Young AFL superstar Nick Daicos has sent huge scare through the Collingwood camp during a brutal pre-season session.
There was no holding back for the reigning premiers on Friday and Daicos walked a fine line.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nick Daicos dumps Nathan Murphy in fierce Collingwood session.
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In a fierce and dangerous tackle, he dumped his teammate Nathan Murphy to ground.
Murphy has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career and in December last year faced an examination by the league’s concussion panel.
The 24-year-old was given the green light to keep playing AFL, but there is a serious watch on Murphy who sustained his last concussion during the Magpies’ grand final win over the Brisbane Lions in September.
On this occasion, Murphy was lucky to escape unscathed but 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary said there were “hearts in Magpies’ mouths”.
“Nick Daicos (is) lucky this tackle was in January and not August,” Cleary said.
“Nathan Murphy was crunched …. the action would have landed the Pies’ superstar in hot water during the season.”
Following the tackle, “a dazed” Murphy stepped away from training and had a discussion with Collingwood coach Craig McRae.
Last year Collingwood football boss Graham Wright said in a statement that “Nathan’s health and wellbeing remains our absolute priority”.
“The club together with Nathan and his family, engaged with concussion specialists and the expert concussion medical panel convened by the AFL to assess a return to play,” he said.
“At the conclusion of this process, the expert concussion medical panel convened by the AFL determined that Nathan was able to return to playing football in the elite AFL competition.
“(But) the health and welfare of all athletes at Collingwood remains paramount and any incidence of concussion will continue to be managed appropriately.”
Fortunately, Murphy returned to the action was soon in the thick of it.
In fact, the defender then forced forced Beau McCreery from the ground after colliding with his teammate in a marking contest.
Cleary said McCreery was forced inside to be looked at by doctors but he also soon returned.
In better news for the Pies, spiritual leader and hard-nut defender Brayden Maynard returned to contact training post shoulder surgery.
Maynard had the operation in the weeks after after Collingwood’s premiership triumph.
The 27-year-old had played with the injury throughout the second half of last year’s home and away season.
Despite that, he still managed to finish equal second in the clubs best-and-fairest award, tying with Nick Daicos.
