AFL 2023 round 24 LIVE updates: Nick Daicos ruled out of qualifying final, as Collingwood Magpies chase form against Essendon Bombers
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Key posts
- ‘He won’t play in the first final at this stage’: Wright on Daicos
- Daicos won’t play in qualifying final
- The 1 per cent club: From little things big problems emerge at Collingwood
- Bombers to farewell ‘Walla’
- Listen: Real Footy podcast
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‘He won’t play in the first final at this stage’: Wright on Daicos
Full interview with Graham Wright here on Seven.
Daicos won’t play in qualifying final
Collingwood’s football boss Graham Wright has just spoken on Seven News.
He has ruled a line through Nick Daicos returning in a qualifying final, according to Seven’s Mitch Cleary.
The 1 per cent club: From little things big problems emerge at Collingwood
Flirting with form leading into the AFL finals can be a dangerous temptation for many teams. Managing sore players before September’s big games is a wise play.
Ensuring one is not mistaken for the other is a significant challenge for every coach taking a team to finals, especially when there is such a fine line between triumph and mediocrity.
Chief playmakers Jordan de Goey, Darcy Moore and Nick Daicos have been absent in recent weeks and Collingwood’s form has suffered.Credit: Getty
Collingwood have had – by virtue of their strong winning form from late March to late July – the luxury in August to look well in advance to September. But have the Magpies begun to pay more than they have gained?
The little things – the so-called “one percenters” – are making the difference at Collingwood. Some of these small things are obvious on the stats sheet measured on game day. Some are an intangible force, stemming from the bond between the players and their impressive coach, Craig McRae. This has driven the Magpies’ rise to league leader and premiership favourite.
Click here to read the story.
Bombers to farewell ‘Walla’
Essendon cult hero Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti will farewell the AFL for a second, and almost certainly last, time against Collingwood on Friday night.
McDonald-Tipungwuti, known as “Walla”, retired briefly in May last year but returned to the Bombers this season – after Fremantle expressed interest in him. Friday will be his seventh game of the season, taking his career tally to 133.
Essendon forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.Credit: Getty Images
The richly talented forward’s first retirement followed him taking an indefinite break from football for personal reasons.
McDonald-Tipungwuti revealed in an interview with this masthead in March that he travelled with his dog Drover to various Indigenous communities – from the Tiwi Islands, where he hails from, to Darwin, Katherine and Broome – and that the experience motivated him to play in the AFL again.
Click here to read the story.
Listen: Real Footy podcast
The debacle in Adelaide which saw Ben Keays’ goal signalled as a behind and denied the Crows from a win over Sydney, and ultimately a chance at playing finals, came on the back of human error and a system error.
That’s according to The Age’s chief football writer Jake Niall, who – along with Caroline Wilson and Peter Ryan – discussed what went wrong in the climatic moments of the Crows’ must-win clash at the SCG in this week’s episode of the Real Footy podcast.
Welcome
Hello everyone and welcome to our live blog as Collingwood and Essendon open the final round of the season with clash at the MCG.
The Magpies have lost three of their past four, but will be looking to hit finals with winning form against a depleted Bombers outfit.
Damien Ractliffe here to take you through all tonight’s action.
First bounce is set for 7.50pm AEST.
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