After the shock Richmond loss, many have called for heads to roll at Adelaide, but coach Matthew Nicks shouldn’t be one of them | Graham Cornes
With pressure sky high at the Adelaide Crows, many are calling for immediate change, in particular at the coaching helm, but it shouldn’t be writes Graham Cornes.
Opinion
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THERE are always reasons why. The critics will call them excuses, although Matthew Nicks was not buying into that.
“We don’t have excuses”, he said immediately after Thursday night’s loss to Richmond.
It was his toughest post-game press conference yet. “We sit here in a pretty dark spot”, he said. Unfortunately, in the immediate aftermath of the crushing defeat, the only reason he could give was: “We’re not good enough.”
Maybe they’re not. Despite the pre-season optimism, despite beating Carlton, despite beating Port Adelaide, despite drawing with Brisbane then getting within four points of Collingwood at the MCG, maybe this Adelaide team is not good enough to make the eight.
The “rebuild” has stalled. That’s another reason why that term “rebuild” should never be uttered again within the walls of the Adelaide Football Club. All too often it is the ultimate excuse for poor performance.
Is Richmond, a team that had won only one game for the season rebuilding?
Their nucleus is still a squad of premiership players, a band of brothers who have tasted the ultimate success and are willing it to their younger teammates. They still have a foundation.
The Richmond that stunned Adelaide on Thursday night did not look like a team that had won only one game for the season.
They came with a clear plan to match, then surpass Adelaide’s intensity.
Rule number one when playing away from home is to take the home crowd out of the equation. Kicking the first three goals of the game will do that.
They did it by playing possession football. Their short, accurate passing and strong marking cut Adelaide to pieces in the first quarter.
Not till the twenty-third minute did Adelaide kick its first goal.
Opposition teams have learned that the secret to beating Adelaide is to ramp up the pressure. Bring the heat around the contest, out-tackle and outwork them.
There’s the indictment. That word “outwork”. Teams are outworking the Crows – tackling fiercely, depriving them of time and space, holding the ball in their forward lines and forcing turnovers.
On Thursday night Adelaide had only three tackles inside its forward-50. Richmond had 13! We couldn’t even blame the umpires. Adelaide had 27 frees to Richmond’s 17.
For two teams that were 14th and 17th on the ladder, this was a game of high quality – worthy of the marqué timeslot.
After Richmond’s fierce start the Crows fought back and hit the front ten minutes into the second quarter.
When James Borlase kicked a goal inside the first minute of the third quarter the natural order had been restored. Surely the Crows would go on to win from here? Sadly, the home crowd would be both disappointed and angry, that their team capitulated so easily and so quickly. James Borlase starting in the forward line? That was a surprise, but it was part of the Kieran Strachan plan with Strachan being selected as the first ruckman and Borlase to relieve him.
Strachan, preferred over Reilly O’Brien who had been dropped, started the game in fine form, competing well in the ruck against the much more experienced Nankervis, fighting for the ball on the ground, taking marks and kicking a goal.
He made a mockery of those who said he lacked class and wasn’t ready for AFL action.
His efforts drew comparisons from the commentary team to the Crows greatest ruckman, Shaun Rehn.
He’s not quite Shaun Rehn, but brief as it was, it was an impressive performance from a ruckman who hadn’t played an AFL game for two years.
Sadly his body let him down and after 57 minutes game time, he succumbed to a groin injury. Strachan showed enough for Nicks to persevere with him but the injury may see the return of the hapless but stoic O’Brien. Injuries!
It’s so easy to be hysterically critical and call for sackings, but injuries have definitely impacted Adelaide’s season.
Strachan and Borlase playing forward were only part of Thursday’s team reshuffle.
Billy Dowling came in after a clamour of support for him from the supporter base.
Sam Berry and Harry Schoenberg assumed more responsibility through the midfield and Chris Burgess filled in for Taylor Walker until by necessity he was forced to ruck in the last half of the game. What is that old saying about moving the deck chairs on the Titanic?
So Adelaide lost control and the game careered to its inevitable ending. Richmond by eight points, which flattered the Crows. Matthew Nicks is now on notice.
He shouldn’t be because no Crows coach has had a tougher task, but the mood has shifted. Some games are career-defining – in a negative sense.
They are crudely called “Coach-killers”. This Richmond loss was one of them.
We’ve all had them – that game, that is the last straw for the members. The mood shifts and the critics find new voice – particularly now that social media gives even the most irrational keyboard coward a voice.
The coach loses control of the narrative and is forced on to a defensive back foot. However, the fallout from this Richmond loss is impacting on more than the coach.
The fans are angry. Mob rule threatens to take over and calls for change from the top down, in all departments of the club, are getting louder.
“We need another external review”, is the call, but the hysteria has to settle. We don’t need another review to see what is wrong with the team.
There is not enough top-end talent, particularly through the midfield. Jordan Dawson and Izak Rankine are elite and would walk into any other team in the competition. Who else?
Max Michalanney and the injured Riley Thilthorpe have great potential and the enigmatic Josh Rachele might flourish in a team with more talent around him but the Adelaide playing list, even when it is compared with some of the other cellar-dwellers is thin.
If there is to be criticism of the club, it must be directed at whoever has been responsible for retaining the talent.
It’s infuriating to see players who were once on Adelaide’s playing list flourishing at other clubs. Imagine an Adelaide team with these players in it: Jake Lever, Charlie Cameron, Tyson Stengle, Billy Frampton, Jack Gunston, Mitch McGovern, Alex Keath and Patrick Dangerfield. There are five premiership players in that list. Do we need to mention Shane McAdam or Rory Atkins?
Even conceding that Dangerfield was destined to go home at some stage, it is inexcusable that so much high-end talent has been shipped out of Adelaide.
Worse, we gave away two first-round draft picks to bring Bryce Gibbs back home. That’s where the anger should be directed. Matthew Nicks will feel the pressure.
I doubt he will show it but he will feel it, such is the scrutiny here in Adelaide.
He said after Thursday’s disaster “I’m in the job because I enjoy pressure.”
If it’s pressure he enjoys, he’s going to have a whale of a time. But as grim as it seems, there remains one glimmer of optimism.
After round 13 last season, Carlton was in 13th position with four wins and a draw.
GWS was in 14th spot with only four wins. Both teams reached the preliminary finals.
That’s why they’re not going to sack the coach.
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