Champions own the big moments.

Peter Daicos wasn't yet a champion when he sized up the situation as time ticked down late in the 1981 preliminary final against Geelong at Waverley. But his decision to take the game on when the pressure was at its peak showed precisely why he would be in the future.

It was a moment of ingenuity mixed with the audacity of youth.

The day before his 20th birthday, and in his 51st VFL game, Peter Daicos took the initiative and kicked what he would always regard as the greatest of his 549 goals in the black and white.

He had plenty to choose from.

And as we've said before, in a footy sense, choosing your favourite Daicos goal is akin to trying to select your favourite Lennon-McCartney composition; or selecting your preferred play from the works of William Shakespeare.

Most naturally fall back on Daicos’ banana goal from the wrong pocket that defied geometry against West Coast in the 1990 Qualifying Final.

But the man himself has long insisted that his favourite came much, much earlier.

In his autobiography in 1991 - Collingwood and Me – and again more recently in an interview with the Sunday Herald Sun, the Magpie legend nominated the crucial goal he kicked against the Cats in 1981 as his most satisfying.

Daicos said: "People constantly re-live the West Coast goal, but for me there was a goal in 1981 that gave me a lot of pleasure."

"It was a Preliminary Final against Geelong."

A year earlier, in the 1980 preliminary final against the same opponent, Daicos had celebrated his 19th birthday with one of the great marks of his career, riding on the side of Cat Malcolm Reed.

The following September, he would kick a goal that would live on in the memory of Magpies' fans.

To set the scene, Collingwood trailed by less than a goal at the 20-minute-mark of the penultimate game of 1981. Most of the forwards had pushed up the field, leaving only Daicos and Geelong defender Ian Nankervis, and Craig Stewart and his opponent Richard Murrie deeper in attack.

Warwick Irwin gained a free kick in the middle of the ground and saw Daicos as a serious option in attack, eager to get the ball to him.

Daicos recalled: "I led out wide to the half forward flank. Warwick... shot me a perfect pass and I marked it out in front."

With time running out, he knew he had to think quickly.

He said: "I thought 'Crikey, there’s no one to kick to’. The options seemed to be, to kick the ball into the square, or handball over Nankervis’ head, and then try to win the ball back."

"I was feeling strong in the legs, I wasn’t overly tired or anything, and I realised there was plenty of space. So I made an instant decision, I handballed out in front of myself, as I ran around Nankervis. I didn’t handball until I was level with him, to make sure he couldn’t cut me off.

"I spurted out in front of Nankervis, tapping the ball while he tripped over his feet.

“I regained the ball from about 35 metres out, and kicked the goal that put us in front."

It was Daicos' fourth goal of the game, and put the Magpies back in front.

He felt as if he was "floating on air" as the ball went back to the centre of the ground.

His other recollection relates to well-known and well-loved Collingwood trainer John MacGibbon who gave him a drink and a pat on the back after booting the goal.

"I was rapt," he said. "I was so high I had to stop and take it in, to saviour the moment. I had only played three seasons, but I knew it would always be one of the great memories of my career."

Writing in the Age, Brownlow Medallist Ross Smith said of the young Magpie: "Daicos is the classic opportunist. He does the hard work, running to the fall of the ball at the pack, then reads the play well and is usually running straight towards goal."

Leading journalist of the time, Trevor Grant, wrote: "If anyone was going to stop Daicos, it was the cagey, experienced Nankervis. But not even his fine defensive work could control the young Magpie."

 Daicos' goal wasn't the last of the game.

Teammate Craig Davis scored another to put the issue beyond doubt soon after, but Daicos' moment had been the catalyst for putting Collingwood into another Grand Final.

What he wasn't prepared for was the questioning from chairman of selectors Ron Richards in the rooms after the seven-point win over the Cats.

Richards asked: "What the hell were you thinking?” Daicos replied: "I wasn't thinking!"

He would later tell the Sunday Herald Sun: "I have always said, as a player, if you took the time to measure the degree of difficulty in executing what you were planning on doing, you wouldn't contemplate trying many things."

Collingwood fans can be grateful he had that sense of daring that day in 1981 that launched the Magpies into a Grand Final against Carlton.