AFL fans divided over Nick Diacos' tagging treatment as celebration detail emerges
St Kilda's efforts to tag Nick Daicos have been labelled as a 'step too far' with the Collingwood midfielder's maturity highlighted amid the rough tactics. Daicos had to contend with one of his more challenging nights on Saturday after tagger Marcus Windhager got stuck into the Magpies star in Collingwood's 16.12 (108) to 11.8 (74) win.
Despite the tactic, Daicos was the best on ground with 30 possessions and his crucial last-term goal left Windhager and his teammates demoralised. And while Daicos emerged with a smile on his face after getting the better of the duel, not all were impressed with the tactics.
North Melbourne great David King understood it was the expectations of a tagger to frustrate Daicos and push him into making a mistake. One clip showed Windhager appearing to knee Daicos off the ball.
And King felt the AFL might need to step in if it ramps up with the potential of injuring a superstar doing damage to the game. 'This is the sort of stuff that's going on. Little knees to the back of the hamstrings. I think that's too far,' King said on Saturday on Fox Sports.
'Taggers do anything to get under the skin ... just little things that are a step too far. (The knees) are a no-go, I think that's outside the code ... If that's happened 15-20 times, I'd expect a call from the AFL. We've got to look after our star-factor players. The game owes these players some sort of protection.'
And it was this sentiment that prompted Collingwood coach Craig McRae to praise his players for stepping in and defending Daicos so he wasn't fighting the battle on his own. "There was always going to be a lot of cameras on it (the tag). The spotlight was on it," he said. "We don't want him to fight the battles, we'll fight them for him.
"He didn't need to get caught up in the wrestle of that. As a team, we want to look after him. You'd say his performance was pretty impactful and then the way we looked after Nick, I was more proud than what we have (done) in recent times."
But after weeks of suggestions Daicos needed to be tagged, questions are being asked if it was over the top. Although Daicos himself didn't have an issue having praised Windhager after the tussle.
"Windhager has done some great jobs this year and I knew coming in would be a tough night," Daicos said to Fox Sports. "It's about how I can open up space for my teammates. I thought I was able to do that. I love playing in the midfield." And it was this tactical adjustment that prompted Rory Sloane to label him as one of the 'smartest' players in the comp.
It's not the tagging it's the kneeing him in the legs and the pinching that pisses me off, and shouldn't the tagger at least have to pretend he is looking at the ball?
— Garry (@i_hate_dan1) June 21, 2025
Speaking on Channel Nine, Sloane broke down how the tagging on Daicos allowed the Collingwood midfielder to open up space for his teammates. During the stoppages, Daicos was heavily marked. Although Sloane pointed out he was backing off and opening up channels for his teammates to run through.
"Most teams don't tag because they feel like it pulls apart their structure. And last night it certainly pulled apart St Kilda's structure, particularly around centre bounce," Sloane said. "He is one of the smartest players in the comp..."
Sloane felt Daicos was the stand out performer, especially in the fourth quarter. And while he could have celebrated to taunt Windhager after being tagged the whole game, Sloane felt it showed the young star's maturity to remain calm and walk away from the drama.
"I think his whole game was enormous. His ability to stand up late in the last, and finish the goal. Not only that...his celebration afterwards showed his maturity," Sloane said. "Didn't go at Marcus, he just got on with the game." Collingwood remained first on the ladder with 48 points, while St Kilda dropped to 15th.
"He's one of the smartest players in the comp."Rory Sloane with the vision of how Nick Daicos used Marcus Windhager's tag to create space for teammates.#9AFLSFS | Watch on Nine & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/PnIkUQH6w0
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) June 22, 2025
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