How a barbecue at Mark Ricciuto’s house helped Crows coaching selection panel decide on Matthew Nicks as Don Pyke’s successor
Three months after Don Pyke hosted a Sunday lunch to try save the Crows’ season, The Advertiser can reveal a barbecue at Mark Ricciuto’s place sealed Matthew Nicks’ fate as Pyke’s successor.
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A barbecue lunch at Mark Ricciuto’s house on Sunday helped Matthew Nicks convince Adelaide he should become the club’s next senior coach.
The Crows had sounded out Nicks soon after their search for Don Pyke’s successor began and interviewed him twice before the weekend, once each in Adelaide and Melbourne, as they worked their way through a list of candidates that also included Robert Harvey, Garry Hocking, Adem Yze and Scott Burns.
While many believed GWS senior assistant Nicks to be the frontrunner for much of the process, he and other contenders were unsure exactly where they stood.
But the ex-Port assistant was the only one to get to have lunch with the selection panel, which included Adelaide football director Ricciuto and Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan, away from the spotlight of a presentation.
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Sunday’s gathering was arranged on Friday and essentially became his third interview.
It gave Nicks the chance to talk more about his ideas, the panel an opportunity to triple-check they had the right person for the job and allow both sides to have an open discussion and better get to know one another over a feed and a beer.
On Monday, the day after the lunch, the board approved the panel’s recommendation that Nicks should be appointed and he learnt that evening he would be offered the role.
Nicks, who agreed to a three-year deal, was understood to be chuffed and relieved when the Crows informed him.
The West Adelaide product and former Sydney Swan had never been deep in the running for an AFL senior coaching position previously.
Carlton and St Kilda had sounded him out this year when they were seeking replacements for Brendon Bolton and Alan Richardson respectively, but Nicks declined to be in the mix.
The Adelaide vacancy appealed and he felt it would be the right fit for him, not just because it was a job in his home state.
Despite Adelaide’s recent issues and players seeking trades, Nicks saw the Crows as a strong club and brand with excellent resources and a more than competitive squad.
He also knew well about the so-called Adelaide bubble that Pyke seemed to struggle to deal with in his last two years at the helm after the 2017 grand final loss and that helped push him towards his resignation last month.
Nicks had been in the thick of the cross-town rivalry at Port Adelaide for eight seasons from 2011-18, working his way up from development coach to Ken Hinkley’s senior assistant, before seeking a new challenge at GWS as Leon Cameron’s right-hand man.
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Spending 12 months at the Giants, who reached their first grand final this year, was instrumental for the next phase of Nicks’s development, he loved the club’s environment and he was understood to consider going there one of the best decisions he had ever made.
It also enhanced his belief that he was ready to become a senior coach once the right opportunity arose.
When Pyke pulled the pin, Nicks did not reach out to Adelaide, the Crows came to him.
Ironically, it was a Sunday lunch that helped seal his fate — three months after Pyke hosted one to try to save a sinking ship.