Put others first, play for your mates, make our fans proud: the key take-outs from Matthew Nicks’ first press conference as Adelaide Crows’ new coach
He has a personality, he wants his players to be selfless, he yearns for the contest, hasn’t spoken to Josh Jenkins but is desperate for Brad Crouch to stay. Reece Homfray breaks down the key themes from Matthew Nicks’ first press conference as Crows coach.
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For the best part of two years the Adelaide Football Club has been a punching bag - for the opposition and the critics - and new coach Matthew Nicks says it’s time to fight back.
Wearing a suit and Crows’ coloured tie, Nicks fronted the media with what seemed the perfect mix of jovial personality that will endear him to his players, but also that eye of the tiger look that says he is here to win.
Walking into a club that has laid itself bare with an external review, sacked its most senior football staff and a swarm of players walking out, Nicks made his intentions very clear.
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“Let’s get back to playing the type of footy that our supporters will be proud to come and watch, if you lose a game but the supporters are proud then that’s the sign that you’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
“If you give it everything you’ve got, the way you train, you’re in it together and got each other’s backs and can’t get the job done, there’s no doubt your supporters go home happy to be proud they’re part of this family.
“That’s the goal for us I think, to bring the family back together so we all have each other’s backs ... I wouldn’t put any limit on where we can finish but if we get to the end of the year with some real pride in the way we performed then maybe we’re pushing a number of teams.”
Here are the key take-outs from Nicks’ first press conference as Adelaide coach:
1. He was destined for the job.
There have been five AFL senior coaching vacancies this year but Adelaide is the only one Nicks went for.
“The moment this job came up, I was straight onto it ... I knew the fit was right,” he said.
“The more we sat down and I got a better understanding of what’s going on inside the club, the hungrier I was to win the position.
“I’ve been ready to coach for a while and I was waiting for the right opportunity, where I’m positioned, the style of coach that I am and the Adelaide Footy Club was screaming out for what I can bring.”
"The moment this job became available, I was straight onto it" - Nicks says he knew the fit was right for him at the Crows once the process began #weflyasone #AFCMediaLive pic.twitter.com/RevxBU8FBf
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) October 15, 2019
2. He has a personality.
Those in the room laughed at least four times during the presser and none of it was contrived, and if that’s how Nicks connects with his players he will be very popular.
“Put this (phone) number in your favourites and call it 24/7 ... even if I’m not your favourite, just put it in there,” he said of his players which triggered a laugh.
Asked what was possible next year, he said “do you want me to put a win/loss on it?”. More laughter.
Then when explaining that he was about to move house for the second time in 12 months with three kids aged five, four and two, he said:
“So it’s easy,” which triggered the biggest laugh of the half-hour.
3. He wants his players to be selfless.
And not just his players but the whole club.
“Some of the most successful teams around the world let alone our game you can see a culture of mutual respect and they have good people in the organisation - by that I mean putting others first as a priority.
“I will be pushing that from this moment forward with our playing group, our administration, our football department, we put ourselves second and others first.
“We pick the side on who wants to play for their mates and perform a particular role for the team.”
4. He has no concerns about Adelaide’s culture.
Even after an external review and admissions by the club the culture isn’t where it needs to be.
“It takes a number of years (to build a good culture) but we already have it under way,” Nicks said.
“I’ve had the luxury of talking to a number of people the moment this job became available, and I’ve heard nothing but positive comments around where the club is at.
“I’m not looking into the past where the club’s been, I’m looking forward. A lot of my pitch to them was around what I can bring, I’m really positive about where the club is going to head.
“I’ll talk to my players and get to know them intimately, where they’ve been and the experiences they’ve had, but by no means am I going back to find negatives.”
5. He yearns for the contest.
And is looking forward to sparring with his old boss Ken Hinkley in Showdowns.
“We’ve got players like Rory Sloane who likes to put his head in a hole and enjoys the fight, and we have a lot of kids who are already learning from him.
“We’ll embrace the fight but we’ll probably seek it out a little as well, when you look at finals football it has to be there.
“We’ll also be very much about that turnover game, it’s a game of errors and we’ll inflict damage on the opposition whenever we’re given a chance.
“I really enjoyed being involved (in Showdowns) even as an assistant, I have huge respect for Ken, we’ve taught each other a lot and that will be interesting how that shapes up on game day.”
6. He hasn’t made a call on Josh Jenkins.
“I know he’s requested and looked at a trade, it’s a hard one for me to comment on at this point, I haven’t had the chance to talk to Josh, no doubt I will if I get the chance but it’s probably something for Andrew to answer rather than me to go into.”
7. But keeping Brad Crouch is a priority.
“Of course, Brad Crouch is an outstanding player, he’s won the best-and-fairest off a fantastic season and you want to keep good players around the organisation.
“I had a chat to Brad about an hour ago and to Matt, we’ll be doing our best to keep him here and part of that is continuing to improve our culture.”
8. Nicks was the “unanimous” choice.
We heard Adem Yze, Scott Burns, Garry Hocking, Robert Harvey and Adam Kingsley were all in the mix but CEO Andrew Fagan said the panel and board were “unanimous” in endorsing Nicks.
“In the end it was a simple choice, but at the end of a really thorough process,” Fagan said.
“We had three long sessions with Matt, it started with a presentation he made to us, in a second meeting was another series of presentations and then on the weekend we spent a number of hours just talking footy.
“The further we went through that process, the clearer it became that he was ready and the best fit for our footy club.”