First, a disclosure of sorts. I first met Nick Daicos when he was a 14-year-old kid. I was a panellist on the 'Marngrook Footy Show', as was his famous father, Peter, who'd pick Nick up from footy training and take him along to the show.
Nick's older brother Josh had already made his senior debut, but even then, the buzz around Nick was loud. Which made meeting the young teenager to whom I'd end up chatting most weeks in the studio such a pleasure.
Nick loved his footy, and spoke confidently to the sometimes very famous football folk assembled around him, but there was not the slightest hint of arrogance, or typical teenage swagger. He was respectful, articulate, just a terrific kid. You couldn't not like him.
Like so many people who love football, I've delighted in his almost immediate rise to stardom, not to mention the fact he remains the same humble young man I met nearly 10 years ago in spite of everything he's already achieved in just 119 games.
And like a lot, I'm gobsmacked at the level of antipathy he faces, driven home on Sunday when, during another stellar individual performance for Collingwood against West Coast (39 disposals, 10 clearances and 12 score involvements), I spontaneously tweeted: "Nick Daicos is the best player in the AFL by a considerable margin".
I happily concede that's a contestable opinion, though evidence like the fact he's leading the AFL Coaches Award currently by 24 votes, has already won a best and fairest, three All-Australian blazers, and been runner up twice and third once in the Brownlow Medal in just four completed seasons, I reckon stacks up pretty convincingly.
But some of the replies to that post really did defy belief. Like these, for example.
"One way runner. If Bont sheep dogged his possessions like this bloke you would be creaming over him too. Jog on."
"Gets a lot of the ball but cannot lay a tackle and struggles to take a contested grab. Possessions aren't everything."
"He dished out two hospital passes to a couple of his teammates in the space of about 10 seconds."
Well, at least they didn't get personal. Because there's been enough invective of that nature, too, over his five seasons at senior level, too. Jump on any social media platform or fan forum and you'll see it.
You don't have to dig too deep to land on the most likely causes of the angst. The tall poppy syndrome, obviously, magnified in this case because Daicos is clearly the standout player in his team.
There's the level of hype surrounding his performances, adulation which is often on display during commentary of his games, perhaps magnified in his case because of the amount of publicity he attracted as the son of a former great before he'd even played. And the Collingwood factor, of course, the Pies still everyone's favourite pantomime villain.
But shouldn't this all be subsiding, not ramping up further, after five years of sustained excellence?
Even some of sport's most notorious polarising characters will often earn a grudging respect. And there's plenty of universal love for stars from rival clubs, Marcus Bontempelli an obvious example. Why not Daicos?
Look, I get it that social media has changed the ball game for critical commentary on pretty much anyone and anything going on in the world. But even allowing for the performative outrage it encourages, the level of hostility towards Daicos seems disproportionate.
I struggle to remember a single moment from his 100-plus games that could be described as distasteful. A single interview in which he's come across as full of hubris or contempt.
He doesn't sledge. Sure, he gets excited, but he doesn't carry on with histrionics after goals. He doesn't court controversy off the field. Still only 23, he speaks respectfully, handles an extraordinary level of attention with uncommon maturity and works obsessively hard at his football.
So his "heinous" crimes? Being too good too young? Being praised too often? Playing for Collingwood? Being the son of a famous father? Bit sad, really.
I understand the resistance to hype. The AFL industry is forever in a rush to crown the next superstar, and saturation coverage can become irritating even when the subject deserves it. Collingwood's sheer size guarantees that anything involving one of its stars will be amplified further again.
But it would be a terrible shame if that annoyance became an inability to acknowledge what is happening in front of us.
And what we are watching with Daicos is extraordinary. Not merely the accumulation of possessions, either, which remains the refuge of those determined to reduce his impact to numbers on a stats sheet.
It's where he gets them, what he does with them, the decisions he makes under pressure, the capacity to find space others can't see and, increasingly, his ability to impose himself precisely when a game demands it. Last Sunday in Perth was just another classic example.
And when I say "just another", I'm not kidding. That game made it 10 consecutive games where Daicos was rated among the top three players on the ground - the longest streak ever, according to Champion Data ratings points.
He's been rated No.1 now for four straight games, in six of his last seven, and in seven of his last nine, again the only player ever to do it.
We're set for another taste on Saturday night when Collingwood takes on Hawthorn, the Hawks needing to bounce back after a poor outing in Brisbane.
The Hawks have some stars of their own with a point to prove after quiet ones last week, like Nick Watson and former Pie premiership player Jack Ginnivan, who's collected more than 24 disposals in each of his last four games against his old side, according to StatMate.
It should be a great battle. And right now, if there's one certainty about it, it's that you'll be hearing the name Nick Daicos very frequently. So deal with it.
Familiarity, particularly in this age of permanent commentary, can breed not just contempt but contrarianism. If enough people say someone is brilliant, another constituency seems almost compelled to insist he isn't.
By all means argue whether Daicos is the best player in the competition. That's what football discussion is for. But there's a difference between disputing the extent of someone's greatness and being offended by its very existence.
And after five seasons, 119 games and an increasingly ridiculous body of evidence, perhaps it's time some people stopped searching so desperately for reasons Nick Daicos isn't as good as everyone keeps telling them he is.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.