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Daicos on bench was “desperation” from Pies
SEN • August 8th, 2025 10:42 am
It’s the question so many supporters would have been screaming towards the television as the Collingwood-Hawthorn showdown got underway at the MCG.
Why was Nick Daicos starting on the bench?
Kane Cornes was just as perplexed as the rest of us, particularly when the superstar’s inclusion in the game was delayed by almost 15 minutes after the horror concussion of Jeremy Howe which resulted in a significant delay in play.
Daicos, who has shouldered an enormous amount of pressure this season, was not right from the get-go, according to Cornes, who criticised the club’s handling of the 22-year-old, suggesting benching him was a sign of desperation.
“Nick started on the bench,” Cornes said on SEN's Fireball. “Call me old-fashioned but that’s bizarre.
“Start your best player on the bench and he’s stuck there for 14 minutes because of the concussion. Why would they start Nick on the bench? If he’s not right to go then don’t play him.
“It’s not a criticism of him it’s the management. If he’s playing, he’s playing. He’s starting in the centre bounce and he’s getting them going.
“To be cute like that and start him on the bench. I saw him in the warmup, he was ducking out and getting treatment.
“If he’s not right don’t play him. There's some desperation. If you play him, you start him.”
Despite the question marks over whether Daicos was fully fit to play, he still managed 76 per cent game time, 24 disposals and six clearances in what ended in a brutal 64-point hammering.
The result – the club's fourth defeat in five games - throws Collingwood’s flag hopes into disarray and their spot in the top four is certainly wobbling significantly more than it was last month.
A trip to Adelaide is next and when asked if Daicos should be on the plane, Cornes added: “No, if he’s not ready to go then don’t play him.”
In an attempt to explain the defeat – the club’s heaviest in over a year – coach Craig McRae started by apologising to fans and insisting this was not the best representation of his side.
He also said the performance was not fitting for Steele Sidebottom who was celebrating his 350th game.
“I apologise to our Magpie Army...that’s a disappointing performance, you can’t sugar-coat that,” McRae said.
“We owe Steele Sidebottom more than that too; he’s a legend of the footy club. We’re hurting,” McRae began
“(It was) just a lack of system, and then a lack of fight — sometimes at the same time, which leaves us really vulnerable. Anyone that’s watched us over the last few years would say: ‘They’re basically glued together by system...but not tonight.
“Right now, we’ve got to get our system back in check, because it didn’t really matter who played and (moving magnets). We’ve got to glue that back together.”
