Daicos - A Once in a Generation Player

[WandallBone]

Perhaps on the bench in place of Diesel. Diesel was good, but Daics was on a level all of his own.

steady on...

 

[WandallBone]

David Rhys Jones was more skilled.
Daniel Motlop is as skilled.

 

[The Wrecker]

Terrific player. I remember time and time again when he played in the centre pumping out a flat punt deep into the forward line. He later moved back into the fwd line to great effect.
However, to say he was once-in-a generation is a big call. There were so many great/skilfull players in that era. Just off the top of my head:
Greig, Flower, Schimmelbusch Gary Wilson, Maurice Rioli, Ken Hunter, Alves, Wells, Leigh Matthews, Jezza and Ashman.

 

[local]

He invented the dribble kick for goal.
He would kick it along the ground, ball turning up, down, sideways and then break past the goal line.
They guy had the ball on a string.

Yet to see anyone master the dribble kick for goal as well as Daicos did.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

My favourite Collingwood player of all time. Megastar for the ages.

Greatest non-full forward ever. Although I'm sure Leigh Matthews would like a word, but he was more of a midfielder wasn't he?

 

[Amber Guzzler]

He invented the dribble kick for goal.
He would kick it along the ground, ball turning up, down, sideways and then break past the goal line.
They guy had the ball on a string.

Yet to see anyone master the dribble kick for goal as well as Daicos did.

There's one on the Daicos Magic VHS that goes for about 35-40m. If anyone else did that, it'd be pure arse.

 

[le dominateur]

Even though he played for the despised Maggots, Daicos was one of my all time favourite players.

 

[FuManchu]

The best Collingwood player of the last 50 years.

 

[Blaster]

I loved him like no other player in history.

It is a pity some of his best years were taken with a foot injury.

At least he came back and completed 1990. Something for Pies fans to hang their hat on.

P Daicos. A genius.

Harshly treated by Matthews in the end.

 

[magicpants]

Great player from a great era.

I think one of the reasons he is not talked about as one of the greatest is that he played in the era of Lockett, Dunstall and Ablett at a time when a bag of 8 goals was kicked once or twice a week.

If he was playing today and doing those things would be in the top 2 or 3 in the comp.

Not sure where I would put him in my all time list. Comfortably top 50. Maybe top 30. Not sure he was team of the century worthy though.

yes but the point is he wasnt a full forward by any stretch...thats what made his exploits more extraordinary for a midfielder to do what he did - imagine a 2 nd year player at 19 yrs of age (skinny and barely six foot) starting the season like this:

r1 -6 goals
r2 - 6 goals
r3 - 6 goals
r5 - 7 goals
r10 - 9 goals

that is just ridiculous!!

 

[Byron2008]

I remember as a kid we'd go to the footy and although our family we're all staunch Geelong supporters. The minute we got home, I'd charge into the backyard zig zagging tree's screaming out 'Daicos!!!'..The stuff from the boundary was amazing, he consistently did it week in week out....He was awesome..

 

[Papa G]

Actually rated Daicos and loved him when he played, but in the cold harsh light of day, there are atleast 50 footballers I can think of that are better than him. Of similar type players, (freakish skill, kick a goal from anywhere) I'd probably rate D Jarman and Acker ahead of him.

 

[Blaster]

Daicos was more brilliant than Jarman and Akar.

Jarman was more clinical than Daicos and Akar.

Akar was/is more versitile than Daicos/Jarman.

 

[Thommo 42]

Daicos was robbed of his prime years by injury, the mind boggles at what he could have done in the mid 80's without the knee trouble - given what he was doing as a 19 year old midfielder.

 

[DidakDelight]

You can't compare Daicos & Diesel.
Daics was more of a ruck rover midfielder whereas Diesel is your bonafide centreman, and the best centreman of all time to boot.

Daics is one of the all time greats but unfortunately we never got to see him at his peak.

One of my favourite memories of him was when he buried the blues in the 1984 semi final with a bag of 7.

 

[worthy]

Daicos was robbed of his prime years by injury, the mind boggles at what he could have done in the mid 80's without the knee trouble - given what he was doing as a 19 year old midfielder.

Unfortunately AFL history is full of players robbed of their prime years, Hudson a classic example.

Daicos is well liked and highly regarded by most, Collingwood and opposition fans alike.

 

[Coin_Toss]

I can't think of a more highly skilled player in my time watching Collingwood. I remember Rex Hunt (think it was him) saying Daics was better than Balldock. I never watched Balldock play, but I knew that was a very good compliment.

 

[KennyHunter9]

Peter Daicos – a career review and opinion piece for those interested in a player I believe to this day is still underrated as a true great of the game and a once in a generation player.

Why did I post this you ask as there has surely been other posts…well for a start I have only been posting for a little while on Big Footy, but as someone who saw Peter Daicos play many times in the flesh I am still to this day a firm believer that he is the MOST UNDERRATED superstar of our game.

Just Consider…..

In 1981 in his 2nd full season as a 19 yr old he kicked 76 goals from a flank (includes 12 goals from 4 finals)

This included Bags of 6,6,6,7 in 4 of his first 5 games

Another bag of 9 goals soon followed in rd 10!

Just imagine a 2nd year player at 19 yrs old doing anything close to this today!

In 1982, age 20 he kicked 58 as a flanker cum centreman including an incredible 7 goals in one quarter v the Roos at Arden st!

I know some have kicked 7 in a quarter before but how many from the centre and how many haven’t been from a KPF?

He was cruelled by injuries in his peak during the mid 80’s and reinvented himself in 1988/1989 where he played exclusively as a centremen and racked up 479 and 456 possies in those years. As well as averaging a goal a game.

Then in 1990 as a 28 yr old he had his greatest year kicking an incredible 97 goals as a small forward. More than just a great number, it was the quality of the goals he kicked that I will always remember as he had to manufacture the large majority by creating space, maneuvering opponents, kicking from impossible angles and outside 50 using the torpedo on several occasions and taking several one handed marks holding off his opponent using his other arm as he didn’t have the bigger body of a key forward.

To this day I believe this achievement is still grossly underrated – especially when you consider a widely considered average team won the flag that year. THE REASON – DAICOS KICKING 97 GOALS!

He then followed up 1991 with a lazy 75 goals after the well documented premiership hangover. This season punctuated by an incredible 5 week winning sequence coinciding with a late season comeback in which he kicked 8,8,13,6,5

The 13 goals 1 behind against Brisbane the absolute highlight for the year (by the way I plan to put together a video of these 13 goals which I will post one day unless someone can beat me to it!) as I have on VHS but need to get in on DVD.

1992 produced a more modest 52 goals but included his incredible goal against Richmond which earned him the GOTY he so richly deserved in 1990 against West Coast in the qual final with the greatest goal I have ever seen! Not because of the kick alone but the passage of play and the tense stage of a big final.

Finally in his last year 1993 as a 32 yr old, he only played 5 games due to injury but even then gave us something special in rd 2 with a stunning 8 goal performance at Vic park where the great Gary Ablett kicked 7 goals in an amazing duel..

Throughout the 80’s and early 90’s there were two players called GOD and they were Ablett and Daicos.

They both did things that were not only unbelievable but they did them consistently which is why their fans adored them and other fans admired them.

Now whilst I maintain Ablett is the greatest player I have seen, I also maintain that Daicos is the best in one broad category that is often debated:

The most skillful player ever, Period!

His left and right foot was so good he barely missed a target ever!
He would kick goals from everywhere, with both feet, bananas/snaps and set shot kicking was as good as anyone.
He has a style of goal literally named after him which is the miracle goals kicked from the boundary which he literally did so often it became rudimentary.
He would baulk as a rule, not blessed with pace made this look even better as he would dummy players to create space and looked majestic doing it!
He has the best collection of torpedo punts by a player in the time I have watched footy (30 years).
What player have you known that brings the crowd to a frenzy everytime he marked outside 50? The cry for Torp! Torp! was a ritual at pies game and did he deliver!!

Those that will question this are either too young to have seen Daicos, are blinded by Collingwood hatred or simply just didn’t get the chance to see enough of him due to the lack of TV coverage in those years compared to the last 20 years.

And before you say I'm biased, are Geelong fans biased when they say Ablett was the greatest...no. Again, Daicos is not the greatest player but the player with the greatest overall skills that has produced a career so unique and influential that surely must rank him higher than many of the media or so called experts have placed him.

Where do you rate him all time? Top 20 /30 / 50 /100

Thanks for reading!

What was his record in final? (I don't know - that will be as much a guide for me as everything he did in the H&A season).

 

[Ricmel]

yes but the point is he wasnt a full forward by any stretch...thats what made his exploits more extraordinary for a midfielder to do what he did - imagine a 2 nd year player at 19 yrs of age (skinny and barely six foot) starting the season like this:

r1 -6 goals
r2 - 6 goals
r3 - 6 goals
r5 - 7 goals
r10 - 9 goals

that is just ridiculous!!

Sure. But we were far more blase about goal kicking then. In those last rounds of 1991 that you talk about....Daicos kicked 8,8,13, 6.......Lockett kicked 13,10,11 and 9.


I remember when Milne kicked 11 goals a couple of years ago, it got about 3 pages in the Hun because bags of 10 are rare these days. In Daics days, Plugger did it 22 times, Dunstall 12 and Ablett 13.

Daicos's goals would have just been in the Collingwood match report because basically everyone around him was kicking bags.

It is not to downplay his efforts, just to say that in the era he played, they would not have gotten the kudos he would have in say today's era.

And I know Daicos was a small forward, not a full forward but I am talking about the coverage and kudos big bags of goals got in those days.

 

[AsianWithAFro]

David Rhys Jones was more skilled.
Daniel Motlop is as skilled.

How dare you put him in the same league as Motlop. Daicos had consistency right through his career and Motlop is half the player Daics was.

 

[Moti]

Injuries have most definitely hobbled both AFL greats and those that had the potential to be so.

Many forget that Carey lost the use of the overhead mark at age 25. That meant he had to bulk up a little more and it affected what was his elite athleticism and endurance. The fact that he could still dominate using basically his chest as his only weapon in a marking contest was extraordinary.

 

[Blaster]

Could play, the boy Daicos.

 

[SydneyDon]

As an oppsoition supporter you had to just shake your head and marvel at Daics. Great player, probably top 25 all time but maybe no 1 for goal kicking skills.

The only Collingwood player I have ever liked

 

[South of the Yarra]

For those asking about Daicos in finals he kicked 7 against Carlton in a final in 84 and won Collingwoods best finals player in 88 and played a key role in finals in 90.
Daicos was a marvel. A piece of Bruce Mc commentary really summed him up. Daicos was pinned to the boundary against Geelong almost on the fence. The commentary was as follows 'A normal man would be odds against to kick this but Daicos is odds on......................its through...................he's a freak. Guy McKenna once stated that Daicos was that good that if he died you would have to man up his tombstone in the forward pocket at Victoria Park.
Daics is a great mate of mine and he is the most humble and modest man.
One of the greats of all time.

 

[South of the Yarra]

Ron Barassi also listed him in his top 31 players of all time, ranked top 20 if I remember.