Magpies son of a gun Nick Daicos has signalled his intent to see more midfield minutes in 2023 following a sterling debut season spent largely off half-back.
Daicos hit the ground running in 2022, ending his first campaign at the level having featured in all 25 of Collingwood's fixtures as the Pies' season ended agonisingly close to a Cinderella grand final appearance.
Averaging upwards of 25 disposals and four rebounds each week, Daicos' output saw him streak away to claim the Ron Evans Medal, awarded to the AFL's Rising Star each season.
Still, with the second-generation Magpie drafted to eventually enter Craig McRae's midfield unit, the 19-year-old told Nine Newsย that he held hopes of making the leap over summer.
"I'm, sort of, trying to improve (on) so many aspects, running, strength ... putting on a bit of size (to) hopefully play a little bit more midfield time next year," Daicos claimed.
Throughout the course of 2022, Daicos attended an average of just four per cent of the Pies' centre bounces, with his engine room peak coming between Rounds 21 and 22 where these means rose to 46.5 per cent per week.
Though a move upfield is a matter of when and not if, these numbers still sit well shy of the Pies' premier midfielders in Jordan De Goey, Taylor Adams and Jack Crisp, who became a linchpin in the centre to round out the season.
Daicos will also need to contend with recent Collingwood import Tom Mitchell, with the Brownlow medallist brought across from Hawthorn at the deadline in an effort to add another cog to McRae's coalface conventicle.
Daicos and Collingwood's other first to fourth-year players are set to return to the AIA Centre this week to commence what promises to be a gruelling pre-season period.
