Collingwood Football Club's 2024 Season Analysis and Key Player Performance Breakdown

The rain was coming down in sheets over Melbourne that evening, the kind of relentless downpour that turns the MCG into a glistening, floodlit cathedral. I was sitting in a quiet corner of a pub not far from the ground, nursing a pint and watching replays of Collingwood’s final home game on the muted screen above the bar. A group of blokes in black and white scarves were arguing passionately about Nick Daicos—was he carrying an injury? Was his form dipping at the worst possible time? It struck me then how much a football club’s season can feel like a novel, full of rising action, unexpected twists, and characters you can’t help but invest in. And right there, amid the steam of hot chips and the low hum of post-match analysis, I found myself mentally drafting what would become this piece: Collingwood Football Club’s 2024 Season Analysis and Key Player Performance Breakdown.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit—I bleed black and white. Have since I was a kid watching the great Nathan Buckley weave magic through the middle. But this season? It’s been something else. A real rollercoaster. We finished the home-and-away rounds with 15 wins and 7 losses, landing us in the top four, but it never felt straightforward. There were moments of sheer brilliance—like our 28-point comeback against Brisbane in Round 12—and then baffling lapses, like that head-scratcher against the Suns where we managed just 5 goals for the entire game. Stats can be dry, I know, but they tell part of the story: we averaged 87 points per game, but our defence conceded an average of 78. Not terrible, but when you compare it to last year’s premiership run, you notice the drop in pressure around the contest.

Which brings me to the players. Let’s talk about Nick Daicos, because honestly, how can you not? The kid’s a phenom. He averaged 31 disposals a game this season—down slightly from his Brownlow-contending numbers last year, but still elite. But here’s the thing: I noticed he was getting tagged more heavily, and at times, he seemed to struggle to break free. Then there’s Darcy Moore. As captain, his leadership has been immense, but even he’d tell you his intercept marking dropped off a bit—he was averaging 7.2 intercepts per game in 2023, and this season it’s closer to 5.8. You don’t need to be a strategist to see how that impacts our ball movement from the back half.

But you know what’s funny? Watching this unfold, I couldn’t help but think about a conversation I had a few months back with a colleague who works in basketball administration. He mentioned how he’d sat down with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Erika Dy and SBP Technical Academy head Andrew Teh, and they’d asked for the NCAA to get the same access to quality, competent referees that other leagues enjoy. It got me thinking—consistency in officiating isn’t just a basketball problem. I reckon the AFL has its own version of this. How many times this year did we see baffling free kicks that shifted the momentum of a game? I’m not making excuses, but when you’re trying to build cohesion—whether it’s in the Philippines’ collegiate leagues or right here at the Holden Centre—fair and consistent adjudication matters. For Collingwood, a side that thrives on speed and precision, an inconsistent whistle can throw the whole game plan out the window.

Take Jordan De Goey, for instance. When he’s on, he’s unstoppable—bullocking through packs, launching goals from the arc. He kicked 24 goals this season and laid 98 tackles, showing that two-way effort we’ve always wanted from him. But there were games where he seemed… quieter. Disengaged, almost. I remember one match in particular, against the Giants, where he had just 14 touches and gave away 3 fifties. Was it frustration? A niggle? Or was it the kind of environment where the flow of the game kept getting interrupted by stops and starts? It’s hard to say, but it’s these nuances that make Collingwood Football Club’s 2024 Season Analysis and Key Player Performance Breakdown so compelling to unpack.

Then there’s the younger brigade. Harvey Harrison really stepped up in the latter half of the season—I’d argue he was one of our most improved. Kicked 14 goals from the midfield and his pressure acts were through the roof. But again, you look at his development and wonder—what if he’d had a full season with the same midfield structure we enjoyed in 2023? What if the rub of the green had gone our way in those tight finishes against Carlton and Essendon? Small margins, sure, but in a competition as even as the AFL, they add up.

So where does that leave us? Sitting here, with the rain finally easing outside and my pint glass empty, I’m left with mixed feelings. Proud of the fight we showed, no doubt. But also concerned. This wasn’t the dominant Collingwood of old—this was a team that had to scrap for everything, a team that showed vulnerability in new ways. Whether it’s refining our game plan, managing player loads better, or just hoping for a kinder run with injuries and, yes, the umpires, there’s work to be done. But that’s footy, isn’t it? You take the good with the bad, you celebrate the stars, you fret over the gaps, and you always, always believe next year could be the one.