Collingwood’s Daicos brothers pay tribute to grandfather following win over Geelong

Collingwood coach Craig McRae has paid tribute to young stars Nick and Josh Daicos, as the duo mourned the death of their grandfather this week.

The pair were arguably the two best players on the field in their win over Geelong, a day after the funeral of their paternal grandfather Stamko, the father of Collingwood legend Peter Daicos.

“We’re human beings, this goes beyond the boundary line,” McRae said.

“They’re two of our most important players and young men we want to put our arms around. 

“Family first — that’s our approach to it.”

The brothers were seen taking their boots off in the middle of the MCG after the match, before sprinkling something into the centre circle, with various reports suggesting it was rose petals or the ashes of their late grandfather.

“That was for my dad. That was for my dad, mate,” Peter told Channel 7 commentator Brian Taylor after the match when asked what the tribute was.

Stamko and Milka Daicos immigrated to Australia in the 1950s from the Macedonian town of Banica, before Peter was born in Fitzroy in 1961.

Peter became known as the ‘Macedonian Marvel’ due to his parents’ heritage.

“It’s been a really tough week for the family.” Josh said after the game.

“But tonight made it all worth it.”

Meanwhile, Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe is in hospital and faces surgery after fracturing his forearm in the win.

Howe, 32, faces an extended spell out of football with what is believed to be a compound fracture.

The Seven Network opted not to show replays of the incident.

McRae and new captain Darcy Moore paid tribute to the key defender, while Collingwood players made a point of going to Howe as a group before he left the field.

“We all love him. So when you see one of the guys go down — and one of the really good guys — you think that’s going to be a cost somewhere,” McRae said.

“But the players’ reaction to that, we’re a connected group.”

Moore was emotional immediately after the game.

“It’s pretty distressing and it’s pretty messed up. We have to forget about it and get on with the job,” Moore said.

“It’s a horrible part of the game, but we expect nothing less than Jeremy, he’s an incredible teammate and he puts his body on the line.”

The Magpies overran Geelong from a few minutes after Howe’s injury, kicking the last eight goals of the game to win by 22 points.

“I had great belief coming here tonight … really excited for what could be, knowing we’d done the work,” McRae said.

“You can only get belief through evidence and the evidence was that we’ve had an enormous pre-season.

“We’re under no illusion, it’s round one. There are no patterns of behaviour yet.

“But it’s nice to beat the reigning premiers. It’s a good start.”

McRae noted that while it was Collingwood’s highest score since 2018, when they made the grand final, they also gave up 16 goals.

AAP/ABC