That the result of the 2025 Collingwood Best and Fairest Award is still making news makes you wonder what they’re doing at the Pies’ training base, which is now known as the KGM Centre… whatever that is.
Of course, the runner-up in that award was Nick Daicos, and following the win of Darcy Cameron – a thoroughly deserved win, by the way – the club decided to change the process in regard to the way the award is decided.
Now, you can spin that any way you like, but one word leaps to mind – appeasement.
It is no secret that Nick’s father, who seems like a completely balanced, well-adjusted guy, up and left the moment he knew his son wasn’t going to win the award. As a result, the club has done all they can to give Nick every chance of securing the award in 2026 and beyond.
It actually stinks, and though Nick has not asked for this, it casts him in a pretty poor light just being associated with the changes.
Whilst I understand wanting to placate the best player at the club (and pander to his daddy), you have to wonder what this abrupt change has done to the perception of Darcy Cameron’s win? Both to the player and those at the club. Is this now a Copeland Trophy win with an asterisk?
This all seems to be pointing to the Magpies stating they got things wrong in 2025? It also intimates that they’re not willing to retain the system that has seen players like Scott Pendlebury, Nathan Buckley, and James Clement (vastly underrated defender) win multiple Copeland Trophies?
Why was it good enough then, but it is suddenly not good enough now?
It sounds like appeasement to me, and it also has the sound of a slap in the face to Darcy Cameron ringing in my ears.
Possibly his, as well.
Luckily for the Pies, they managed to lock away Cameron on a three-year extension, just two months before he won the award.
Part of me wonders whether he’d have been so eager to re-sign had he waited until after his season was assessed as fantastic, but not quite as fantastic as that of Nick Daicos, by Craig McRae?
Of course, that three-year deal doesn’t mean things are all rosy – contracts only work until one side wants to break them. Just ask Cameron’s predecessor, who was sent packing in line with Cameron’s improvement.
Whilst I am sure that Darcy Cameron is a man who is sure of himself and his abilities, you’d think these changes, rushed through after he won the award, would have to sting a little, right? You have a great season, are recognised as the best performer at the club, only to be completely overshadowed by what occurred in the aftermath.
It was disrespect at worst, and clumsy to the point of stupidity at best.
The upshot is that Cameron is now contracted to the Pies until the conclusion of the 2029 season. By that stage, the market for a 33-year-old ruckman will not be as lucrative as the one that saw him sign with the Pies.
He will not win another best and fairest at the club. Collingwood have all but seen to that, however, Cameron remains a vital piece in the Magpie Machine as they look for another shot at glory with an ever-ageing list.
On the surface, everyone will play nice and be happy when Nick Daicos wins the Copeland this season. You get the feeling that the appeasement of the Daicos family will only be complete once he does, and all the bloke has to do is show up every week in order to receive that accolade. I’m not sure that’s a healthy environment.
I should note that this is not a reflection of Nick Daicos, at all. He strikes me as a complete professional, but the situation surrounding his second-place finish in the 2025 Copeland Trophy, and the changes that occurred following it, make a mockery of what is the club’s highest annual honour.
God help the club if he gets pipped at the post again this season – what are the chances?
Like this content? You could buy me a coffee – I do like coffee, but there is no guarantee I won’t use it to buy a doughnut… I like them more. And I am not brought to you by Sportsbet or Ladbrokes… or Bet365, or any of them.
