SIPPING bone broth and sitting in a hyperbaric chamber wasn't how Nick Daicos envisaged spending August. But a gut-wrenching week for the Brownlow Medal contender and his family was made easier to stomach when brother Josh went to work on Friday night.

With Nick missing his first game since bursting onto the scene in the opening round of last season – and facing up to six weeks on the sidelines – Josh showed why All-Australian selectors will need to consider the blazer measurements of both Daicos boys when they finalise their team next month.

Collingwood had to win against Geelong to arrest a late season form slump and it was the older Daicos who got the job done, amassing a career-high 38 disposals – five more than his previous best – nine contested possessions, eight score involvements and 564 metres gained to help guide the Magpies to an eight-point win.

"It was a tough week," Daicos told AFL.com.au in the rooms on Friday night.

"Straight away we thought it was bone bruising and found out it was a little bit worse. Nick had his moment where he had a few tears and was just disappointed and frustrated. Then he was straight back to (focusing on) what he can do to help the team.

"He is doing everything to heal quicker, whether it's bone broth or resting his leg, he is trying everything. He has been in a hyperbaric chamber most days, oxygen chambers, a lot of icing for his knee to get down the swelling and just resting it. A lot of video games, too - apparently that helps."

To beat the Cats, the Magpies not only had to overcome the loss of the 20-year-old sensation, who is leading the AFL Coaches Association player of the year award. They also handled losing Darcy Moore before quarter time after the skipper suffered a hamstring strain that will rule him out until the first week of the finals.

And they also did it less than a week after Hawthorn produced the upset of the season by knocking off the ladder leaders by 32 points, a result that had come eight days after Carlton handed Collingwood only its third defeat of the season to that point.

"We do a great job of staying calm," Daicos said. "When your skipper goes down – someone who is such an integral part of our team – you lose leadership, but Billy Frampton came in and played unbelievable. We know players can come in and bring the energy. We did a really good job of playing a front half game, which helped our backs.

"Hawthorn played really well last week. Can't take anything away from them, they executed a really good game style and we were off. It was disappointing to lose to 16th but it's more important to bounce back and have that confidence to flick that switch again."

September is the month where reputations are enhanced and legacies are cemented, but August started in style for the Daicos brothers, before Nick suffered his injury. The pair inked mega contract extensions that will tie them to the club where their famous father, Peter, is an all-time great. Nick is locked in until he reaches free agency in 2029. Josh was set to become a free agent next year, but is now signed until 2030.

"It is something that made us all emotional as a family," Josh said, with Peter standing nearby as the Magpies celebrated their win.

"To be staying at the Pies and to continue Dad's legacy and hopefully win the ultimate prize with all the boys is where my mindset is at. It was amazing, to be honest. I love being at this club and wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Collingwood has won only one premiership since Peter kicked two goals, taking him to 97 for the season, in the 1990 Grand Final win over Essendon that ended a 32-year flag drought. Josh has been privy to the stories from that time, at least some of them. It was a different era.

"I have heard some stories and I think they all had a lot more fun than us," he said. "We've had a lot of six-day breaks, so it's a different sort of recovery for them. Dad just said to take it all in and enjoy it."

Daicos joined Collingwood as a father-son selection via pick No.57 in 2016 and played 52 games across his first five seasons. But things have changed under Craig McRae. The 24-year-old has played 46 of a possible 46 games under the AFL's version of Ted Lasso, earning selection in the All-Australian squad last year before rising to another level this year as one of the premier wingmen in the competition alongside Errol Gulden and Nic Martin.

The Magpies rose from second last in 2021 to the second last weekend of the season last year, missing out on the Grand Final by a single point. Now they exit round 22 as the premiership favourites, confident of what's to come across the next five or six games.

"I've always felt like it was possible since last year," Daicos said. "I think we did a lot of hoping early and then we started believing after the bye. I've believed since then.

"We're really focused on what we want to accomplish. We know how hard it is to get there, but all we can do is keep getting better as a team."

It might be bone broth and hyperbaric chambers for Nick right now, but it could be a walk to the premiership dais for both Daicos boys by the end of next month.