THE NIGHT BEFORE a Collingwood home game, you’ll find Josh Daicos dining at his favourite restaurant in Melbourne’s Italian stronghold of Carlton. Daicos will be with his regular crew: younger brother and fellow Collingwood star Nick, teammate Isaac Quaynor and best mate Louis. The foursome will be carb loading with generous serves of the restaurant’s signature Southern Italian pasta dishes, as they break down the game ahead, as well as chat idly about things far removed from the field. It’s one of Daicos’ little rituals. He has a lot of them.
“It always seems to work well and the pasta’s nice,” Daicos tells Men’s Health from a featureless meeting room deep inside Collingwood’s HQ, the day before the Pies’ round 21 clash with Geelong. “I’m definitely a man of routine.”
You kind of have to be if you want to forge a long career in the AFL, as Daicos does. “I love football,” says Daicos, who together with fiancée, Anna, is fronting underwear brand Jockey’s new campaign. “I’d love to play as long as possible at the highest level. I really want to have longevity in this game, so I try and do everything I possibly can.”
That includes visiting luxury health club, Saint Haven, four times a week for hyperbaric sessions, saunas and ice baths. He also maintains a rigid commitment to pre-game carb loading and otherwise following a meticulous, nutrient-rich diet. “I love heading to the Leaf Store in Armadale, I go there two or three times a week to get all fresh produce,” he says. “Little stuff like that, going the extra mile just to make sure that I’m putting all the right stuff in my body to fuel me and help me recover quicker.”
Collectively these extra measures are known at the elite level as one-percenters. But a professional approach is only one part of the equation in carving out a career and leaving a legacy. To make it the top and stay there, you need guidance, you need support, sometimes you need help. And that’s where Daicos has been luckier than most.
“Whether it’s in my relationship with Anna or it’s with other family members such as Nick, and how we support one another and continually drive each other to higher standards or with my teammates, I think I could find it [support] in every aspect of my life,” says Daicos.
Fun fact: if you’re looking for a blueprint for success, to break down the mechanics of magic and understand just what it is that separates those at the very top of their fields, you might start with the people they have around them.
FOR ANYONE NOT from Melbourne, who didn’t grow up with an AFL club song as their bedtime lullaby, it’s difficult to convey the power of the Daicos name to inspire awe among fans of the game. Peter Daicos, aka ‘The Macedonian Marvel’, was quite simply one of the most skilful players ever to lace up a boot.
Few players have elicited collective gasps from fans in the stands – usually followed by boisteruous jubilation – as regularly as Peter did in the ’80s and ’90s. Beloved by the Collingwood faithful, there are worse ways to kill an afternoon than to look up some of his YouTube highlights, as Josh himself still does.
“Dad’s always been my biggest idol,” says Daicos. “I wish I was around when he was playing. I would’ve loved to have been there for that. But watching the highlights on YouTube is still pretty cool.”
Peter never pushed his sons into footy, Daicos says. “He always allowed me to love football and enjoy it naturally, which I think to this day has been so important for me because I love it the same as I did when I was a kid.”
And boy, did he love it then. Daicos remembers long afternoons in fading sunlight chasing the footy around the local park with Peter and Nick, the three of them making memories they still talk about to this day. “Dad would finish work and we’d be waiting at the door in our footy gear, ready to go to the park and have a kick of football,” Daicos says. “And we were so lucky that dad was always willing, no matter how long of a day it was for him, he was always there. And we were at the park for hours.”
Daicos began to appreciate exactly who his dad was around grade 1 or 2, when he started playing Auskick. “I remember as a kid when we’d go to the football, dad would obviously get stopped a lot,” he says. “And especially at Collingwood games, there’d be lots of people wanting photos with him. I remember being amazed.”
The AFL has a proud tradition of sons of players following in their father’s footsteps to play in the league. Indeed, it’s so common they even have a provision in the draft that allows for sons to be drafted by the father’s club, known as the Father-Son rule. The success of the offspring of former players is astonishing – Gary Ablett Snr and Jnr, Tim and Jobe Watson, Sergio and Stephen Silvagni, Peter and Darcy Moore, to name but a few.
“I think it’s an amazing part of the game,” Daicos says. “I think it’s an honour to be able to wear the same jumper, same colours that 30 years ago dad used to wear. Nick and I still pinch ourselves to this day.”
But while genetic talent is obviously passed down, it’s perhaps the habits, rituals and the intangibles of success that make the paternal dynamic so powerful. Effectively, you grow up with a coach by your side. In Daicos’ case, it was his father’s work ethic that stood out.
“His work ethic is what Nick and I have admired over the years, and it’s something that we want to have ourselves, and I think we do, and that’s because of dad,” he says. “He showed us the value of hard work and having goals and how you achieve those goals.” At the same time, Peter made sure his boys never forgot why they were playing the game. “He taught us the importance of having fun,” Daicos says. “He never forced football on us. It was always us taking the initiative to train because he wanted us to love it for what it is.”
Perhaps Peter foresaw a day when his sons might be regarded as properties (hot ones) rather than players – if you ask a Collingwood fan, the man was capable of just about anything, including prophesy. “He knew that there’d become a day where we’d be playing and the pressures would be a lot higher and it does become more of a business and there is more scrutiny and there is more media attention.”
It wouldn’t be too long before Daicos would find out just how much.
THERE’S A COLLINGWOOD media reel you can find online that captures Daicos’ debut against Geelong at the MCG, back in round 22 of the 2017 season. In it, a fresh-faced, but it must be said, confident sounding 18-year-old Daicos shares his thoughts on his debut, while Peter and an even fresher-faced Nick also weigh in. There’s a moment when Daicos walks out of the race onto the ground where his eyes are wide, taking in the enormity of the crowd and gravity of the occasion. Later, the reel shows his first kick on the left forward flank into the forward line, the crowd roaring as it finds its target in Mason Cox, about 30m out. An excited commentator exclaims, “His first kick in AFL footy is a beauty”.
Daicos remembers his debut as a magical kaleidoscope of a memory – the roar of the crowd, the strength of the players, the pace of the game. “It’s a massive jump,” he says of playing senior footy. “You go from playing against everyone your own age the year before, and now you’re playing against grown men who are 30 and at the peak of their powers. The first 10 minutes can be a bit of a blur and you feel like you’re in a washing machine, but you slowly adjust. It’s a day I’ll never forget.”
Daicos would finish with 10 kicks and 10 tackles, though was a little disappointed not to kick a goal – that would come a week later against Melbourne.
As his body matured Daicos began to make his presence felt on the field, offering a potent attacking threat on the wing and becoming a lynchpin on the halfback line. In 2020 he had a breakout year – perhaps it’s coincidence that he met Anna that year (more on that later). In 2022, the team made a finals run, getting all the way to the preliminary final, in the process earning scars that would instil resolve.
By 2023, under new coach, Craig ‘Fly’ McCrae, who’d taken over the year before and new captain, Darcy Moore, the team had a ruthlessness that had been missing in the years before. Daicos proceeded to have the best year of his career, making the All-Australian team, winning the Copeland Trophy, and of course, claiming the premiership.
“I feel like you probably have to go back a year. It was the first year under Fly and we take the competition by surprise and just lose a prelim,” he says. “So to be one win way from a grand final hurt. But as a team, we took that belief that we built over that year into ’23. Once again, I feel like people thought it was a bit of a fluke that we had that year. But we showed how powerful we are as a team. As a footballer you dream of playing on that day and there’s no guarantees, no matter how hard you work, no one guarantees you that day.”
To share it with Nick, who had joined the ‘Pies in 2022, again under the Father-Son rule, made it all the sweeter. As Daicos says, the brothers have always been a team. “Nick and I, there’s an age gap of four years, but for us, it doesn’t feel like that,” he says. “He’s been my best friend my entire life. Dad was really big on Nick being involved and Nick hanging out with all my mates that were four years older. It’s always been a dynamic where we want the best for each other. Whatever we find that could help us, we share with one another. We don’t withhold any tips or advice. We’ve always been extremely caring toward one another, and we just want to push each other to be great.”
Is there any rivalry between them? Well, they are brothers. “We’re definitely competitive, but it’s in a really healthy way where when one of us does take it to a new height or reach some sort of success, we celebrate it,” he says. “We genuinely want the best for one another.”
For proof of this, you can revisit that Collingwood media reel, where an obviously delighted Nick says of his brother’s debut, “I’ve been waiting for this all year”. Daicos reflects on their criss-crossing careers: “It’s already going so quick, but it’s something that we truly value and don’t lose sight of how special it is.” Or how rare.
A WEEK OR two before I chat to Daicos, he and fiancée, Annalise Dalins, are shooting with Jockey for Men’s and Women’s Health. While Dalins has a background in modelling, Daicos is new to the world of smiling eyes and smouldering pouts. He’s also shooting in his underwear, a big undertaking for any bloke. But having Anna there to support him helps him relax. “I feel like it’s definitely out of my comfort zone, not having a modelling background, but it definitely makes me feel a lot more comfortable when Anna’s by my side.”
The couple are getting married in November and busy wedding planning, a process Daicos describes as “fun”. “I mean, it depends when the question’s asked, but right now it’s going really well,” he laughs. “Any project where Anna and I have to work on something or plan something, we try and make it as fun as possible. We’re just super excited. I’m so excited to marry Anna. She’s been my soulmate, my everything, since the day we started dating.”
That began back in 2020. “I’d spoken to Anna briefly that year, just via text. And then later that year, I saw my teammate, Jordan De Goey, on Chapel Street, across the road at a bar. I went over there to say hello to him. I was with a group of my mates and Anna was on the table over from him and that’s when I went over and spoke to her. And then from that night, I texted her and organised a day to get coffee, and the coffee date went extremely well. We were there for hours and just couldn’t stop chatting.”
From the outset, Daicos “just loved her energy. I loved how genuine she is. Her energy’s infectious and you just want to keep being around her because she really does light up a room. Over the years, she’s taught me so much about myself and she constantly makes me want to be a better version of myself and a better person.”
If you think Daicos is laying it on a little thick, you might, particularly if you’ve been in love yourself, find it in yourself to forgive him. You might also listen to him, for as a man whose success has been built on binding unconditional bonds, he knows better than anyone: it’s the relationships in our lives that define us.
Josh Daicos’ workout routine
Daicos relies on lower body and core strength and power to break tackles and wear bumps. In the off-season Josh and Nick work out with trainer Chris Povey in Moorabbin, who utilises a speed protocol to build their strength and explosiveness. “The goal is obviously to have as much weight as possible and hit those speeds,” says Daicos. “If you don’t hit those speeds, you reduce the weight. It makes it super competitive in there. We can see exactly in the present moment how we’re performing and it’s something that allows you to keep track of your progress.” Here are 5 moves he uses to fortify his physique for the rigours of the game.
- Squat 3 x 3
- Single-leg Bulgarian split squat 3 x 6-8
- Bench press 3 x 3
- Landmine rotations 3 x 10-12
- Cable twist 3 x 10-12
Josh and his Jockeys
Josh and Annalise are helping launch Jockey’s new underwear range. “I love their quality,” says Daicos of the 150-year-old brand’s pieces. “I think they suit me really well, my lifestyle. From training to relaxing at home, they’re just my every day. It’s been really fun to work with them and collaborate and design something exciting next year.” Here are his top 3 picks from the collection:
WORDS: BEN JHOTY
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHNNY NICOLAIDIS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: GRANT PEARCE
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: REBECCA MOORE
FASHION ASSISTANT: KAILEE WALLER
GROOMING: CHANTELLE BAKER
HAIR: GABRIELLE ROCUZZO
DESIGN: EVAN LAWRENCE
VIDEO: JORDAN COLES
