Media articles & stats: Gallant Tigers show fight against Pies

[one-eyed]

Daicos leads Pies back to winners list against gallant Tigers

By Josh Gabelich
afl.com.au
27 July 2025

RICHMOND          2.1   4.4     7.5     8.9 (57)
COLLINGWOOD   3.3   7.6   12.10  13.15 (93) 

GOALS
Richmond:  Hotton 2, Green 2, Trezise, Sims, Balta, Faull
Collingwood: N. Daicos 3, Mihocek 2, Membrey 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Schultz, McStay, Elliott, Houston

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Collingwood: Sullivan (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond:   Jasper Alger replaced Luke Trainor (tactical) in the fourth quarter
Collingwood:  Oleg Markov replaced Lachie Sullivan (knee) in the second quarter

LATE CHANGE:
Richmond:   Tim Taranto (calf) replaced by Jasper Alger
Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury (injured) replaced by Oleg Markov

Crowd: 59, 454 at the MCG

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WITH the rugby union lines still visible on the MCG from the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions test, Nick Daicos almost played a different sport to everyone else on Sunday, leading Collingwood a game clear on top of the ladder.

The two-time All-Australian mastered the wet conditions and mastered Richmond to not only end a two-game losing run, but also end the Tigers’ two-game winning streak by 36 points.

Daicos kicked a goal in each of the first three quarters before finishing with 42 disposals, 14 score involvements, eight inside 50s and 884 metres gained.

After collecting a career-high 43 disposals last Sunday against Fremantle to move clear in the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year Award, more votes are coming for the 22-year-old.

Daicos polled three Brownlow votes in 17 of his first 65 home and away games, finishing with 38 votes last September – the second-most votes ever behind 2024 winner Patrick Cripps – but is destined for three more on Sunday, continuing a season that has escalated since King’s Birthday.

Richmond lost Tim Taranto in the warm-up after the Jack Dyer Medallist failed a last-minute fitness test due to calf tightness, but the Tigers didn’t lose too many admirers for most of Sunday’s game against the ladder leaders.

Collingwood led at every change and won comfortably in the end, but it was the third quarter where the Magpies kicked five unanswered goals in 20 minutes to finally end the Tigers’ gallant challenge in front of nearly 60,000 people on a dark, cold winter afternoon.

Collingwood veteran Tom Mitchell found plenty of the ball as he hunts a permanent spot in Craig McRae’s best 23, finishing with 29 disposals and six tackles, while Josh Daicos finished 30 disposals and 697 metres gained to maintain his form.

After wins over Essendon and West Coast, Richmond carried that momentum early. First-year forward Tom Sims kicked a goal on quarter-time to reduce the margin to eight points at the first break.

Then first-round pick Taj Hotton plucked a massive contested mark in the goalsquare minutes into the second quarter to reduce the margin to a single point.

The Tigers made the most of their chances inside 50 in the first half, but they couldn't stop Nick Daicos.

Just when Collingwood needed a moment, the reigning Copeland Trophy winner slotted a brilliant goal on the run in the second quarter, skidding a long-range shot in from just beyond the 50m arc, after dancing around a diving Tom Brown.

Nick Vlaustin chopped off everything in the first half, amassing 12 intercepts from 16 disposals to patrol Richmond’s defence. Steely Green kicked the first goal of the second half – his second – from 40m out directly on the boundary line to keep the Tigers alive.

When Noah Balta made it two goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter, Richmond had a sniff. Collingwood didn't touch the ball in that time.

That was a close as they would get.

Tim Membrey steadied the ship with a goal from 45m out, before Nick Daicos put his mark on the game again. In the space of ten minutes, the Brownlow Medal contender cut Richmond apart between the arcs, finding Will Hoskin-Elliott for an important goal to give the Magpies breathing space. Then, Daicos drilled his third goal on his left foot from a tight angle.

Collingwood is now two games inside the top four with only August left before another finals series under McRae.

Late, late change
Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury was ruled out earlier in the day after not getting up due to soreness, with Oleg Markov held over from the VFL stepping in. But Richmond then made a later change after the teams were lodged. Tim Taranto didn’t train on Thursday due to calf soreness and didn’t prove his fitness, despite completing most of the warm-up on the MCG. Jasper Alger replaced him in the 23.

Another week, another magic moment
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the chase at Optus Stadium last weekend, but Maurice Rioli backed it up with two brilliant tackles in the first half, the first to nail Josh Daicos cold holding the ball inside Richmond’s forward 50. The second was even better, catching Steele Sidebottom holding the ball after giving the Collingwood veteran a 10m head start.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1375630/daicos-leads-collingwood-pies-back-to-winners-list-against-gallant-richmond-tigers