jeremy Howe as well as Darcy Moore. It's getting thin.
They should bounce back next week against West Coast before enormous tests against Hawthorn and Brisbane which mighty sort them out.
The Pies could still have a say from the wildcard spots if they’re unable to force their way into the six, but last night suggests that hope might just be diminishing.
Andrew Slevison
