Nick Daicos’s fitness is under the microscope after Collingwood coach Craig McRae revealed the superstar was “cramping at half-time” of their AFL season opener.

But Channel 7 commentator Kane Cornes said the Magpies’ defeat to GWS on Sunday raised questions for the entire team and their preparation.

Collingwood were overrun in the fourth quarter and their ability to stop the Giants was an issue all day, with GWS outscoring the Magpies by eight goals from transitions out of the defensive half.

Impressed by the Giants, Cornes said “the fallout is going to be more significant” for the Pies.

“It is a risk to overreact to one game, I understand that, but the warning signs have been there with the way that they’ve gone about building their list. They are old,” he said on Kane’s Call, noting their average of 28 years and three months.

“The facts are they’re one of the oldest teams to ever play, since that has been measured, and they looked old. Giants ran all over the top of them.

“Now Collingwood kicked inaccurately, I get that, they had a number of entries particularly in the third quarter where they couldn’t score and the Giants defended so soundly. But when the game opened up Collingwood looked old.”

He said Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom were “quiet” but Darcy Moore, who is not yet among the over-30s, was “really disappointing”.

“This is going to be a big storyline. They didn’t look prepared and I thought the Giants exposed them when the ball got outside the contest,” Cornes added.

Daicos looked to have suffered a leg injury after an innocuous contest with Giants tagger Toby Bedford in the third quarter on Sunday.

Playing through the pain with the Magpies having already activated their substitute, Daicos struggled to recapture his brilliant best.

McRae refused to sweat on the star midfielder’s fitness, saying Daicos was only battling cramps, but Cornes was unconvinced.

“I don’t know if players do train that long and hard in pre-season — that’s now a myth. It used to be the case but now they don’t,” he said.

“They get far too much time off and it looks to me that Collingwood really enjoyed that time off. Now part of it is age, and the Giants, their average is 24, they’re about the 13th youngest side in the competition and it looked that way today.

“But to see Nick Daicos cramping up with 15 minutes to go in the third term — not the last term, the third term — is extraordinary.

“I think he’s the best player in the game but clearly he has had his (plantar fasciitis) issues throughout the pre-season and clearly he wasn’t prepared and ready to go.

“He wasn’t the only one but when your best player does this with 15 minutes to go in the third term and Toby Bedford completely runs him into the ground it’s a talking point.

“He had to come off, the massage, they worked on the groins, the calves and he tried to come back on — he couldn’t go.

“I’ve never seen anything like it for a player as usually fit as him and one of the hardest runners in the game. They would really seriously have to look into their preparation not just for Nick but the entire team.”

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Bobby Hill sent a scare through the Magpies with a suspected hamstring problem but he was also only cramping, the issue also appearing to strike Josh Daicos.

“This is AFL footy — you play good opposition away from home and in hot conditions,” McRae said in his post-match press conference.

“We’re well and truly prepared for this.”

McRae could not be as optimistic about midfielder Jordan De Goey’s return from a knee injury.

De Goey has been limited after suffering bone bruising on the top of his fibula in a clash of knees at training.

“It’s touch-and-go at the moment,” McRae said.

“Jordy’s a pretty important player, pretty good player. There’s always that excitement for what’s potentially a solution.

“He’s got a bit of work to do to get up, but we’ll see how that goes.”

- with AAP