Nick Daicos had just achieved something no AFL player had ever done before, but amid the applause, flashing cameras and celebrations of a record-breaking Brownlow Medal victory, the Collingwood superstar made sure the biggest night of his career belonged to someone else too.
That someone was eight-year-old Logan, a young cancer patient who has formed a special bond with Daicos during the year.
The 23-year-old Magpies champion capped an extraordinary season by claiming his first Brownlow Medal with 47 votes, breaking the previous record of 45 set by Patrick Cripps in 2024.
Daicos finished 11 votes clear of Geelong’s Bailey Smith on 36, with Western Bulldogs great Marcus Bontempelli third on 34. He collected an astonishing 13 best-on-ground performances and at one stage strung together six consecutive three-vote games.
After finishing runner-up in each of the previous two seasons and third in 2023, it was the breakthrough that had seemed destined to arrive sooner rather than later.
But once Daicos stepped onto the stage, the numbers quickly became secondary.
Speaking about the enormous profile that comes with being one of the AFL’s biggest stars – particularly while wearing a Collingwood jumper and carrying one of football’s most famous surnames – Daicos admitted there were times when life in the spotlight could become overwhelming.
Then he explained why he would never take that platform for granted.
“I have a youngster, Logan, who is staying awake at the moment. He has cancer. And I worked closely with him this year,” Daicos said.
The pair met through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and have remained in close contact, regularly exchanging videos throughout the week.
For Daicos, that relationship has helped put the pressures of football into perspective. “We’re only able to do that and put a smile on his face because we’re playing footy,” he said. “Then at the same time, I think he’s probably taught me more than I taught him.”
As the cameras swept across the room, those listening – including Collingwood coach Craig McRae and Daicos’ partner Arlette Amor – were visibly captivated by the tribute.
But Daicos wasn’t done. Before the night, he had made a promise: if he won the Brownlow, his first signature as a Brownlow medallist would belong to Logan.
Host Hamish McLachlan produced a copy of Monday’s Herald Sun featuring Daicos prominently on the front page and reminded him of the deal.
With a pen handed across on stage, the newly crowned Brownlow medallist signed it there and then, ensuring the keepsake would be passed on to his young mate.
“This is coming to you, Logan. We’ll make sure it happens,” McLachlan said.
It was a tiny gesture compared with the scale of the occasion, and perhaps that was why it landed so beautifully.
Daicos had just become the first Collingwood player since Dane Swan in 2011 to win the Brownlow. He had set a new voting record, ended several years of near misses and cemented an already remarkable start to his AFL career.
Yet one of his first thoughts was of an eight-year-old boy watching from home.
Daicos also used his acceptance speech to thank those closest to him, including Amor, his parents Peter and Colleen, sister Madison and older brother and Collingwood teammate Josh.
He described Josh as one of his best mates and role models and spoke warmly about the support of his family throughout the intense scrutiny that has followed him since entering the AFL as the son of Collingwood legend Peter Daicos.
There was plenty of laughter too, particularly when Daicos confessed that as a young boy he briefly committed what might be considered the ultimate sin in the Daicos household: becoming a Carlton fan.
Inspired by Chris Judd and Marc Murphy, young Nick once arrived home wearing a Blues jumper with Judd’s famous No.3 on the back.
His father, unsurprisingly, was unimpressed.
“I’m not kidding, Dad was treating me like a COVID patient,” Daicos joked, adding that his Carlton phase did not last long.
It was another glimpse of the young man behind the football phenomenon on a night when almost everything went his way.
The record books will remember 47 votes.
Collingwood supporters will remember the moment the medal was finally placed around Daicos’ neck.
But for many watching, the lasting image might be something much simpler: the AFL’s newest Brownlow medallist standing on stage, pen in hand, making good on a promise to a little boy named Logan.
On the biggest night of his football life, Nick Daicos showed that sometimes the smallest gestures mean the most.
Images: Instagram, Ch7
