Collingwood cut ties with quintet following premiership success

Less than a week after claiming the club’s 16th premiership cup, Collingwood has confirmed the departures of five names, with each of Trey Ruscoe, Trent Bianco, Tom Wilson, Arlo Draper and Cooper Murley not offered contracts for the 2024 season.

The Magpies now have  a total of four players still unsigned for next season, with the entire crop of off-contract names not featuring in the flag-winning side.

Aiden Begg, Josh Carmichael, Will Kelly, Nathan Kreuger haven’t earned new deals as of yet, with a number of list calls to be made over the coming weeks as the Magpies work their way through the player exchange period.

As stated by the Pies in a Friday night press release, Ruscoe, Bianco, Wilson, Draper and Murley have departed the AIA Centre with the club’s best wishes.

“Decision-making at this time of the year is always tough and we thank each of the players for their contribution to the Collingwood Football Club,” Collingwood GM Graham Wright said.

“Trent, Trey, Tom, Arlo and Cooper have all played an important role in this year’s success and that has not gone unrecognised. We thank them for their dedication to our football program.

“On behalf of everyone at the Club, we wish each player all the very best for their futures and we hope they continue to work towards reaching their football potential.”

The quintet combined to make 49 senior appearances in black and white bars, all despite Draper and Murley failing to make their AFL debuts during their time with the Pies.

While the Pies’ press release confirmed the group’s departures, Ruscoe’s alerted the many members of the Magpie Army to his delisting on Wednesday, confirming his exit via Instagram.

“Wow, what a journey it has been,” Ruscoe wrote.

“I’ve met some amazing people along the way that I am just so thankful for and I’m just so happy that I got the opportunity to play at such a great club.

“The friendships I have made will be forever lasting and I will miss everyone from the club so much. Everyone has played a massive part in my career and I have learnt many lessons on the way which I am so thankful for.

“To the Collingwood faithful fans you have been awesome and we/I couldn’t have done it without your support the whole way through, thank you @collingwood_fc.”

Delisted free agency will run over three separate windows this off-season, the first being from November 1.

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Josh Daicos has claimed bragging rights over his brother after closing out a glittering campaign with a maiden Copeland Trophy win as Collingwood’s club champion.

The All-Australian pair were neck-and-neck for most of the count before the elder Daicos streaked ahead of Nick following his knee fracture in round 21, earning the coveted honour of best and fairest in a premiership season.

The wingman was rewarded for his career-best season, in which he played all 27 games and booted 16 goals with an average of 25 disposals per game.

Brayden Maynard tied with Nick Daicos for second, only four votes ahead of first-year Magpie Tom Mitchell, who polled strongly despite a form slump in July that led to him twice being picked as the sub in the second half of the season.

Mitchell said on Friday he never felt his spot in the side was in jeopardy despite being pushed out of the starting 22.

“It’s something that I feel as though I’ve dealt with my whole career … externally I’ve probably never been rated, and that’s fine, it hasn’t really bothered me,” he told AFL Trade Radio.

“This year was always about being a selfless player and buying into that, and to be able to go out there and perform in a finals series was all I really wanted to do.”

Five-time winner Scott Pendlebury rounded out the top five after another superb season, with the injury-free seasons of the veteran and his teammates Isaac Quaynor, Jack Crisp and Brody Mihocek leaving All-Australian centre half-back Darcy Moore and star midfielder Jordan De Goey on the edge of the top 10 despite dominant seasons.

One-game defender Jakob Ryan was named the Magpies’ best first-year player, while Maynard won the Darren Millane Memorial Trophy as best clubman for the second straight year.

Beau McCreery claimed the Gavin Brown award for best defensive player, with Jack Crisp claiming the Bob Rose award as Collingwood’s best finals performer.