AFL 2020: The 0-10 Adelaide Crows won’t change new coach Matthew Nicks’ game plan

The Adelaide Crows game plan works, they just haven’t had enough time to perfect it and changing it after 10 games could see them “lose their way”.

The Adelaide Crows game plan works, they just haven’t had enough time to perfect it.

Wingman Paul Seedsman said the winless Crows could “lose their way” if they abandoned the changes made by new coach Matthew Nicks this season after just 10 games.

A 51-point smashing by Melbourne on Thursday, after being down by just four-points at three-quarter time, compounded the misery of a season getting uglier by the week.

Adelaide face likely finalists Collingwood this week, then the Western Bulldogs and Geelong, and a win seems long way off.

But Seedsman, who kicked two goals against the Demons, said the amount of off-season changes; coaches, players and game style, plus COVID-19 complications, had seriously impacted performances so far.

He said more time was needed, and with more games for the glut of young players entering the team, the Crows would find their way through the mire.

“We’re going to keep doing it throughout the rest of this year, train it over pre-season and they may make tweaks here and there, but you’ve got to be able to train it,” Seedsman said about new coach Nicks’ game plan.

“You can’t just do it for six months and go “it’s not working”. You lose your way as a coaching group and a football club if you keep chopping and changing.

“I sort of look at the Brisbane Lions and when Fagan took over they implemented a game plan and they didn’t get the results from it straight away, but now they are one of the best sides in the competition through doing that.

“If you think it works you have got to put the time in to it.”

An interesting comparison by Seedo #weflyasone

— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) August 7, 2020

Despite 10 losses from 10 games this season, Seedsman said the Nicks system did work, pointing to the fact the Crows stuck with Melbourne for three quarters last Wednesday.

“The hardest thing is with the change and the past 12 months or eight months since Nicksy has been in charge is a lot of change in the football club, a lot of change in the game plan, but not a hell of a lot of time to implement it and then the time,” he said.

“Because of the COVID implications, we haven’t had a lot of time as a team to train that together as a full squad and being fully competitive. It’s too early to say anything like that (it doesn’t work).

“But when we have been able to play our way, we put ourselves in to contests .. we were right there with Melbourne matching them for three quarters. There’s nothing wrong the game plan.”

Originally published as AFL 2020: The 0-10 Adelaide Crows won’t change new coach Matthew Nicks’ game plan