Footy Great says Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos should be suspended for his Oscar performance in shocking Hawks loss: ‘He missed his face by a yard’
- Controversy rages was it the staging or the hitting on Daicos
- Hawthorn exposes Pie’s weakness as star out of game
- Two consecutive victories worry the experts
Former Brisbane Lions star Tom Rockliff has slammed the actions of rising superstar Nick Daicos, accusing him of a suspension-worthy dive in the Pies’ upset loss to Hawthorn on Saturday.
Rockliff let Daicos have it after the young star appeared to stage for a free kick when Hawthorn’s Seamus Mitchell grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands and punched him in the upper chest.
The injured Pies star – who was later revealed to have broken a bone in his knee during the match – brutally snapped his head back, raised his arm and collapsed to the ground.
“Referees got sucked in again,” Rockliff wrote on Twitter after the incident.
‘Imagine taking a dive like Nick Daicos just did and getting a free kick for it.
‘I wonder if the MRO [Match Review Officer] going to look at this to dive or to crash into?
‘It must be one.
“And he missed his face by a yard, so I know what they have to do.”
Tempers in the game began to flare at halftime when trouble began to seep in as the Hawks showed no signs of backing down after taking a shocking early lead by scoring the first five goals in the competition.
The shock loss for the ladder-topping Pies – their second in a row – was compounded by Daicos’ injury, which will sideline him for at least six weeks.
And Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy also suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury in the 16.9 (105) to 11.7 (73) loss.
Rockliff was taken to task by many of his 300,000 followers after his tweet about Daicos’ performance at the Oscars.
One footy fan said: “Tom you’ve played two winning seasons out of 12 in your career, in terms of knowing what it takes to win/lose, he’s not that guy.
Magpies star Nick Daicos gets crunched by Hawks’ James Blanck in tense and physical loss
Rockliff’s tweet inflamed footy fans and left them divided on whether Daicos were staging or delivering a real reaction to the fight with Seamus Mitchell
“Feel privileged to talk about N. Daicos, don’t try to be the shock guy, because like winning football matches, that’s not your thing.”
Another wrote: “Nick Daicos has a better career in two seasons than you have had in his entire career Tom!!.”
“The fact that he falls may have something to do with the forearm down to the chin. Crawl into your hole,” another commenter said.
While the former Lions and Power star didn’t respond to all the comments, one got under his skin and he hit back: “Yeah okay – Nick is a much better player than me.
“However, I never disputed that. I deal with the facts – there must be an MRO out of said incident, either Strike or Staging – from the evidence I sit in the staging camp. Where are you sitting?
Comments then began to focus on whether Daicos’ collapse to the ground was staged or fair play.
‘Did you miss his face by a yard? Obviously Tom has a horse in this race. He has it by the rider. Clearly less than 1m. It’s a clear punch that should be sanctioned by the MRO,’ a fan wrote.
“100% staged, he’s a good player but he gave an absolute bath. Final-related teams are surely watching,” replied another, with a separate fan saying Dacios should be “four weeks old, let’s hope so “.
Those exchanges in front of the goalmouth were a bit more physical than your regular scrums and Daicos (next to No 6) found themselves on deck
Conspiracy theorists were also out in force.
‘If they don’t clamp down on Nathan Murphy they won’t with their golden boy Nick Daicos. Too much money at stake & potential embarrassment on Brownlow night,’ a tweet read.
This isn’t the first time Rockliff has dabbled in refereeing.
After a 2013 loss to Port Adelaide in which his Brisbane side lost the free-kick count 22-11, Rockliff said players might have to consider playing for free to win.