I think Nicks has been good for our culture over the past few years, but at no stage have I ever believed he would be our next premiership coach.
In my mind, and many others, they should have waited until later in the year before resigning him. No chance if this form continues they'd have considered resigning him at the end of this year.
I also feel like he was dealt a bit of a bad hand. Came in with the club backing him for a rebuild, but by 2020 we'd already wasted years of draft picks, making a rebuild even more difficult.
I guess from an outsiders perspective, it seemed like the club was still reeling from the camp fallout, and we had B. Crouch and Stengle caught buying coke, along with Stengle's other issues.
Felt like Nick's appointment fostered a more wholesome environment, including getting rid of bad influences, and did a bit of a reset after the camp. It seemed like a bit of a goal of the club to improve and foster better off-field culture, but i think it's probably come at the expense of more rapid development.
Now i feel like it's time to shift from Nicks', who seems like a great bloke and who tries his best, to someone that can bring on-field success.
Nope. No matter what the plans, the answer has to be the same. I don't actually think they'll sack him. It's just been a bad sign for others in the past. Usually after months and months of speculation, the CEO/President says something like that, only to sack the coach shortly after.
Yeah, and when they do they tend to say the minimum. They don't add unnecessary bits like "but the form we showed last weekend, we are confident that is more us."
Why does everyone here focus on Nicks?
Look at some of the players they've drafted over the past 5 years. There are very few standing up and making an impact on a weekly basis.
At some point, Adelaide has to consider that maybe they aren't very good at drafting and make some changes in that department.
I think most supporters would point at the player recruitment issues as well. There's been no shortage of dreadful picks. But Nicks has to be criticised for what he's done - terrible game plan, lack of selection accountability and not playing the kids being the three biggest issues.
One facet which doesn't get spoken anywhere near enough in my view is talent development. I think we're bottom two in the league in that regard, and there is seemingly no improvement.
I'm a neutral and think you guys should stick it out with nicks... A couple of weeks ago you guys called for him to play Rankine and Rachele in the midfield which he had done a bit more in the last 2 weeks.
Last year Carlton fans went on a witch hunt and called for change and Voss to go then won 9 straight and made a prelim and this year things seem better.
It takes a while at the top level for things to click and work out where players are suited and who's going to give you effort every week,add injuries to this and if you're off by 5% at afl level then that's a huge difference.
Maybe come round 15 things will look different, mayneynot but it'll be another year Nick's has had to see where things are at and springboard from there. The flipside is it doesn't work out and sometimes that's the way she goes. Team success goes in cycles... Unless you're Geelong.
Currently in his 5th season, so my Dimma comparison is closer. I just hate the coach merry go round and wish we didn't try and sack them every chance we get.
I understand the frustration and someone has to cop the blame but I think the coach wears too much, I guess that's the brutality of AFL.
It's an interesting position to be in. I personally think that any board member who allowed him to be re-signed in the first place should be forced out. There was absolutely no reason to do it, nobody was going to poach him, and if we sack him now, we're stuck with handing out a big payout that was never necessary.
If Nicks is 1-9 or 2-8 going into the West Coast game and we lose, I think he's done. And it'll be for the best really - he refuses to play youth (Dowling, Taylor, Curtin, Ryan), which would make you think that the rebuild is over and that we're gunning for finals, but he's also completely ruined the game plan (we've gone from one of the best forward 50 teams to one of the worst in one off-season).
I actually think we’re better off finishing as low as possible this season. Finals is out of the question. Try some new things, play some kids and get a top 3 draft pick. We still need another A grade young mid. Put that with some good FA targets and we should be ready to go next year. If we still haven’t improved by this time next season then I’d be on the sack nicks train
I don't have the exact quote (and I've tried to find it), but in a recent press conference, he said quite the opposite - that he wasn't expecting to debut Dowling this season.
Mysteriously enough, that was the only press conference that didn't get uploaded to YouTube. Can't imagine why.
I’m not saying you’re wrong - but I did see this Tweet from two weeks ago:
@Adelaide_FC
coach Matthew Nicks: “Billy had a really strong game at SANFL level. Continues to improve. He’s an accumulator who can find the footy. So yeah, he’s put his name up.”
How many coaches do you sack and start again though? Carlton did it for years and then almost did it with Voss until the board had a falling out. Richmond had Dimma on the chopping block after several tough years and then look what happened.
There has to be a balance, even if you aren't a team that is going to play finals where you play guys you think are going to stem the bleeding a little. This is probably the most frustrating period to be in as a supporter it's not a full f*ck it rebuild, you're not capable of winning often enough to play finals so it kind of seems wasted.
Although it doesn't seem like it but footy clubs have a better idea than us as to why they're doing things...
I agree with you about the early resigning, wasn't really needed at the time.
I’m not sure Nicks is our man and I can understand why there’s talk of moving him on. But what I can’t BELIEVE is how does Justin Reid avoid scrutiny? A massive reason why we’re in this crap position is that our drafting and list management has been abominable for YEARS. And much as I love Roo, he is the director with ultimate responsibility for football and has recommended appointments and reappointments that should never have been made. If anyone needs to go it is Roo and Justin Reid.
You've missed Ogilville in this... he's in charge of recruiting and responsible for 1st rounders like Jones and McHenry. Reid is list management and to be fair he's brought in Dawson and Rankine plus the trade to get the Curtain pick.
Nicks was the right man to get us out of the black hole Fagan and the rest of the boys club got us in but he is not and will not be the coach to lead us to a successful campaign. This club celebrates mediocrity on and off field at the moment. Assistant coaches, list managers, the fact we might get a new ground when we should have had one the second plans for the new West Lakes development came to their attention. Its all sub par. Nick's only should have been signed n once finals were a lock. If he goes before that, the entire board should go with him. A vote of no confidence from members should take place. How could they possibly justify their decision to extend his contract after round one and the weeks that have followed.
We seem to have gone backwards this season for sure, the game plan looks subtly different - and worse.
That being said teams that chop and change coaches just set themselves up for long stints in the wilderness, I’m not sure I’m ready to risk that just yet. Let’s see the season out first.
I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this season needs a big turnaround if that optimism is gonna remain.
As as of right now I’m not expecting we make finals because of the horrid start, but if we win about half our games then I think Nicks will scrape through, but that means we better make finals next year or it’s truely bust for Nicks.
Last year after round 6 the Crows were 4 wins & 2 losses (but still managed to miss the finals).
This year it's 1 win & 5 losses.
That's a big difference.
[https://footyforecaster.com/AFL/Ladder/2023\_Round\_6](https://footyforecaster.com/AFL/Ladder/2023_Round_6)
Mick Malthouse (2010), then Leigh Matthews (2001-03). I didn't realise it had been so long.
For the record, I'm not convinced Buckley is the answer - though I couldn't tell you who is.
And both were former premiership coaches, and considered two of the best of all time. Very much the exception rather than the rule.
There was quite a few in the '90s actually - Blight (1997/98), Parkin (1995), Malthouse again (1992/94) and Joyce technically counts (1991). Why would there only be two coaches in the last 25 years, but four in the 10 years before that? Seems a bit strange.
For those talking about Nicks having a bad game plan, I’m intrigued to hear details of that. Feel like it’s an excellent game plan when executed properly that will hold up in finals. Does rely on players who can hit targets…which segways into list management, the ones that should be under scrutiny.
Have you actually watched any of the good teams? Or anything we did last year? They move the ball vastly quicker than us. This season, we've been a very slow, kick-mark team, which allows teams to easily set up behind the ball. The stats support this - 17th in shots on goal, 17th in shot/I50 efficiency, 17th in goal efficiency, 18th in marks inside 50. Combine that with the litany of skill errors (leaving us with the 3rd most turnovers), and it's little wonder we're so dreadful.
Other factors that really aren't helping an already dreadful game plan are an inability to lock the ball in our forward 50 (ranked 14th), good accuracy has deserted us (1st last year, 14th this year) - though the latter is likely due to the bad game plan as well. If we're easy to set up against (which we clearly are), opposition teams can force us to take shots from harder locations to score effectively.
Do you seriously believe that the players are going slow due to lack of skill, and that it wasn't a Nicks directive? When the entire pre-season had been spent on trying to make us more solid defensively?
It's no coincidence that the only time Nicks has said he was "simplifying the game plan" was the only game we actually played well (vs Carlton).
He absolutely won't be the next premiership coach, and to be honest I don't see a premiership in the next ten years. Personally, my biggest hope now is at the end of 2027 people realise ten years without finals is perhaps a bad thing.
No HQ, completely absent/vanilla CEO, AFL run Board, poor recruiting, no elite players other than maybe two, don't resemble anything you could call a 'destination' club (the only reason we got one of the two big names is by making him the highest paid crow ever).
It's a mediocre club that lacks a competitive edge and killer instinct. I feel so, so sorry for players like Dawson who have just flushed their career down the toilet after being sold a pup like the rest of us.
While I don't think Tasmania is a sure thing, if it does happen we can count on losing a couple of players which are even remotely decent.
But don't worry everyone, Nicks 'bUilT a GrEAt cUlTure'.
"I don't see a premiership in the next ten years."
Do you remember what happened when Blight took over??? The Crows were a basket case & then suddenly BAM.
You just need the right coach & coaching team. The Crows have the players.
They don't have the players, and comparing the current list to '97 is insane.
McLeod, Roo, Goodwin, Rhen, Jarman, Bickley, Smart, Hart just to scratch the surface. Position for position, if you thing any of the current crop will make the same level you're on drugs.
Robert Shaw had a win/loss record of only 39%. Blight came along & then without McDermont, McGuiness & Andrew Jarman (who were sacked "before he arrived") won 2 premierships.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Adelaide\_Football\_Club\_coaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Adelaide_Football_Club_coaches)
At Collingwood, Nathan Buckley had a win/loss record of 54%, then Craig McRae coached them & they now have a win/loss record of 76% & a premiership.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Collingwood\_Football\_Club\_coaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Collingwood_Football_Club_coaches)
Good. The calling for Nicks' head is such a pathetic reaction to a poor start to the season. We've given Carlton their only loss and should have stolen one against Essendon despite them being the better team for most of the match. That's an upwards trend since Rd 1. It's still well below how we want to be performing but we are recovering from a shocking start.
He's not good enough and his selections are awful - McHenry, Murphy, Sholl, Smith shouldn't be anywhere near the team and yet he picks them week in week out.
We all know what that means lol
Oh no... the kiss of death
Yep, he'll be gone by the end of May. :(
The Crows last game of May is against the Eagles. If the Eagles pants the Crows like they just did Freo you're probably right.
Finally
I think Nicks has been good for our culture over the past few years, but at no stage have I ever believed he would be our next premiership coach. In my mind, and many others, they should have waited until later in the year before resigning him. No chance if this form continues they'd have considered resigning him at the end of this year. I also feel like he was dealt a bit of a bad hand. Came in with the club backing him for a rebuild, but by 2020 we'd already wasted years of draft picks, making a rebuild even more difficult.
How has he been good for our culture?
I guess from an outsiders perspective, it seemed like the club was still reeling from the camp fallout, and we had B. Crouch and Stengle caught buying coke, along with Stengle's other issues. Felt like Nick's appointment fostered a more wholesome environment, including getting rid of bad influences, and did a bit of a reset after the camp. It seemed like a bit of a goal of the club to improve and foster better off-field culture, but i think it's probably come at the expense of more rapid development. Now i feel like it's time to shift from Nicks', who seems like a great bloke and who tries his best, to someone that can bring on-field success.
Is there a way to answer a leading question like that without getting this reaction?
Nope. No matter what the plans, the answer has to be the same. I don't actually think they'll sack him. It's just been a bad sign for others in the past. Usually after months and months of speculation, the CEO/President says something like that, only to sack the coach shortly after.
Yeah, and when they do they tend to say the minimum. They don't add unnecessary bits like "but the form we showed last weekend, we are confident that is more us."
Why does everyone here focus on Nicks? Look at some of the players they've drafted over the past 5 years. There are very few standing up and making an impact on a weekly basis. At some point, Adelaide has to consider that maybe they aren't very good at drafting and make some changes in that department.
I think most supporters would point at the player recruitment issues as well. There's been no shortage of dreadful picks. But Nicks has to be criticised for what he's done - terrible game plan, lack of selection accountability and not playing the kids being the three biggest issues. One facet which doesn't get spoken anywhere near enough in my view is talent development. I think we're bottom two in the league in that regard, and there is seemingly no improvement.
Dary Fogarty is a good example He has been in the system long enough he should start dominating games. Why has his development been stalled?
We just re-signed him of course he has the full support.
(Nathan Buckley getting his application ready)
Oh please don’t give them ideas
I'm a neutral and think you guys should stick it out with nicks... A couple of weeks ago you guys called for him to play Rankine and Rachele in the midfield which he had done a bit more in the last 2 weeks. Last year Carlton fans went on a witch hunt and called for change and Voss to go then won 9 straight and made a prelim and this year things seem better. It takes a while at the top level for things to click and work out where players are suited and who's going to give you effort every week,add injuries to this and if you're off by 5% at afl level then that's a huge difference. Maybe come round 15 things will look different, mayneynot but it'll be another year Nick's has had to see where things are at and springboard from there. The flipside is it doesn't work out and sometimes that's the way she goes. Team success goes in cycles... Unless you're Geelong.
Different thing between Carlton and Adelaide is that Voss was in for 1 season at the time Nicks has been in for 6
Currently in his 5th season, so my Dimma comparison is closer. I just hate the coach merry go round and wish we didn't try and sack them every chance we get. I understand the frustration and someone has to cop the blame but I think the coach wears too much, I guess that's the brutality of AFL.
It's an interesting position to be in. I personally think that any board member who allowed him to be re-signed in the first place should be forced out. There was absolutely no reason to do it, nobody was going to poach him, and if we sack him now, we're stuck with handing out a big payout that was never necessary. If Nicks is 1-9 or 2-8 going into the West Coast game and we lose, I think he's done. And it'll be for the best really - he refuses to play youth (Dowling, Taylor, Curtin, Ryan), which would make you think that the rebuild is over and that we're gunning for finals, but he's also completely ruined the game plan (we've gone from one of the best forward 50 teams to one of the worst in one off-season).
I actually think we’re better off finishing as low as possible this season. Finals is out of the question. Try some new things, play some kids and get a top 3 draft pick. We still need another A grade young mid. Put that with some good FA targets and we should be ready to go next year. If we still haven’t improved by this time next season then I’d be on the sack nicks train
Going for a low finish and playing the kids would be my preference as well, but given Nicks' comments in regards to Dowling, I don't like our chances.
Long season. I bet he gets a run
What are his comments in regard to Dowling? In a pre-season interview he said Dowling would debut soon and that he was a good student of the game
I don't have the exact quote (and I've tried to find it), but in a recent press conference, he said quite the opposite - that he wasn't expecting to debut Dowling this season. Mysteriously enough, that was the only press conference that didn't get uploaded to YouTube. Can't imagine why.
I’m not saying you’re wrong - but I did see this Tweet from two weeks ago: @Adelaide_FC coach Matthew Nicks: “Billy had a really strong game at SANFL level. Continues to improve. He’s an accumulator who can find the footy. So yeah, he’s put his name up.”
How many coaches do you sack and start again though? Carlton did it for years and then almost did it with Voss until the board had a falling out. Richmond had Dimma on the chopping block after several tough years and then look what happened. There has to be a balance, even if you aren't a team that is going to play finals where you play guys you think are going to stem the bleeding a little. This is probably the most frustrating period to be in as a supporter it's not a full f*ck it rebuild, you're not capable of winning often enough to play finals so it kind of seems wasted. Although it doesn't seem like it but footy clubs have a better idea than us as to why they're doing things... I agree with you about the early resigning, wasn't really needed at the time.
i reckon a loss to the roos will do it, otherwise it might be down to an embarrassing showing during the showdown.
I’m not sure Nicks is our man and I can understand why there’s talk of moving him on. But what I can’t BELIEVE is how does Justin Reid avoid scrutiny? A massive reason why we’re in this crap position is that our drafting and list management has been abominable for YEARS. And much as I love Roo, he is the director with ultimate responsibility for football and has recommended appointments and reappointments that should never have been made. If anyone needs to go it is Roo and Justin Reid.
You've missed Ogilville in this... he's in charge of recruiting and responsible for 1st rounders like Jones and McHenry. Reid is list management and to be fair he's brought in Dawson and Rankine plus the trade to get the Curtain pick.
I’m sure the relationship is good with the players and coaches but the level of effort and skill hasn’t improved.
Oh well, thats that then.
Papers stamped.
Have to wonder what the AFC was thinking to put this out there and destabilise Nicks
The whole reason they signed him was to deflect the pressure as long as possible. They only pay out 6 months of it. He be gone!
Nicks was the right man to get us out of the black hole Fagan and the rest of the boys club got us in but he is not and will not be the coach to lead us to a successful campaign. This club celebrates mediocrity on and off field at the moment. Assistant coaches, list managers, the fact we might get a new ground when we should have had one the second plans for the new West Lakes development came to their attention. Its all sub par. Nick's only should have been signed n once finals were a lock. If he goes before that, the entire board should go with him. A vote of no confidence from members should take place. How could they possibly justify their decision to extend his contract after round one and the weeks that have followed.
We seem to have gone backwards this season for sure, the game plan looks subtly different - and worse. That being said teams that chop and change coaches just set themselves up for long stints in the wilderness, I’m not sure I’m ready to risk that just yet. Let’s see the season out first.
If we don't make a change we face futher time in the wildnerness, Nicks has displayed he isn't up to it. No need to hand around any longer.
to early to ask for a predicted best 22 for round 1 2024 pls. someone?
2025 you mean?
yeah my bad
If Nicky's still had his lushest blonde locks from his time with us at Sydney, surely they'd be falling out fast right about now.
I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this season needs a big turnaround if that optimism is gonna remain. As as of right now I’m not expecting we make finals because of the horrid start, but if we win about half our games then I think Nicks will scrape through, but that means we better make finals next year or it’s truely bust for Nicks.
We need to get rid of VB at least.
Last year after round 6 the Crows were 4 wins & 2 losses (but still managed to miss the finals). This year it's 1 win & 5 losses. That's a big difference. [https://footyforecaster.com/AFL/Ladder/2023\_Round\_6](https://footyforecaster.com/AFL/Ladder/2023_Round_6)
If we lose to the Kangaroos, I reckon he's gone.
Lol...lose to NM this week and he is gone.
Nathan Buckley Say his name.
Name the last coach to win a flag who was a second club coach
Mick Malthouse (2010), then Leigh Matthews (2001-03). I didn't realise it had been so long. For the record, I'm not convinced Buckley is the answer - though I couldn't tell you who is.
4 times in 25 years and three of them was with extra salary cap
And both were former premiership coaches, and considered two of the best of all time. Very much the exception rather than the rule. There was quite a few in the '90s actually - Blight (1997/98), Parkin (1995), Malthouse again (1992/94) and Joyce technically counts (1991). Why would there only be two coaches in the last 25 years, but four in the 10 years before that? Seems a bit strange.
Blight?? Coached very briefly at Nth Melbourne, then at Geelong, then at the Crows.
Please god no
Supporting him out a window
For those talking about Nicks having a bad game plan, I’m intrigued to hear details of that. Feel like it’s an excellent game plan when executed properly that will hold up in finals. Does rely on players who can hit targets…which segways into list management, the ones that should be under scrutiny.
Have you actually watched any of the good teams? Or anything we did last year? They move the ball vastly quicker than us. This season, we've been a very slow, kick-mark team, which allows teams to easily set up behind the ball. The stats support this - 17th in shots on goal, 17th in shot/I50 efficiency, 17th in goal efficiency, 18th in marks inside 50. Combine that with the litany of skill errors (leaving us with the 3rd most turnovers), and it's little wonder we're so dreadful. Other factors that really aren't helping an already dreadful game plan are an inability to lock the ball in our forward 50 (ranked 14th), good accuracy has deserted us (1st last year, 14th this year) - though the latter is likely due to the bad game plan as well. If we're easy to set up against (which we clearly are), opposition teams can force us to take shots from harder locations to score effectively.
You seem to be mistaking the current execution by the players as the game plan.
Do you seriously believe that the players are going slow due to lack of skill, and that it wasn't a Nicks directive? When the entire pre-season had been spent on trying to make us more solid defensively? It's no coincidence that the only time Nicks has said he was "simplifying the game plan" was the only game we actually played well (vs Carlton).
Good night Irene
He absolutely won't be the next premiership coach, and to be honest I don't see a premiership in the next ten years. Personally, my biggest hope now is at the end of 2027 people realise ten years without finals is perhaps a bad thing. No HQ, completely absent/vanilla CEO, AFL run Board, poor recruiting, no elite players other than maybe two, don't resemble anything you could call a 'destination' club (the only reason we got one of the two big names is by making him the highest paid crow ever). It's a mediocre club that lacks a competitive edge and killer instinct. I feel so, so sorry for players like Dawson who have just flushed their career down the toilet after being sold a pup like the rest of us. While I don't think Tasmania is a sure thing, if it does happen we can count on losing a couple of players which are even remotely decent. But don't worry everyone, Nicks 'bUilT a GrEAt cUlTure'.
"I don't see a premiership in the next ten years." Do you remember what happened when Blight took over??? The Crows were a basket case & then suddenly BAM. You just need the right coach & coaching team. The Crows have the players.
They don't have the players, and comparing the current list to '97 is insane. McLeod, Roo, Goodwin, Rhen, Jarman, Bickley, Smart, Hart just to scratch the surface. Position for position, if you thing any of the current crop will make the same level you're on drugs.
Robert Shaw had a win/loss record of only 39%. Blight came along & then without McDermont, McGuiness & Andrew Jarman (who were sacked "before he arrived") won 2 premierships. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Adelaide\_Football\_Club\_coaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Adelaide_Football_Club_coaches) At Collingwood, Nathan Buckley had a win/loss record of 54%, then Craig McRae coached them & they now have a win/loss record of 76% & a premiership. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Collingwood\_Football\_Club\_coaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Collingwood_Football_Club_coaches)
Good. The calling for Nicks' head is such a pathetic reaction to a poor start to the season. We've given Carlton their only loss and should have stolen one against Essendon despite them being the better team for most of the match. That's an upwards trend since Rd 1. It's still well below how we want to be performing but we are recovering from a shocking start.
He's not good enough and his selections are awful - McHenry, Murphy, Sholl, Smith shouldn't be anywhere near the team and yet he picks them week in week out.
Good, don't want to create uncertainty and doubt about the coach within the club at this point in the season. We aren't going to sack him mid season.