Collingwood great Peter Daicos has explained why his oldest son Josh didn’t take his famous number 35 jumper when joining the club as a father-son selection.
With the famous number now worn by Josh’s younger sibling Nick, some were wondering why the 35 didn’t go to Josh, given he joined Collingwood five years before his brother.
When Josh was drafted, Collingwood had a tradition that their first pick in each year’s draft would take the 35 to honour Simon Prestigiacomo, who selflessly ruled himself out of the 20210 Grand Final with injury.
After Prestigiacomo’s retirement, the 35 was worn by the likes of Jamie Elliott, Brodie Grundy and Jordan De Goey, but Peter said the club was hoping to break tradition to allow Josh, who was the club’s fourth pick in the draft, to wear it.
“Well yeah, it was interesting, Collingwood were going to break tradition,” Peter told SEN WA Breakfast.
“Gary Pert, who was the CEO at the time, did call me, and they were hoping that Josh would take the 35 even though he wasn't their first pick (in that year’s draft).
“Clearly, the clubs are looking at any angle these days, with the market and to get out on social media platforms, I suppose.
“But having said all of that, I think with Josh, I said to ‘Perty’ at the time, ‘It's his decision, it's his career and his time, so he can decide what he wants to do’.”
With the decision in Josh’s hands, Peter says his oldest son simply chose to forge his own path and was handed the number 26, which he wore for four seasons before switching to number 7.
“To be honest, Josh and I never spoke about it because we just thought, ‘Well, he's not going first pick, so you're not getting the 35’,” Peter explained.
“At the time, I thought, ‘It would be nice’, but I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it.
“In the end, I basically said, ‘No, it's his decision’, and Josh just decided he wanted to forge his own path, and 26 is where he landed.
“It (26) was worn by ‘Browny’ (Gavin Brown), who was a legend of the club, and Benny Johnson wore it well.
“So, it was his call, and it sat comfortably with him and us.”
Both Josh and Nick have been key in Collingwood’s ladder-leading season so far, with both brothers looming as likely All-Australian selections.