Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach

[George Kramer]

Love what Nicksy is bringing but wouldn't have been against waiting and seeing how this year goes first. We've definitely never shot ourselves in the foot by extending a coach too early before.

We are still a young side in age and experience, in reality this year isn't going to tell us a lot by the time we need to start making a decision on a coach.

What DJ75 posted is pretty spot on.

If we dragged it on, what message does that send to the playing group? "We want you to buy in to Nicks but we aren't sure yet, but do it anyway."

Clearly the players have and the club has. He took over a hell of job and has done a good job so far and deserves an extension. 2 years isn't the end of the world, still allows him to develop the squad and if he is no good, we find someone who is when the squad is ready for sustained finals appearances and hopefully a flag or 2 if we have got the recruiting right.

 

[Thetrader15]

Love what Nicksy is bringing but wouldn't have been against waiting and seeing how this year goes first. We've definitely never shot ourselves in the foot by extending a coach too early before.

Perhpas I'm in the minority, but 2 additional years is not a long time. If the growth starts to stagnate, or the mud hits the fan, we can quite easily pay him out. It's not like we can't afford to do it. The performance is everything, the finances come 2nd.

 

[Geoffa32]

We are still a young side in age and experience, in reality this year isn't going to tell us a lot by the time we need to start making a decision on a coach.

What DJ75 posted is pretty spot on.

If we dragged it on, what message does that send to the playing group? "We want you to buy in to Nicks but we aren't sure yet, but do it anyway."

Clearly the players have and the club has. He took over a hell of job and has done a good job so far and deserves an extension. 2 years isn't the end of the world, still allows him to develop the squad and if he is no good, we find someone who is when the squad is ready for sustained finals appearances and hopefully a flag or 2 if we have got the recruiting right.

Good point.


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[Scorpus]

Even if progress stagnates for a few years, we won't know whether that's due to the players or the coach for quite a few years, that's how young the squad is

 

[1990crow]

Would of preferred to see one to be honest. But unless we don't see improvement it shouldn't be a big deal.
Squad development and adding talent end of next year is still required.

 

[Freshj]

I'm pretty happy with this. I've been impressed by him so far. I'm happy to give him a solid crack at building a team and a game plan instead of being pressured into winning games just to keep his job.

So many times I have heard people want to lose games for draft picks or play inexperience over senior players. These are things a coach with pressure on him can't afford to do to keep his job. Back him in.

 

[Sanders]

Pretty happy with this. 2 years is not over the top.
Meanwhile, the talk coming out of the club, both in official channels and behind the scenes, is that Nick's has developed a really strong culture, particularly among the younger boys.
Given the sh!tshow he was left, what he has done is remarkable.

What he has done is far from remarkable, what he has done is the easy bit

he has done it well

but with no real runs on the board yet, another 3 years from now just feels a bit premature

if they’d given him the same contract in May/June I’d have felt more comfortable

 

[Sanders]

Perhpas I'm in the minority, but 2 additional years is not a long time. If the growth starts to stagnate, or the mud hits the fan, we can quite easily pay him out. It's not like we can't afford to do it. The performance is everything, the finances come 2nd.

have you forgotten the soft cap?

 

[hidden]

I like what we have done. If my memory serves me right there were people who did not want to back in either Clarkson or Hardwick before they got their respective clubs to win their grand finals. They took a while to get there but what a win it was for those 2 clubs. Well done to the club as it will instill confidence in the players as they strive to win their flag(s).

 

[Sanders]

I like what we have done. If my memory serves me right there were people who did not want to back in either Clarkson or Hardwick before they got their respective clubs to win their grand finals. They took a while to get there but what a win it was for those 2 clubs. Well done to the club as it will instill confidence in the players as they strive to win their flag(s).

is there anyone who said they wanted rid of him? Did anyone say he shouldn’t be extended

there are some qualms about timing that’s all

 

[adelaidecrows]

Im not sure it was the right call. He is great with the culture of the club but is he a good enough game day coach? This im not sure. I know why they did it though, they want to give him until end of 2023 but a 1 year extension isnt appealing. That year will be the make or break year for him.

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[Golumless]

I like what we have done. If my memory serves me right there were people who did not want to back in either Clarkson or Hardwick before they got their respective clubs to win their grand finals. They took a while to get there but what a win it was for those 2 clubs. Well done to the club as it will instill confidence in the players as they strive to win their flag(s).

And there were people who didn't want to back in every failed coach either before they justified that.

Still, Nicks has done the easier part well enough. The Chayce Jones reinvention is probably enough for me to be comfortable with this decision.

Im not sure it was the right call. He is great with the culture of the club but is he a good enough game day coach? This im not sure. I know why they did it though, they want to give him until end of 2023 but a 1 year extension isnt appealing. That year will be the make or break year for him.

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All years are make or break, though really providing nothing drastic happens, this upcoming year isn't the one Nicks is going to be judged on heavily. After all, he has a list that's too young to really have any expectations with outside of a minor improvement. That said, the year that could genuinely break Nicks is 2024 if we aren't a finalist (or borderline), not 2023. 2023 he'll still have the luxury of his centrepiece still being inexperienced. He doesn't once Thilthorpe starts a season in that 60-80 game range.

 

[StonesThrow]

Think it's in line with the profile of the squad and when we should be seeing some results e.g. Finals.

Don't like the idea of turning over coaches quickly unless they're is clear discontent with the playing group.

A consistent game plan came to the fore end of 2020 and this season. This is important imo. Hasn't looked haphazard or ambiguous like with a lot of failed coaches.

Happy to give him time at this point.

 

[Drewie11]

Great news, hasn’t put a foot wrong so far and deserved the 2 year extension.

 

[George Kramer]

Great news, hasn’t put a foot wrong so far and deserved the 2 year extension.

Thats not entirely true, his defensive game plan against Essendon, when he tried to limit the loss, rather than trust the kids was poor.

Plus there have been some selections which have been puzzling, even putting aside DMac, going short in defence, then tall, then short, then tall in a matter of weeks, highlighted by our silly defence against West Coast in WA.

Overall though the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[MRB37]

I'm not sure it was the right call. He is great with the culture of the club but is he a good enough game day coach? This im not sure. I know why they did it though, they want to give him until end of 2023 but a 1 year extension isnt appealing. That year will be the make or break year for him.

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Part of me hopes this is something they're developing still. They went pretty deep in 2020 on game plan and tactics and it turned out that such a young group didn't have the ability to absorb everything that they were throwing at them (some senior players too) and they had to scale it right back.

I remember a player saying it takes 18 months and 2 pre-seasons to get a game plan down to it being second nature, so hopefully they're building this in levels and the experience the players gained in 2021 will allow them to move the game plan further along for 2022.

 

[Footypie32]

Hopefully it means this year at least he picks the side he wants rather than the side the board wants.

He can really shape the team how he wants it. Good or bad.

 

[Drewie11]

Thats not entirely true, his defensive game plan against Essendon, when he tried to limit the loss, rather than trust the kids was poor.

Plus there have been some selections which have been puzzling, even putting aside DMac, going short in defence, then tall, then short, then tall in a matter of weeks, highlighted by our silly defence against West Coast in WA.

Overall though the positives far outweigh the next negatives.

When he took over we were a complete basket case. The culture at the club now is as good as it’s ever been, proof by all the signings. He is in a position where he is trying to balance playing young guys without burning them out. DMAC is not a horrible player, just because there are people in here that love to hate him doesn’t mean he was the right player to be out there instead of exposing a kid that’s not ready.

 

[baldandbroke]

I think the thing people aren’t sure about is why now?

We lose the first 10 games - what then?

On the other side of the coin, if we hadn’t resigned him and we show the necessary improvement … it’s an easy tick.

I think he is the guy. I like his attitude and his game day … Room for improvements in the selection space but I’ll judge that more harshly when we are seriously contending for finals.

 

[George Kramer]

When he took over we were a complete basket case. The culture at the club now is as good as it’s ever been, proof by all the signings. He is in a position where he is trying to balance playing young guys without burning them out. DMAC is not a horrible player, just because there are people in here that love to hate him doesn’t mean he was the right player to be out there instead of exposing a kid that’s not ready.

I have raised all his good points previously, you said he hasn't put a foot wrong, your response only repeats his positives and doesn't counter the small amount of errors he has made.

Look no big deal.

 

[BrissyCrow]

And there were people who didn't want to back in every failed coach either before they justified that.

Still, Nicks has done the easier part well enough. The Chayce Jones reinvention is probably enough for me to be comfortable with this decision.

I cant agree that what he has done so far is the easier part. Reshaping the club and changing the environment isnt an easy task. I am happy with this appointment and now that Nicks has achieved changing the club he does now have to prove he can become a game day success as well. This year should see some improvement. But I see the experts in Vic are saying we will finish bottom again. I dont agree with this and I hope that Nicks gets us up towards the top 8 not in it but closer giving us a springboard in 2023.

 

[ringo200]

Are people too forgiving of 2020? Half way through 2019 we were coming off a convincing win against the eventual premiers to put us into the top 4 and a year later we are as bad a team as you're likely to see? It seems to be accepted that it was inevitable but I don't think many were predicting us to be that bad.

Not sure how much responsibility falls onto Nicks for that, he copped bad timing with COVID and a shift towards a rebuild.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Mixed feelings. On the one hand, I would have preferred we'd waited til mid 2022 to make this call. On the other hand, a 2 year deal is preferable to 3.

 

[rocket18]

The faces change but we keep making the same mistakes.

Zero reason to extend him now, would have been OK with the end of 2023 but still no need to pull the trigger now.

 

[Mutineer]