Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos will add the title of state representative to an already-bursting trophy cabinet, come the end of Summer.
On Tuesday, the 22-year-old was announced by Victoria's Chair of Selectors Garry Lyon as the squad's fifth member, joining Marcus Bontempelli, Zak Butters, Jeremy Cameron and high school teammate, Matt Rowell.
The younger Daicos brother will be following in his famous father's footsteps in donning the Big V, and wasted no time endorsing older brother Josh's selection.
"It's a huge honour," he said.
"Obviously there's such a rich history to it. You jump at the opportunity to represent Victoria, and training commences now to prepare for Feb 14, which is so exciting.
"Playing with fellow Victorian players that are so well respected amongst the league and how much of an honour it is... to get this opportunity is something I don't take for granted.
"You grow up in Victoria, you owe so much to Victoria...you want to do them proud, so hopefully we get the win.
"I think there's so many players that are in the mix that you'd obviously love to play with, and hopefully my brother's out there. I can't wait to play with him."
On the prospect of an high school reunion with Gold Coast Suns' onballers Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, Daicos expressed enthusiasm.
"I don't want to speak too early, but hopefully Noah Anderson will be selected too. So, a little bit of a throwback," he said.
"Obviously, they both had great years and I think that's an amazing thing about this game - you get to play with stars around the league. Hopefully it's a great spectacle for the fans as well."
Daicos gave the concept his stamp of approval before a ball has been kicked, stating that he hopes to make the fixture an ongoing part of his footballing calendar.
"Hopefully we can get the win and keep moving on and challenging other states – I'm not too sure how it works moving forward," he said.
"But as I said, (I'm) super excited that we're able to be in the position to play this year and I'm sure all will go well and it'll be something that continues in the future."
Questions regarding the suitability of the game's pre-season time slot and subsequent competitiveness have dogged the build-up, but the three-time All-Australian threw his support behind the timing of the contest, and ensured fans an intense display.
"I think I think it's good timing; a curtain raiser to the season. Everyone's excited for footy to start, (so to) head over to WA, and Optus Stadium's a great ground as well, so no doubt it will be packed out," the Magpies maestro added.
"All the players will be quite keen to get a run in and get some fitness in. Everyone's had a long pre-season. We just want games to start. So the more games the better on our end.
"It's a huge honour to play for Victoria. We want to do them proud. We want to get the win. You're also two weeks out from starting your own season, so I don't think anyone will be running around at half speed. I think it's going to be quite full on and I'm excited for that, as I said, we're two weeks out from starting our AFL season for our individual clubs and we want to be prepared for that too. So I think it'll be full noise."
Daicos appeared resigned to the fact that his coveted number 35 guernsey may not be available to him, ceding seniority to likely teammate, Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield.
"'Danger' obviously gets first dibs, so I might have to work out if I'm number three or number five. I think Danger deserves it," he said.
Rubbing shoulders with the game's elite appeals to the young jet, who will be eager to absorb knowledge from his contemporaries.
"We'll head over on the Wednesday or Thursday and we'll get a training session in as a group," he said.
"Just to learn a few things from some of the best players around the league is something that will be very cool. I'm sure WA will be star-studded, so it's going to be a great spectacle, I'm very grateful to be a part of it."
At the conclusion of his Origin commitments, Daicos' attention will turn to fuelling another flag tilt for Collingwood, after their 2025 campaign ended on preliminary final weekend, at the hands of rivals and eventual premiers, the Brisbane Lions.
"(I'm) excited for next year, and obviously pretty disappointed with the way our season ended," he said.
"Any time you're going into the season, you'll take a home prelim final, but unfortunately, we couldn't make the most of it. We're pretty focussed on getting better and getting back there next year and going a couple steps further."
It's the second preliminary final loss Daicos has experienced in four completed seasons at AFL level, with significant learnings coming from a memorable one-point loss at the hands of the Sydney Swans, in 2022.
"After 2022, we had the mindset that if everyone comes back one per cent better, we'll hopefully play another week in the season and we'll be better than that team on the day. That clearly happened in 2023, and hopefully we can repeat the same heading into 2026."
Daicos was pressed on what instils confidence of another genuine tilt at premiership success, given the ageing profile of the Pies' list.
"It's a good question," he said.
"I think the way the boys are training - no doubt, every team's training well, and there's a lot of hope attached to this time of year - but seeing the way the boys have come back, eager to train and in such great spirits (instils this confidence).
"We love spending time with each other and training together. I think that will hold us in a great stead and as I said, we're relying on constant improvements from a lot of the younger players, and we think the older players can improve as well."
