Hypothetical - Sam Darcy or Nick Daicos

[Stax on the mill]

Or does he get injured when he gets a tag? (aka has a sook about it and finds any excuse to get off the ground)

Most posters have given a mature, considered answer one way or the other, and generally opted for Darcy, which is fine. Unfortunately there’s always the occasional trolling ignoramus, and I include Robertio and WalshistheGOAT in that category as well, who feel the need to belittle, and sneer at, a very, very good player, bordering on a champion.

FFS, grow up.

 

[juss]

If you were a list manager and had a choice in selecting Sam Darcy or Nick Daicos who would you pick?

Darcy, both guns but purely because of the rarity of KPPs with that ceiling and skillset. Gun damaging mids / flankers you can find a lot easier.

 

[who_let_the_dogs_out]

Great problem to have. Darcy hasn't even got close to his ceiling yet, and Daicos is probably there, maybe not as he's still young. Fitness can always improve, which is scary as Daicos in full flight is almost impossible to stop.

My only worry with Sam long term is his body. Flying for everything that comes his way will take its toll on the body, we've already seen that this season. He has been held back with some unlucky injuries the last 2 years as well.

If injuries weren't a factor I'm picking Darcy, but Daicos is just a safe bet, for the next decade. Seems ultra professional too.

 

[stallon]

Or have a sook and throw a tanty at his coach like the bloke you claim will be better in JHF? You clearly either despise him or the club in general and are only here for a troll.

I didnt say JHF will be better, I said I think 2 of Darcy/JHF/Callaghan will be better

I dont despise Daicos at all, I have no problem with him, I just dont get a hard-on whenever he is on screen

If I was building a squad from scratch, Darcy would be in contention for the first player I pick, Daicos wouldnt be. The style of player Daicos is would be ideally 2nd mid id take

 

[stallon]

Most posters have given a mature, considered answer one way or the other, which is fine. Unfortunately there’s always the occasional trolling ignoramus, and I include Robertio and WalshistheGOAT in that category as well, who feel the need to belittle, and sneer at, a very, very good player, bordering on a champion.

FFS, grow up.

Im not trolling, I dont think Daicos is the GOAT or ever will be. Hes a very good player in a very strong team.

Hes no Ablett/Judd/Bont who puts the team on their back. He might be in the future, and hes a better runner than those guys, but he doesnt have the same power to break a game apart like Judd or ability to do it all like Bont, or the ability to 1v22 a game like Ablett, etc.

If Daicos was in a middling team would he still be rated as highly? or would he be rated similarly to a guy like Zach Merrett - who is a champion dont get me wrong, but hes not talked up as the best of all time by anybody

 

[RCAB]

The style of player Daicos is would be ideally 2nd mid id take

 

[Vankri]

Agree.My thoughts also. Daicos has been, and will be tagged, I don't think it's possible to tag Darcy.

I understand the point you both are trying to make, however 20 years ago there was no 200cm KPFs and KPDs that had the current levels of athleticism we see either. So it is not out of the question that more KPDs that can 'tag' Darcy will come into the system during his career. In fact, Mac Andrew vs Darcy will be a fun watch for the next ten years if they keep progressing the way they are.

Also worth noting that it is still possible to quell one player's influence forward in today's systems if they are that much more of a threat than the rest of the forward line, simply by double teaming or asking your interceptor/third tall defender to stay closer to him than their own opponent. It can be exploited by the team on the receiving end but it would reduce the KPF output and something we might see against the Dogs more often as Darcy continues to go up a level.

One thing in Darcy's favour in this context is that umps are much hotter on holding free kicks to a KPFs attempting to run for the mark than they are for mids going towards the contest, so as teams may struggle in the future against Darcy's size and skills, get ready for plenty of whistles to come his way.

 

[justlookingaround]

Both are match winners and will be the two best players in the comp in ~3 years time.
I feel like at this point we know what we're gonna get with Daicos, he will be super durable and reliable, probably the only hole in his game right now is playing through a tag and you'd back him to get past that before he's 25.
He's also a culture setter and a professional - no doubt in my mind he'll end up being a premiership captain.

Darcy however could be the GOAT of modern forwards. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player mark the ball as high as he does. His height, leap, physicality and running power makes him kind of seem like a cheat code for the bottlenecks of modern defences. But in his junior years he played all around the ground and knowing Bevo there's every chance he could be thrown around and made to do something different every other week.

I think from scratch you'd pick Darcy because midfielders are easier to cover than tall forwards - but really there is no wrong option.

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

Darcy thanks.

 

[lalorGOAT]

Sam Darcy.

Midfielders are far easier to find.

 

[PhatBoy]

Daicos as the banker. You know what you’ll get.

Darcy if you were going to take a risk as he could be something that nobody is going to approach for the next decade or more.

 

[lalorGOAT]

Daicos as the banker. You know what you’ll get.

Darcy if you were going to take a risk as he could be something that nobody is going to approach for the next decade or more.

Whats the risk? He's already a proven talent.

 

[Fadge]

If Daicos was in a middling team would he still be rated as highly?

Well he did win the Coaches Award and poll 38 Brownlow votes in a team that finished 9th in 2024.

So there is that....

Oh, and the team he was drafted into did finish 17th in his draft year, and were apparently headed for a handful of years in the bottom 4...

 

[stallon]

Id pick a bloke who can win his own ball first tbh

 

[PhatBoy]

Whats the risk? He's already a proven talent.

Daicos has proven over 3 seasons that he’s one of the best players in the competition. Darcy has kicked 3 goals or more 7 times. Dont get me wrong I think he’s incredible but lots of players start out with a bang but he’s a tall which makes him a little more injury prone, and it also to some degree puts him at the mercy being a forward of how good the rest of his side is too.

 

[stallon]

Well he did win the Coaches Award and poll 38 Brownlow votes in a team that finished 9th in 2024.

So there is that....

You mean the award where fly handed out votes to Daicos when he didnt deserve them(go back and look at the votes Daicos got, some of them are bewildering), and the brownlow in the same year Cripps got 50 odd votes in the team that finished 8th?
High profile players always get more attention in those awards, especially when umps arent even allowed stats anymore lmao

You think those 2 awards mean much when those things happen?

Oh, and the team he was drafted into did finish 17th in his draft year, and were apparently headed for a handful of years in the bottom 4...

If you keep signing free agents and getting high profile recruits for unders like Houston then you wont fall off. Great fixturing every year really helps longevity on blokes like Pendlebury and Sidebottom too. Not a whole lot(nothing) from AFL house goes against the Pies tbh

 

[Fadge]

You mean the award where fly handed out votes to Daicos when he didnt deserve them(go back and look at the votes Daicos got, some of them are bewildering), and the brownlow in the same year Cripps got 50 odd votes in the team that finished 8th?
High profile players always get more attention in those awards, especially when umps arent even allowed stats anymore lmao

You think those 2 awards mean much when those things happen?

If you keep signing free agents and getting high profile recruits for unders like Houston then you wont fall off. Great fixturing every year really helps longevity on blokes like Pendlebury and Sidebottom too. Not a whole lot(nothing) from AFL house goes against the Pies tbh

Good to hear your accurate and unbiased thoughts.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Hes no Ablett/Judd/Bont who puts the team on their back.

Ahem...
Exhibit A

 

[Fadge]

You mean the award where fly handed out votes to Daicos when he didnt deserve them(go back and look at the votes Daicos got, some of them are bewildering)

Yeah...

Let's start with the game where Daicos was Collingwood's best player in a win, received 2 Brownlow votes, yet Voss excluded him from his top 5 players.

Bewildering, I know!

 

[Fadge]

Ahem...
Exhibit A

I mean, he's only been a matchwinner in approximately 1 in every 4 games he's played...

'But he doesn't put his team on his back!'

Oh my.

 

[TheScriptorWL]

Because he's most susceptible to a tag?

Clubs haven't worked out how to TAG Darcy yet. Not to say say he's untouchable, its just that clubs don't have any consistent strategy to put him off his game yet.

 

[Robertio]

Most posters have given a mature, considered answer one way or the other, and generally opted for Darcy, which is fine. Unfortunately there’s always the occasional trolling ignoramus, and I include Robertio and WalshistheGOAT in that category as well, who feel the need to belittle, and sneer at, a very, very good player, bordering on a champion.

FFS, grow up.

Excuse me can you show me where i belittled Daicos? I didn't say nothing about him just chose Darcy, you better grow up kiddo.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Darcy extremely easy decision.

 

[stallon]

Good to hear your accurate and unbiased thoughts.

Thanks mate, likewise

 

[Xtreme]

Nick Watson ftw

Sam Darcy also FTW