Adelaide Crows news: Harry Schoenberg’s injury latest as Matthew Nicks eyes extension

Young Crow Harry Schoenberg faces an uphill battle to feature next year after the extent of his Achilles injury was revealed. Plus, the latest on Matthew Nicks’ future.

Young Adelaide midfielder Harry Schoenberg is facing up to nine months on the sidelines after scans confirmed he has ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Schoenberg suffered the injury to his right Achilles in the final quarter of the Crows last home and away game of the season, a win over West Coast in Perth.

The Crows feared the worst for the 22-year-old and scans have revealed he has ruptured his Achilles.

Crows high performance manager Darren Burgess said Schoenberg would have surgery and would have a modified pre-season program with the aim of returning to play early in the 2024 season.

“It’s a really disappointing outcome for Harry who has played some great footy and finished the season strongly,” Burgess said.

“He will have surgery on his Achilles this week and begin the rehabilitation process which we anticipate being around 6-9 months before he integrates back into full training.”

Key forward Elliott Himmelberg has had surgery on a hamstring injury suffered in the SANFL earlier this month and is expected to be back running in 10-12 weeks and be in full training post-Christmas.

Burgess said defenders Nick Murray and Tom Doedee were progressing well with their rehabilitation from ACL surgery as were Jordon Butts, Chayce Jones and Zac Taylor who all required foot surgery this season.

“All of those guys are progressing at various stages of their recovery and are in the gym putting in the work to put themselves in the best position possible to get back to footy next year,” Burgess said.

The Crows fear young midfield star Harry Schoenberg (L) could be sidelined long-term. Picture: Getty

NICKS CLOSING IN ON CONTRACT EXTENSION

Adelaide is expected to hand coach Matthew Nicks a short-term extension over summer as reward for the club’s improvement.

While Nicks already has a year to run on his contract, the Crows are poised to back him well in advance after steering the team to an 11-12 record and narrowly missing the finals.

Adelaide’s board will begin in-depth discussions about re-signing Nicks during the off-season.

A two-year extension, locking him in until the end of 2026, is understood to be on the cards.

It would be a similar show of faith to December 2021, when the Crows extended his contract by two years, 12 months out from his initial deal expiring.

Adelaide has increased its win tally each season under Nicks, from three in 2020 (wooden spoon), to seven in 2021 (15th), eight in 2022 (14th) and 11 this campaign (10th or 11th).

The Crows have improved their win record each year under Nicks. Picture: Getty

Nicks fell short of declaring a finals appearance as a pass mark for the Crows in 2024, but saw enough this season to have confidence they can continue to upwards trend.

“I mean, we’ll come into the year wanting to improve on this year. I can’t tell you if that means it’s finals,” he said after beating West Coast on Saturday night.

“Because this year, when we look at the season and say ‘geez, we improved’. I think we’re one of the most improved sides on the year.

“I think in the end we finished number 1 for offense with tonight’s game. We know we’ve got to improve when it comes to our defence.

“We sit ninth and that’s probably where we sit on the ladder. So, we do a lot of work on improving that part of our game and if that gets us finals in that that’d be a great result.”

Matthew Nicks believes the Crows are on a strong upward trend. Picture: Getty

The club’s showings against the best teams in the competition this year have helped boost Nicks’s credentials.

It has beaten top-four sides Port Adelaide (twice) and Brisbane, and lost to five finals-bound teams – Collingwood (twice), the Lions, Melbourne and Sydney – by six points or fewer.

The Crows’ hierarchy view Nicks as a new-age coach who engages his young squad and someone has helped build a strong culture, along with the likes of football manager Adam Kelly and chief executive Tim Silvers.

Adelaide strongly believes stability across a club’s football department, administration and board is important to maximising performance, which re-signing Nicks early will emphasise.

Nicks joined the Crows at the end of 2019 as they embarked on their rebuild, two years after losing the grand final to Richmond.

He was previously a senior assistant at Port Adelaide and GWS.

Adelaide finished its AFL season with a 45-point win over West Coast in Perth on Saturday night.