The Pies say Daicos should be right to go next week after being subbed off with a calf injury.

Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos sent shockwaves through the AFL world when he hobbled off late in the Pies’ win over Melbourne on Monday night. Daicos copped an inadvertent knee to his shin from Demon Alex Neal-Bullen in the closing stages of the third term and succumbed to the injury in the last quarter of the King’s Birthday clash.

Daicos had only managed 15 disposals – his lowest output this season – after a hard tag from Alex Neal-Bullen. But in a positive development, Magpies coach Craig McRae says he is hopeful the young gun will be right to go against North Melbourne on Sunday at Marvel Stadium.

“He got tagged heavily and then he got a corky in his shin, so he will be fine,” McRae said. Daicos also doesn’t believe the injury is too serious and said pulling him off was more of a precaution than anything despite vision showing him in agony on the bench.

“Early in the third I had a knock on the inside (of my leg) and later I got a knock on the outside so it turned into a bit of a dead leg,” he said. “Just precautionary, they said to me ‘try to run it out at the start of the fourth and if we don’t need you, we’ll pull you off’.”

Monday’s dominant 38-point win over the Demons sees Collingwood return into the top eight as the reigning premiers continue to claw their way back into the flag picture. The Pies have six days until their next match against North Melbourne on Sunday and will hope that Daicos’ injury isn’t serious as fellow midfielders Scott Pendlebury, Tom Mitchell and Jordan De Goey remain sidelined. While forwards Jamie Elliott, Mason Cox and Brody Mihocek remain out due to injury.

Brayden Maynard dominates in front of a hostile crowd

The Magpies and Demons went head-to-head on Monday in their first meeting since Brayden Maynard knocked out Angus Brayshaw in the finals last year. Brayshaw suffered a heavy concussion after Maynard’s attempt to smother backfired and he collected his opponent in the head with his shoulder.

Maynard was cleared at the tribunal over the hit but Brayshaw was forced to retire earlier this year due to him suffering several concussions in a short period of time. Maynard was expecting a hostile atmosphere on Monday and that is exactly what he got.

But by the end of play, the cheers drowned out the boos as the defender bullied the Demons players with his aggressive play, as the Pies scored a 38-point win over their rivals. McRae said Maynard had been dealing with personal stress ahead of the game, but would not go into any depth about it.

The Pies coach said his side came into the game well-prepared for Melbourne, who were coming off a bad loss to Fremantle. “Watching them from afar, you’re just (thinking) ‘I’m worried what’s coming’. I didn’t want to overplay it, but we had to be ready for what’s coming, on the rebound,” McRae said.