Round #06 - Begin again
Nick Daicos
Instead of being crushed by the expectations his name and talent demand of him, Nick seems to be elevated by it and what a player he is.
People in sport are naturally visual, unsurprisingly.
Premiership victories can be traced to a napkin from a local café, an effort to record a 'strategy session' where every utensil, glass, coffee cup and condiment on the table has been shifted to create a 'team system' that will be hard to defend against.
What started as an informal conversation amongst the thoroughly obsessed soon became much more. Curiosity and courage are two characteristics that differentiate leaders in elite team sport, for without them, whatever small success you enjoy today won't be around for you to bask in tomorrow.
The curiosity to learn. The courage to unlearn.
Once again, I am drawn to Stoic Philosopher Ryan Holiday's "What stands in the way becomes the way." It's a framing worth revisiting when thinking about Senior Coach Craig McRae's leadership at Collingwood and what the role is asking of him.
Every leader needs to develop their 'way', often in response to what 'stands in the way' – a philosophy and approach that defines them, their identity, purpose, and system, all rolled into one. But the curious and courageous leaders understand that their 'way' must continuously evolve, understanding that identity, purpose and system will be challenged such is the competitive environment that draws us in, but will spit us out with equal force.
The Craig McRae 'way' was fully validated in just his second year of senior coaching, taking Collingwood to the 2023 Premiership.
His coaching felt like a pure form of self-expression, confident in what he brought to the role, but with humility, knowing that his coaching wisdom was built on decades of learning away from the spotlight that shines brightly on the few and largely ignores the rest. He was mostly underestimated and underappreciated until he wasn't, when at age 47, appointed coach of the biggest club in the country and, soon thereafter, a Premiership Coach.
The better leaders in the AFL have shaped their teams such that they have shaped how the game is played. It hasn't always been pretty or popular, but it has put silverware in their club's trophy cabinets and forced other leaders to respond.
Craig McRae achieved this, his team becoming masters of the come-from-behind victory or finding ways to defend the smallest margins. It was pretty, and it was popular, making compelling viewing, and it put the Club's sixteenth Premiership Cup into the trophy cabinet.
Throughout, McRae seemed so grounded, but also joyous, and determined to share the fun. When people wanted to talk about him, whilst always obliging, he sought to defer and give plaudits to the many unrecognised others who played such crucial roles in Collingwood's success. People like him just a couple of years earlier.
Even the many, with a generational disdain for all things Collingwood, found it impossible not to be drawn to the club we love to hate.
Then came the disappointment of 2024 – missing finals. Suddenly, the 'way' that had led to glory seemed insufficient, consistently coming up short.
A key lesson I learned the hard way is that no matter how good your culture and strategy seem at any time, all solutions are temporary. When the competitive response comes – as it inevitably will – what stands in your way must become your new way.
We cannot change 'what happened', but we can take responsibility for our response and what we do about it and give ourselves the best chance to make the most of 'what now' and 'what next'.
We get to 'Begin Again'.
The intimidation of an empty page in a notebook for the writer, like a blank canvas for an artist, will always test the curiosity and courage of the protagonist. For McRae, 2025 presented this confronting reality – a season demanding redefinition, realignment, or even rewriting, the next phase of his leadership story.
Leadership is hard. It demands we embrace this reality when every fibre of our human nature pulls us toward the comfort of the known, the validation of past success, the warmth of systems and formulas that have brought us success. Yet we must set aside the known for the unknown and all its trepidations and apprehensions. 'Begin Again' requires us to be better than human nature, an act of will that defies these natural gravitational forces.
McRae faced his trepidations head-on after the opening round thrashing by GWS. That defeat threatened to validate every fear – Collingwood's moment had passed, a list slowed by age that couldn't recapture its hunger, and 2023's glory would remain just a memory.
This is what makes Collingwood's Round 6 dismantling of reigning Premier and undefeated Brisbane at the Gabba so compelling. It's only early in the season, but this victory makes it five wins on the trot, and suggests the Magpies might be finding their way back into premiership contention.
It speaks to McRae finding a new 'way' – not by abandoning his principles, but by allowing the obstacles themselves to reveal the path forward.
McRae's greatest leadership feat may not be the 2023 Premiership, but his willingness to question his own successful formula when it stopped working. After 2024's disappointment, his focus turned to understanding "what the world was telling them" – a form of feedback, easy to ignore, dismiss or even idealise, that a new season would magically see the restoration of the natural order and the Magpies would return to Premiership contention.
It would be easy to focus on the data, the mountains of statistics, that can tell whatever story we want it to. It needs to go much deeper, demanding and drawing on the observations and insights of line coaches, list managers, and the players themselves. This is leadership as sense-making to create meaning-making, creating spaces where expertise and ideas can surface.
This approach isn't about dramatic overhauls or finding fault, but about driving conversations that lead to "alignment, not agreement", knowing that disagreement is part of the journey. We need to hear 'your idea' to get to 'best idea', and then we lock in.
The leader fosters dialogue, not monologue, understanding that wisdom emerges from collective conversation rather than top-down pronouncements. For the senior coach, even though the spotlight shines on them, they cannot do this work alone. They create the conditions for collective wisdom to emerge, ultimately setting the path forward.
So often, it is about recognising that the way forward lies directly through the obstacles themselves, while other times, it requires finding a path around them. The art of leadership is knowing which approach serves the moment.
There is no doubt the name Daicos would feature in most conversations, perhaps the most revered surname in modern Collingwood history. My drawing is of Nick Daicos, who, rather than being burdened by the weight of this famous surname, has turned it into fuel, as has his brother Josh.
Instead of being crushed by the expectations his name and talent demand of him, Nick seems to be elevated by it and what a player he is.
Watch him after being flattened by Brisbane's powerful Cam Rayner - in the blink of an eye, he's winning the ball again. It was as if the previous collision never happened.
Each moment is a fresh canvas, each contest a new beginning.
For McRae, Daicos presents both opportunity and challenge. The league's competitive response means even a talent like Daicos must continually reinvent his game. How does a coach help his most crucial player evolve and reinvent while ensuring the team doesn't become dependent on his brilliance? It's another version of 'begin again' - nurturing Daicos's extraordinary talent while building a system that transcends any individual.
A test of McRae's leadership lies in creating a structure where Daicos can flourish without becoming the structure itself.
My sense is that Craig McRae will do this with the same joyous and grounded mindset that has defined his coaching journey.
Listening to him speak, he understands that all stories begin, build, and some get to burn bright, and eventually, all stories must burn out.
The best stories become folklore and legend. Legacy is forever.
While Craig McRae has already written a chapter of Collingwood folklore, it will not stop him from trying new things, knowing he will often get it wrong, but comforted by the understanding that, when the healing is done, disappointment and heartbreak are temporary states and essential for growth, and an opportunity to 'begin again'.
Play on!
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