COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae raved about Nick Daicos' ability to shrug Port Adelaide's tag after his best afield display helped the Magpies thrash the Power by 71 points at the MCG.

McRae almost dared Ken Hinkley to tag the 2022 Rising Star ahead of Saturday's game and the Power coach obliged with Lachie Jones running with him from the first bounce, but after a slow start Daicos was utterly dominant.

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Daicos finished with a series of game highs, including 32 disposals, 661 metres gained, 11 score involvements and six inside 50s. The 20-year-old also booted two goals, both spectacular finishes including a brilliant team goal after Scott Pendlebury's over-the-shoulder handpass.

All that came after Daicos was blanketed a few weeks ago by the close watch of Hawthorn's Finn Maginness in pre-season, restricting the second-year player to 17 touches, but this time Port gave up the tag early in the second quarter.

"The reality is Nick is a great player, an emerging talent," McRae said. "We've got to embrace it [getting tagged]. I said to Nick on Friday, 'This is probably coming'. He got tagged in a practice game and learned so much from it.

"Reality was in the first quarter he was getting tagged and the scoreboard was still ticking over in our favour. He's got an incredible ability to play multiple roles which makes him hard to tag.

"I think this is just natural progression of a player who is an emerging talent. All the best players have to go through this. This is part of his journey right now."

Hinkley was quick after the game to concede defeat in that battle, bluntly stating: "I think Nick won. He was pretty good."

He added: "We went with him a little bit early. He's such a creative player and he's such a powerful runner. Everyone in the competition knows that.

"The challenge is to be able to put the clamps on him when they've got control like they did today. The difference will be what's the control look like if it's a 50-50 game."

Among Daicos' highlights was his running second-quarter goal from 45m, working a one-two with Pendlebury on the boundary line after Dan McStay kept the ball in play. Standing nearby on the bench, McRae delighted in the team goal, while he brushed off comparisons to the Harlem Globetrotters.

"We want to be fun to watch," he said. "I did get excited on the bench. It's an exciting brand of footy. Pendles' decision making is amazing. We celebrate that stuff. Do we want to be the Harlem Globetrotters? No. But we want to be fun to watch."

McRae clarified that Brody Mihocek, who kicked three goals before being subbed off in the final term, had suffered a dislocated finger but expected him to be available to face Richmond in a round three blockbuster on Friday night.

He also spoke of how pleased he was with the application of Jack Ginnivan, who will be available for selection for that game following his suspension after admitting to illicit drug use, but didn't guarantee the small forward an immediate recall.

"The whole three, four, five weeks he had a plan to get really fit," McRae said. "He couldn't play but he got to work. Now he's just got to wait for opportunity potentially, as he's given it to others. I don’t know what that looks like and how long."

In an odd sidenote, Port Adelaide recruit Jason Horne-Francis received boos from sections of the 60,000-strong crowd at the MCG, despite having minimal connection with Collingwood.

Horne-Francis left North Melbourne in the off-season after being the top pick in the 2021 draft, wanting a return to his home state.

McRae said he didn't hear the booing, and while he didn't the condemn those fans' actions, he said it was something he preferred not happen.

"I've got a little six-year-old and we don't boo in our household," he said. "We respect the opposition and other athletes. It's just not something I would do. [But] you pay your money, you could do what you like but in my household we don’t boo."

Hinkley was left bemused by the booing of his boom recruit, who had 15 disposals for the game after an outstanding club debut in last week's win over Brisbane.

"He's probably got some attention on him," Hinkley said. "He's had that for the last 12 months. Melbourne as a town maybe don’t like him … discouraging it is not my job. I just don’t see a need for it."

The Port coach labelled Collingwood the early "benchmark" and was critical of his side, stating it was "not tough enough" after losing the contested possession count convincingly, 155-98.

"The contested possession stat is clear, you can't win any game of footy when you're minus 50," Hinkley said. "It just reeks of not tough enough."