Collingwood son of a gun Nick Daicos is hoping to wear the number 35 long beyond the 2022 season.
The number was initially made famous by Nick’s dad Peter, who became a 250-game club icon winning the 1990 premiership and two Copelands while kicking 549 goals in the 35.
Following Peter’s retirement, the 35 was then handed to Simon Prestigiacomo, who wore the number for the next 15 years in defence, playing 233 senior games.
‘Presti’ became legend at Collingwood after selflessly ruling himself out of the 2010 Grand Final with injury, and since his retirement, the club has handed the 35 to their first draft choice each year in his honour, with the likes of Jamie Elliott, Brodie Grundy and Jordan De Goey donning it in their rookie seasons since.
With Daicos arriving at the club as a father-son with pick No. 4 in the 2021 National Draft, the 35 was his, and he says he’s been honoured to wear it in a debut year which many have described as one of the best first individual seasons in recent memory.
While both the number and name bear considerable weight, Daicos regards them as a badge of honour and something he holds great pride in.
“I guess it’s always going to have its pros and cons, but I love being a Daicos, I’m very proud of what dad has done,” Daicos said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“It’s like wearing the number 35 for me, I’m very proud to do it because it represents not only what Presti has done but also what dad did for the club.
“For me, I hold great pride in what I do.”
While the tradition since Prestigiacomo’s retirement is yet to be broken, Nick confirmed his hopes to hold onto the number his dad made famous for the rest of his time at Collingwood.
“I’m hoping 35,” Daicos said in response to what number he’d like to wear beyond this season.
“I love the number, as I’ve said I’d love to honour dad and what he did for the club also.
“I’m hoping to wear the number 35, we’ll just see what the club says.”
Although the club is yet to announce whether their young star will be able to keep hold of the 35, he says the decision is in their hands despite being aware of his wishes.
“Yeah, I think they’re aware I’d love to keep it,” Daicos said.
“I think it’s just a decision they need to make so, we’ll wait and see what happens.”
With 35’s future in the hands of the club, Daicos’ focus is entirely on Collingwood’s Qualifying Final matchup against Geelong next Saturday at the MCG.
With the pre-finals bye set for this weekend, Daicos says he and his teammates will start their preparation for the minor premiers from Friday this week.
“We haven’t yet,” Daicos said in response to whether Geelong preparations have begun.
“We haven’t had too much, that’ll be more tomorrow when we delve into it.
“Funnily enough I got an award from Patrick Dangerfield and then another one by Jeremy Cameron last night.
“It was quite funny, I was trying to test with Jeremy Cameron how his body is feeling but he didn’t give me too much.
“They’ve obviously had an amazing year so it’ll be great to play them and hopefully we can take it up to them.”
Daicos was crowned both the NAB AFL Rising Star and AFLPA’s Best First Year Player at Wednesday’s AFL Awards night.
The 19-year-old became the fourth player in Rising Star history to poll maximum votes from the entire voting panel after Jared Rivers (2004), Daniel Rich (2009) and Dan Hannebery (2010).