Without Nick Daicos, Collingwood is just a different team.

It was evident on Thursday night when the star midfielder was a late withdrawal with a corked calf prior to the Gabba clash with the Brisbane Lions.

The Magpies were whacked in the midfield due to his absence on a night where their defence looked completely at sea without captain Darcy Moore.

Throw in veteran Scott Pendlebury and it shines the spotlight on the shortcomings for Craig McRae’s Pies.

SEN Fireball’s David King and Kane Cornes discussed just how stark it is without Daicos in particular.

“Collingwood without Darcy Moore, and you can say what you like about Darcy, but he's a structural component,” King said.

“Without Pendlebury who's the organiser, that's why you get such breakdowns at stoppage, and then without Nick Daicos who takes all eyeballs.

“When he walks into a stoppage there's five players looking at him, ‘Where's he going, what's he doing, whose responsibility? Is he mine, is he his?’, and then they shuffle around from there.

“They didn't have that last night so they were there to be got and they were got.”

The 54-point defeat, which could have been more, has Cornes wondering where to from here?

“So, is it a write-off? Because you can go one of two ways,” he said.

“Depending what you thought of Collingwood coming in and where they would be, you can go, ‘I told you this is where they would be’. The defence looked horrible, the midfield pedestrian. They were fumbling, there were skill errors.

“Or you go exactly what you (King) said. Their experience wasn't there. The player that they're most reliant on of any team in the comp was not there, and we'll forget about it and move on.

“Or is it a combination of both?”

King urged the Pies to re-contract Daicos in a bid to keep him happy so he stays at the club for some time, because without him it’s quite underwhelming.

He added: “Now I know he's contracted, but I'm walking with a fresh one (contract) for Nick. ‘How do we keep you happy?’

“It just highlights what it looks like without him around the stoppages. Pendlebury's not going to be there forever, but he does organise things and we're not going to talk him down at all.

“But can your mind's eye see Collingwood without Daicos down the path because this is what it'll be. Sometimes you can create great value for yourself, not that he needs it, in your absence.

“And gee, was it stark last night.”

Cornes reckons Collingwood relies on Daicos much more than any other side in the AFL relies on any player.

“It was (stark). So he's the player that any team is most reliant on in the league, clearly,” he continued.

“Take Fremantle, some say Hayden Young's their best midfielder, but he doesn't play and you go, okay, we didn't even really speak about Hayden Young not being there.

“Or Hugh McCluggage doesn't play football - and this guy's a gun - but he doesn't play, you don't really even think about it.

“Nick Daicos doesn't play, and it's very, very obvious.

“It’s not going to be Pendlebury, and it's not going to be others of that age, so just where to for this group is sort of what we've been saying.

“No worries, they've got the success, they've been incredible, they continue to outperform their talent levels, there's no doubt about that, and that's a credit to the coaching, to the leadership, to the structure of the group.”

Where are Collingwood’s youngsters?

The conversation then turned to the young players at the club.

Cornes firmly believes the emerging player stocks at the Pies are well off the pace.

“I keep hearing from Collingwood fans about the young guys, that we’re in a good space, they've just got to get the opportunity,” he said.

“Well, they get the opportunity last night. How'd they go? What's the future look like for your under-24s at Collingwood?

“Roan Steele does a couple of nice things, but he's very tentative for me. Will Hayes, no impact.

“Ed Allan has had a number of opportunities. He's a great size, but hasn't maximised his opportunities. Just four kicks last night. Lachie Sullivan another one.

“So where's the young players coming through? They're not there is what I'm telling you.

“Regardless of Collingwood fans going, ‘No worries, they just need the opportunities’.

“The young guys aren't there and the club doesn't have faith in them and last night we saw why. Fumbly, tentative, no impact from the young group that finally got the opportunities that so many people have wanted them to get.”

King added: “Was it three players under 23 in the team? It's not a young team is it? It's a concern.

“Again to not labour an old point but when you see them without Nick you think, ‘Oh, okay, wow, what have we got here? Where are we at here?’

“I don't know how you get out of these sort of situations now. That's the real challenge the AFL has got.”

The Magpies, now with a 2-2 record, will lick their wounds before attempting to rally against Fremantle on the Friday night of Gather Round at the Adelaide Oval.