Coach Adelaide under Matthew Nicks

[Freomaniac]

What's your Opinion on Nicks now? People wanted Hardwick sacked for Years and look how that turned out. Nicks has the Crows firing on all Cylinders and I bet Victorians would hate to see them win a Flag.

I originally predicted crows in 2025 to get 14 wins and 9 losses with a 5th or 6th spot . Then win a home Elim final and go out the next week. Crows will surpassed that

 

[Freomaniac]

Nicks is still not a very smart man.

Thankfully Davis is covering up most of his weaknesses.

But unfortunately still making poor selections like Milera over Nankervis, Borlase over Butts & picking Murphy is beyond stupid.

I don't think Nicks is stupid.

I said on the crows board that crows would get 5th or 6th with 14 wins and get a home Elim final win.

Crows will surpass that. They are top 2 now

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I don't think Nicks is stupid.

I said on the crows board that crows would get 5th or 6th with 14 wins and get a home Elim final win.

Crows will surpass that. They are top 2 now

He's now smart enough to listen to Davis...

Davis was our biggest off season recruit!

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

My recall is a bit fuzzy on Adelaide’s bad patch … was it Dunstall that came in and did a review? Was that while Nicks was already coach? Burton got the arse as footy boss right?

Dunstall and Pavlich in 2019, before signing Nicks as coach for 2020

 

[ok.crows]

The back line is the worry for mine

Statistically, the forward line of the Crows is competitive with other contenders but the backline is a competition leading standout. See:

Squiggle 2026

live.squiggle.com.au

 

[HugeJohnson]

Midfield for me is still their biggest weakness but you'd have to say they have nearly the best forward line and defence in the comp. If their midfield can at least break even with the stronger teams like Brisbane and Collingwood then you'd have to say they are every chance for the flag. Hope I'm wrong but they seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment. Years of shitness in the footy wilderness is finally paying off for them which I guess is how it's supposed to work.

 

[CrowToon]

He's now smart enough to listen to Davis...

Davis was our biggest off season recruit!

How do you know?

 

[RonnieRaven]

Got a real Kenny feel to him
Home and away hero

 

[t_94]

How do you know?

Speaks almost exclusively in corporate cliche. Usually a good sign of a dense person.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

How do you know?

Observation!

 

[JPetro83]

If we finish top 4 and we go out in straight sets i will be livid. yes, great season so far but for me to believe that Nicks is the right man to go beyond 2026 and get a new contract we have to at least play in a prelim... and must wait until mid-year next year to sign him. We all remember Brenton Sanderson

Brenton Sanderson

Age

51

Ht

185cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.7

4star

K

11.0

4star

HB

4.6

3star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

22.4

5star

K

16.0

5star

HB

6.4

4star

M

6.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

, prelim in 2012.. then he stunk it up 2013/14.
I just hope the 2025 crows are not the Crows of old. We need to buck the trend and do something special! jag a premiership, have some luck for once. AFL needs its.. the Adelaide footy club needs it and deserve it.

 

[Cleric]

Observation!

The buck stops with Nicks. Nearly every good coach has good assistants under them.
If you were giving him negative feedback when things were bad, you have to give him praise when they go good.
Its been an all over rise. The list managers have nailed their trades and drafts, the players have been developed well, and the coaching is too notch.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Got a real Kenny feel to him
Home and away hero

Longmuir says hold my beer.

 

[RonnieRaven]

Longmuir says hold my beer.

Longmuir has won a final and his biggest negative is he drops games he should win
Sydney st kilda this year.
We didn’t make finals last year because of losses to bombers eagles.
Polar opposites to Nicks who learnt under Kenny .
flat tracker footy doesn’t stand up that’s why Ken never made a GF.
That’s why nicks hasn’t coached finals until he has had enough talent and favourable fixture to flat track his way there

Crows are winless against top 8 teams on the road in 2025 0-4


The grand final is not at AO

 

[Golumless]

That’s why nicks hasn’t coached finals until he has had enough talent and favourable fixture to flat track his way there

Yes, it is shocking that you need a good squad to consistently win games of football.

And for one, I'm glad this iteration of Adelaide had finally learned how to flat track bully. After all, we make finals in 2023 if we didn't shit the bed against the teams who finished 6th to 12th. Key part of a maturing squad is you stop dropping the games you are not meant to drop.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Longmuir has won a final and his biggest negative is he drops games he should win
Sydney st kilda this year.
We didn’t make finals last year because of losses to bombers eagles.
Polar opposites to Nicks who learnt under Kenny .
flat tracker footy doesn’t stand up that’s why Ken never made a GF.
That’s why nicks hasn’t coached finals until he has had enough talent and favourable fixture to flat track his way there

Crows are winless against top 8 teams on the road in 2025 0-4


The grand final is not at AO

FMD.

This from a Freo supporter of all people. A club that has done nothing and won nothing since 1995.

Honestly, you cant make this shit up.

 

[MrBarry]

Coach aside, it's the best list in terms of talent and depth I recall us having. It has a much higher ceiling than 2017.

People are forgetting just how many top 30 picks we have in this team now and that is due to the fact we have barely fired a shot since 2018 and had multiple bottom 4 finishes. We also managed to land Curtin somehow, which was essentially a lotto win.

 

[RonnieRaven]

FMD.

This from a Freo supporter of all people. A club that has done nothing and won nothing since 1995.

Honestly, you cant make this shit up.

Why does who I support have anything to do with my football knowledge.

I know your football knowledge is lacking when you have to attack the man because you don’t have the knowledge to attack the information.

 

[MrBarry]

Midfield for me is still their biggest weakness but you'd have to say they have nearly the best forward line and defence in the comp. If their midfield can at least break even with the stronger teams like Brisbane and Collingwood then you'd have to say they are every chance for the flag. Hope I'm wrong but they seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment. Years of shitness in the footy wilderness is finally paying off for them which I guess is how it's supposed to work.

We currently sit 8th for centre clearances and then Collingwood (11th), GWS (13th), Hawthorn (14th) all sit below us.

The game has changed and it's all about ball movement and efficiency of forward line delivery now imo. Even Brisbane only sit 6th overall for clearances.

 

[Rotayjay]

I don't know what happens behind closed doors, but our selections, game plan and gameday tactics have all improved since Murray Davis arrived at the club in the offseason as director of coaching. He came from Brisbane. The improvement can't be a coincidence.

I've been a critic of Nicks for most of his tenure, with only brief periods in which he's looked convincing. I'm sure at least some of the improvement has come from Nicks himself. It doesn't really matter how he's doing it because it seems to be working. He won't prove himself until September though.

 

[WillHayward]

Nicks is in his 5th season as Adelaide coach, having arrived at the club when the list was a dumpster fire and in need of a full rebuild.
Similar situation to the one Adem Yze found himself in when he arrived at Richmond.

Nicks has yet to take the Crows to finals, and going by the precedent set when Alan Richardson and Stuart Dew were both sacked in their 6th seasons as coach without taking their sides to finals - it's fair to say Nicks has until 2025 to take the Crows to finals.

Nicks is widely criticised as a coach but as I previously mentioned - it's easy to forget how bad things were at Adelaide when he arrived, and the Crows have shown signs that if everything clicks, they could become a dangerous side.

What's your opinion of Adelaide under Matthew Nicks?

Went the early crow.

Vindicated.

 

[MrBarry]

Longmuir has won a final and his biggest negative is he drops games he should win
Sydney st kilda this year.
We didn’t make finals last year because of losses to bombers eagles.
Polar opposites to Nicks who learnt under Kenny .
flat tracker footy doesn’t stand up that’s why Ken never made a GF.
That’s why nicks hasn’t coached finals until he has had enough talent and favourable fixture to flat track his way there

Crows are winless against top 8 teams on the road in 2025 0-4


The grand final is not at AO

We beat the Bulldogs away literally 3 weeks ago who were 6th at the time....

It isn't, but a qualifier and prelim might be.

 

[RonnieRaven]

We beat the Bulldogs away literally 3 weeks ago who were 6th at the time....

It isn't, but a qualifier and prelim might be.

I’m only going on the now
Dogs are two games out of the 8.
Bombers were a top 8 team early in the year.

 

[MrBarry]

I’m only going on the now
Dogs are two games out of the 8.
Bombers were a top 8 team early in the year.

lol sounds like your arbitrarily shifting goal posts.

 

[RonnieRaven]

lol sounds like your arbitrarily shifting goal posts.

Not really I looked at the ladder this week and realise crows have not beaten a top 8 team away.
I thought it was clear enough yet hear we are.

Moving goal post would be saying at the time we played they were in the 8 but not any more.
Freo don’t call them selves top 8 in 2024
We were in it for half the season but we weren’t a top 8 team.