Taggers are back in the spotlight after St Kilda's Marcus Windhager was fined for striking Daicos in one of several incidents that occurred during their running battle last week.
Both Daicos brothers - Nick and fellow star Josh - are in McQualter's sights ahead of the bottom-placed West Coast's tough test against the ladder-leading Magpies at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
"(Nick) is such an exceptional player," McQualter said on Wednesday.
"His brother's pretty handy, too, and they've also got a few others that are quite capable.
"It's definitely a challenge and there's no easy answer to it. Even when you tag Nick, he's pretty handy still."
Brady Hough shapes as West Coast's first-choice defensive option after his role in slowing down Geelong flyer Bailey Smith after quarter-time in round 12.
"He played in defence for the first four years of his career and building his game that way, we think he's got the skill-set to do it," McQualter said.
"If we do go that way it probably will be Houghy. We'll wait and see."
A former St Kilda tagger himself, McQualter noted there is "a little bit more" tagging happening across the competition this season than in the last few years.
"You've got to remember I was a battler tagger myself back in the day, so I'm supportive of the tagger," McQualter said.
"The game's got rules and you can push the rules as far as you can.
"But ultimately if you're breaking the rules you should get free kicks against, or the punishment against.
"There's an art to it and it's up to the umpires to make the calls."
Pressed on the topic of the week, McQualter saw no major issues with how Windhager handled his clash with Daicos.
"I thought he was disciplined to his job and there were times when he gave away free kicks," McQualter said.
"The umpires paid those free kicks and so be it."
McQualter said West Coast will consider adding players to their leadership group after Jeremy McGovern's forced retirement meant three of their six official leaders would miss the rest of the season.
McGovern, who has hung up the boots because of concussion issues, joins co-captain Oscar Allen (knee/achilles) and vice-captain Jake Waterman (shoulder) on the sidelines.
Eagles co-captain Liam Duggan and off-season recruits Liam Baker and Jack Graham will play against Collingwood.
McQualter acknowledged the difficulty of the task but said West Coast will be up for the challenge as they chase their second win of the season.
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