Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach

[Mr_Moogle]

Problem for Nicks is what happens when our raft of experienced players retire? We're lacking in decent players in that 24-28 year old range who will need to replace our older brigade. There's a chance we're seeing the best of Nicks right now as he has a decent mix of youth and experience. People shouldn't just assume that our progress will be linear and we will get better year to year.

I'm awaiting the inevitable melts on this board when we trade in a few players to account for the gaps in our list profile. There are rumours the club is looking at Trent Dumont

43

Trent Dumont

Age

28

Ht

186cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.9

5star

K

10.5

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

4.1

5star

CL

2.6

4star

D

20.1

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

9.7

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

3.9

5star

CL

2.4

4star

D

9.6

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

0.6

1star

T

4.4

5star

CL

2.6

5star

from North.

 

[Scorpus]

Nicks so far has overperformed in my opinion with the squad he has in front of him. I'd say a number of players are ahead of where they should be in their development (eg. Sholl, among others) and our win-loss record in the last half-season is well ahead of where we should be

He's also achieved this with a significant number of injuries to key players like Talia, Matt Crouch

5

Matt Crouch

Age

28

Ht

183cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

28.4

5star

K

12.0

4star

HB

16.4

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.9

5star

CL

4.8

5star

D

24.9

5star

K

9.7

4star

HB

15.1

5star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.4

3star

CL

4.4

5star

D

21.2

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

10.8

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

3.4

5star

CL

2.0

4star

and Milera

 

[dogs105]

Problem for Nicks is what happens when our raft of experienced players retire? We're lacking in decent players in that 24-28 year old range who will need to replace our older brigade. There's a chance we're seeing the best of Nicks right now as he has a decent mix of youth and experience. People shouldn't just assume that our progress will be linear and we will get better year to year.

I'm awaiting the inevitable melts on this board when we trade in a few players to account for the gaps in our list profile. There are rumours the club is looking at Trent Dumont from North.

24-28 includes:

Ben Keays
Matt Crouch
Jake Kelly
Billy Frampton
Luke Brown
Shane McAdam
Rory Laird
Tom Doedee
Reilly O'Brien
Kieran Strachan

 

[TexForPM]

Calling it now.

Will coach us to a flag.

 

[Scorpus]

24-28 includes:

Ben Keays
Matt Crouch
Jake Kelly
Billy Frampton
Luke Brown
Shane McAdam
Rory Laird
Tom Doedee
Reilly O'Brien
Kieran Strachan

Ben Keays
Matt Crouch
Jake Kelly
Billy Frampton
Luke Brown
Shane McAdam
Rory Laird
Tom Doedee
Reilly O'Brien
Kieran Strachan

When you remove the "not the answer" players it's still a decent core. Three solid midfielders, a ruck and a couple of guys at either end to take us through until our younger players start hitting 22-ish

 

[dogs105]

Ben Keays
Matt Crouch
Jake Kelly
Billy Frampton
Luke Brown
Shane McAdam
Rory Laird
Tom Doedee
Reilly O'Brien
Kieran Strachan

When you remove the "not the answer" players it's still a decent core. Three solid midfielders, a ruck and a couple of guys at either end to take us through until our younger players start hitting 22-ish

Milera at 23 has some experience too

 

[Golumless]

Problem for Nicks is what happens when our raft of experienced players retire? We're lacking in decent players in that 24-28 year old range who will need to replace our older brigade. There's a chance we're seeing the best of Nicks right now as he has a decent mix of youth and experience. People shouldn't just assume that our progress will be linear and we will get better year to year.

I'm awaiting the inevitable melts on this board when we trade in a few players to account for the gaps in our list profile. There are rumours the club is looking at Trent Dumont from North.

What raft of experienced players? We're more akin to a 3rd year Gold Coast, or GWS without the excessive 1st round picks (though we've had a few stabs at it in recent times). Or a 2021 North at the moment in terms of how our team looks (We're pretty much a more extreme North with how we line up).

It's not something we should be looking at fixing unless we can get our hands on good to very good players. The decent players, i.e. the Pittards, Polecs, and Durmonts of this world (to target a certain team) do not help a rebuilding team at all. They just harm it by taking a list spot and taking away opportunities for kids to develop.

Development won't be linear, but so far, Nicks is getting into a position where he'll be able to handle the loss of Sloane (especially as Laird and Keays will be here for a while), and Talia pretty comfortably. Butts is looking like a good key back, and Doedee is beginning to cover the leadership void. Sloane will be on Berry and Shoenberg taking the next step, but both look like they'll inevitably do so (Shoenberg in particular). Smith is a weird one, Hamill might end up being a good replacement, else it is one you could hit the draft to do so, seeing there are usually some talented outside midfielders in the 6-12 part of the draft (Lachlan Ash would be an example of this). Tex is the only genuinely concerning one at this point, but then again, we do have Thilthorpe on our list. Lynch is just a structural change. Seedsman is the other one, and really, that's either hit the draft or a structural change to bring in an inside midfielder (I wonder who?)

I think at the moment, we'll be fine when those 5 go. I doubt we'll be mid-table this year -> finals next -> top 4, more 2-3 years in the mid-table then transition upwards as the next generation begins to get into that 50-100 game band.

Calling it now.

Will coach us to a flag.

Big call, but honestly, I'm coming around to it.

Nicks has shown some adaptability seeing how we bounced back after 0-13. He's shown the ability to generate buy-in, and to get a club on the same page, to the point we've shown resilience when tested (and this will help to mitigate those bad games Adelaide had with its previous core). He's at least running a system that so far doesn't have kids stalling out. There are a couple of flaws, selection for instance could be more aggressive with bringing in youth, but I feel confident at the moment we have a coach that could take us to be a consistent top 4 team as this team matures.

 

[ABAB]

What's the game style changes that you're referring to?

Didn't you see the change he did against Sydney where he stopped them from attacking on the wing after half time? And stop North's overlap run on the 3rd quarter by setting up a zone defense on the 4th?

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Didn't you see the change he did against Sydney where he stopped them from attacking on the wing after half time? And stop North's overlap run on the 3rd quarter by setting up a zone defense on the 4th?

He's known to be very good at strategy. Look at the way GWS dropped off after losing him. I'm also hopeful that his style would hold up well in finals though it will be some time before we can prove that.

I think I should clarify and say that just because I don't think we'll win a flag with him, doesn't mean he's bad coach. He just doesn't have the cattle and I'm not convinced he ever will before upper management runs out of patience and replaces him. Hopefully I'm completely wrong about this and they are willing to play the long game this time around.

 

[Jirkago75]

My gutt feel is the opposite

He has not only evolving and building the team he has rebuilt the club and reset the culture

Im not the biggest fan of players like DMac or Lynch at this stage of his career however this theory of just going all in with the kids is fundamentally flawed

The most successful rebuilds have had the right amount of experienced players playing with the young kids and the facts are that despite being the youngest list in the AFL we are 3-1 to start the season

Too many rebuilds and young players careers have been destroyed by going all in...... its a balance to get that right, their are times that we debate that balance but for me the kids are still getting the opportunity when their ready

Winning flags is extremely tough however 3-1 in year 2, with the youngest list and playing a game style that is aggressive suggest to me at this stage I'm backing him in to give us our next shot at success


On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Awesome post, I totally agree.

I don’t think we need to resign Nicks at the moment as no other club will want him as it’s to early in his co

He's known to be very good at strategy. Look at the way GWS dropped off after losing him. I'm also hopeful that his style would hold up well in finals though it will be some time before we can prove that.

I think I should clarify and say that just because I don't think we'll win a flag with him, doesn't mean he's bad coach. He just doesn't have the cattle and I'm not convinced he ever will before upper management runs out of patience and replaces him. Hopefully I'm completely wrong about this and they are willing to play the long game this time around.

we need to play the long game, Nicks has got us playing with passion and aggression. It may be all him or the bonus of having quality assistants. We as a club need to be patient and not resign him until the last few months of his contract, don’t do what we did with Sandro and jump the gun.
From the outside the players seem happier and are enjoying their footy, besides McAsey there are no rumours of discontent. Maybe we need a father figure instead of a tyrant, I don’t understand this generation so maybe that’s what they want

 

[Sphynx]

Problem for Nicks is what happens when our raft of experienced players retire? We're lacking in decent players in that 24-28 year old range who will need to replace our older brigade. There's a chance we're seeing the best of Nicks right now as he has a decent mix of youth and experience. People shouldn't just assume that our progress will be linear and we will get better year to year.

I'm awaiting the inevitable melts on this board when we trade in a few players to account for the gaps in our list profile. There are rumours the club is looking at Trent Dumont from North.

Sorry to intrude,

Dumont is far from s**t, he's finished top 5 in our B&F multiple times, he's an underrated two way runner.

He's also a real leader at the club, with a lot of North supporters sad to see him go. The kind of player that busts a gut every single game.

He's a FA, so there isn't going to be a trade cost. Not sure why you would be apposed to picking up a 26 year old with great leadership for absolutely nothing.


Unfortunately the rumours are that there's "an agreement" with Adelaide at the end of the year.

 

[jackster83]

Sorry to intrude,

Dumont is far from sh*t, he's finished top 5 in our B&F multiple times, he's an underrated two way runner.

He's also a real leader at the club, with a lot of North supporters sad to see him go. The kind of player that busts a gut every single game.

He's a FA, so there isn't going to be a trade cost. Not sure why you would be apposed to picking up a 26 year old with great leadership for absolutely nothing.


Unfortunately the rumours are that there's "an agreement" with Adelaide at the end of the year.

We're rebuilding so bringing him in only cockblocks guys like Schoenberg, Hately, Berry and Pedlar.

He'd be a perfect fit at Port.

 

[FR0GGY]

Sorry to intrude,

Dumont is far from sh*t, he's finished top 5 in our B&F multiple times, he's an underrated two way runner.

He's also a real leader at the club, with a lot of North supporters sad to see him go. The kind of player that busts a gut every single game.

He's a FA, so there isn't going to be a trade cost. Not sure why you would be apposed to picking up a 26 year old with great leadership for absolutely nothing.


Unfortunately the rumours are that there's "an agreement" with Adelaide at the end of the year.

If crouch goes so does our compensation if we pick up a FA

 

[Thetrader15]

If crouch goes so does our compensation if we pick up a FA

I wouldn't be trading Crouch for Dumont!

 

[CrowsB4hoes]

Sorry to intrude,

Dumont is far from sh*t, he's finished top 5 in our B&F multiple times, he's an underrated two way runner.

He's also a real leader at the club, with a lot of North supporters sad to see him go. The kind of player that busts a gut every single game.

He's a FA, so there isn't going to be a trade cost. Not sure why you would be apposed to picking up a 26 year old with great leadership for absolutely nothing.


Unfortunately the rumours are that there's "an agreement" with Adelaide at the end of the year.

He won't be FA as we lose the Crouch compo, so it needs to be a trade. And we'll only do the trade if you have your coach negotiating on your side.

 

[FR0GGY]

He won't be FA as we lose the Crouch compo, so it needs to be a trade. And we'll only do the trade if you have your coach negotiating on your side.

Would be good to see a noble gesture

 

[Murray2503]

Problem for Nicks is what happens when our raft of experienced players retire? We're lacking in decent players in that 24-28 year old range who will need to replace our older brigade. There's a chance we're seeing the best of Nicks right now as he has a decent mix of youth and experience. People shouldn't just assume that our progress will be linear and we will get better year to year.

I'm awaiting the inevitable melts on this board when we trade in a few players to account for the gaps in our list profile. There are rumours the club is looking at Trent Dumont from North.

When Laird, Smith, Brown, Talia, Sloane etc retire we should be ok. We will have Doedee, Butts, Schoenberg, Keays, Hamill, Pedlar, Berry, Thilthorpe, McPherson, Milera, ROB, Newchurch, Sholl, Worrell, McAdam, Hinge, Cook, Borlase with 100 games under their belt plus our draft picks over the next 4 years. What we need to do is trade in quality players such as Rankine. We don't need Menzel types.

What we currently lack is another couple of star mids with class to add to our depth, a quality backup ruck, a very classy finisher in the Liam Ryan mould (Rankine), and another mobile tall forward.

 

[Murray2503]

I think Nick's is doing a good job of trying to keep the team as competitive as possible. As with all coaches though you don't know really whether they can coach or not until you have a genuinely strong team. That's when a great coach is able to take the team to that next level and outcoach their competitor in the heat of battle. There are many examples of coaches who squandered a great squad just as there is some examples of coaches who took a great squad to multiple flags.

 

[mattymac]

me too! That and a dustpan.

Coffee table and anchor here. Pencil box is a bit lame tbh. Never know when an anchor might come in handy...

 

[mattymac]

Is it true that Nicks said we scaled back training so as not to expose injured senior players to risk before the Freo game?

Surely if you can't train properly you can't play properly.

 

[1970crow]

Is it true that Nicks said we scaled back training so as not to expose injured senior players to risk before the Freo game?

Surely if you can't train properly you can't play properly.

Yeh, you'd think that.

 

[VKCrow]

Nicks so far has overperformed in my opinion with the squad he has in front of him. I'd say a number of players are ahead of where they should be in their development (eg. Sholl, among others) and our win-loss record in the last half-season is well ahead of where we should be

He's also achieved this with a significant number of injuries to key players like Talia, Matt Crouch and Milera

Forgot about Wayne!

 

[FR0GGY]

Is it true that Nicks said we scaled back training so as not to expose injured senior players to risk before the Freo game?

Surely if you can't train properly you can't play properly.

Wow

 

[flashcrow]

Coffee table and anchor here. Pencil box is a bit lame tbh. Never know when an anchor might come in handy...

donate it to Freo..

 

[pjcrows]

Is it true that Nicks said we scaled back training so as not to expose injured senior players to risk before the Freo game?

Surely if you can't train properly you can't play properly.

According to?