Matthew Nicks says Adelaide still have a ‘fair way to go’ after moving inside the top four

Matthew Nicks is excited. And it’s not because the Crows are inside the top four. Simeon Thomas-Wilson breaks down the Adelaide coach’s words and analyses where they sit here.

Adelaide is in the top four just before the half-way mark of the season after a 66-point win over West Coast.

But that isn’t what is exciting Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks.

It’s that there is still going to be something learnt from this game for his side.

On Sunday at Adelaide Oval it was how the Crows were able to fix what Nicks described as losing “a little bit of our focus and going away from what makes us a good side” in the first half as the 18th placed Eagles well and truly took it up to them.

Matthew Nicks knows his side isn’t a finished product. Picture: Getty Images

“To be able to fix that in game is a great result, in previous years it might be one where you see four quarters of the same and we come out with a small win or maybe we lose the game,” Nicks said.

“So there are a lot of positives to come out of the game but as a coach I do sit here and are probably a little bit excited about the fact that we’re still going to learn something from this game.

“And what we will learn there is that we still have a fair way to go.”

Nicks said “complacency” wasn’t the right term to describe why the Crows weren’t at their best early on against the Eagles.

West Coast’s pressure and contest work was strong early on, while the Crows had skill errors they just normally wouldn’t commit.

West Coast stuck with Adelaide for a portion of the contest. Picture: Getty Images

Riley Thilthorpe took a strong intercept mark in defence and then missed his kick, turned over the ball and Harley Reid goaled in the first quarter.

In the second quarter Max Michalanney took a great mark of his own and then turned the ball over, but the Eagles didn’t truly punish it, while Mark Keane saved Rory Laird from a turnover leading to a West Coast goal.

The Crows were still leading, but they were just slightly off.

Ruckman and leadership group member Reilly O’Brien said it could have been a game in which the Crows did not get up for – but it showed a fair bit that they were able to correct this.

“Probably at half-time it was coming back to being direct with our ball use, and not being too cute,” he told this masthead.

Reilly O'Brien celebrates a goal. Picture: Getty Images

“Not trying to overuse it by foot or by hand, we were playing into their hands.

“Their front half defence and pressure was really strong and we were playing into that. So the message was just go more direct, trust our big guys and we did that in the second half.

“A little bit (a difficult game for the mindset coming in), for us it is all about trying to get better and better at our process and our game plan and improving every week no matter who the opponent is.

“It is probably not a blockbuster timeslot certainly but that is where great teams do their thing and are disciplined in playing the way they want to and get better and better.”

Former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon agreed.

“Good teams flex their muscles when they need to,” he said on Fox Footy.

They’re a great ball movement team Adelaide when they’re on, and they’ve showed this season why.”

It was a big flex by the Crows in the second half.

In the third quarter they were plus seven for clearances, plus 17 for contested possessions and plus 15 for inside 50s.

The Eagles more than held their own in the first half.

In the third they were taught a lesson as the Crows piled on a 7-1 goal term.

It was a scary reminder for the rest of the competition as to what the Crows can do when they spread their wings and take full flight.

“In terms of what Adelaide have produced this year, it’s a pretty collective and impressive outfit,” Dixon said.

“Top four would be the minimum for this group (with) what they’re producing so far this season.”

Dawson kicks his second, and the Crows are putting the foot down on the Eagles!

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— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) May 25, 2025

And this came without veteran Taylor Walker, who was managed.

“We certainly missed him ahead of the ball, but I feel like we adapted well without him and played a pretty strong game,” O’Brien said.

“We knew they would bring the pressure and the contest, especially in the first half and then were able to break it open in the second half.”

While Walker was out, young tall Dan Curtin still played more on the wing with Nicks instead throwing captain Jordan Dawson forward at times while Sam Berry also switched between the midfield and forward lines.

Dawson continued his season that should have him well and truly in Brownlow Medal conversation with 27 disposals and 2.3 while after three games in a row as the sub Berry had 26 and a goal himself.

Jordan Dawson is having a magnificent year. Picture: Getty Images

“I think like any player having a second position or a number of positions that you can play, I talk about Jordan Dawson, it takes your game to another level,” Nicks said.

“There is no doubt that Sam has the ability to play forward, he is explosive and quite powerful.

“But there is an art to it, you are playing against the best defenders in the country and it comes with its challenges.

“But I thought today there were a couple of little moments where he (Berry) looked like he was going to impact (as a forward).

“So we will just keep working on that, we won’t lock him in as a midfielder.”

It also helped that O’Brien ventured forward and kicked his first goal since the last time the Crows played the Eagles at Adelaide Oval last year.

“It was good to kick a goal, I don’t drift there too much with the structure we have there with the three talls,” he said.

“So with Tex out I thought I would just fill his void and drift there and try and get one.”

Originally published as Matthew Nicks says Adelaide still have a ‘fair way to go’ after moving inside the top four