Christmas day will never be the same for the Daicos family.
Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos — brother of teammate, Josh, and son of Magpies legend, Peter — has revealed the heartbreaking tragedy his family suffered on Christmas day in 2021.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Josh Daicos pranks brother Nick after costly melee.
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Speaking to former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, Daicos opened up on the difficult period of his life that only just preceded the beginning of his AFL career.
“Going into my first year, Christmas day we lost my auntie (after) a battle with cancer, which was terrible for us,” Daicos said on Fox Sports.
“It was a really tough time. Christmas day was spent at hospital.”
He spoke about the role his AFL club played in his grieving period.
“We got through that and we just came back to family and I think even the club here has created a great culture where we wrap our arms around each other and are always there for each other, encourage each other to be vulnerable and open up,” Daicos said.
Not long after he lost his auntie, Daicos then lost his grandpa.
“And then unfortunately I lost my dedo — my grandpa — on the eve of Round 1,” he continued.
“Pretty tough, but it sort of does make you realise that footy is just a small part of your life and there’s so much else that goes on. You want to do well in footy, but just make sure family’s okay first.”
Nick and brother Josh played their season opener with a special memento in their boots to honour their dedo (Macedonian for grandpa).
After they beat Geelong in a Round 1 thriller, the brothers left the post-game celebrations and wandered out to the centre of the MCG. Nick took off his boot, grabbed what was in it, kissed his hand, and then touched the hallowed turf of the famous ground.
Josh then did the same.
At the time, many thought they had played with their grandpa’s ashes in their socks, but Nick later revealed it was rose petals from their grandfather’s funeral.
Daicos also paid tribute to his mum on Sunday, Mother’s Day.
“Mum’s just been your typical, loving mum, she’s always driven us to trainings, made us food — just done everything a great mum would do,” he said.
“Her and her sister … they’d always come to our games and support us, which meant so much to us.
“She just always has a smile on her face. She doesn’t really talk footy post game or anything; she moves on pretty quickly — dad does the footy talk.
“But mum just is always there for us when we need a big hug or a cuddle.”