From housemates in Sydney to proud mate: Sydney Swans great Michael O’Loughlin says Matthew Nicks is ready to coach Crows
They became housemates after being drafted to Sydney from SA in the mid-1990s. Now, Michael O’Loughlin gives an insight into what the Crows can expect from new coach Matthew Nicks.
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Talk to a Sydney Swans great who started his AFL playing career at the same time as Matthew Nicks or an ex-Power defender there for the beginning of his coaching journey at the top level and they will tell you the same thing.
Nicks, the Crows’ new senior coach, prides himself on building rapports with anyone.
“He’s just incredible the way he’s able to form and establish relationships with everyone, and I’ve seen him do that with people from all walks of life,” Swans premiership player Michael O’Loughlin tells The Advertiser.
“It’s one of his great strengths.”
Former Port Adelaide backman and development mentor Jacob Surjan adds: “He’s one of the best relationship coaches I’ve seen.”
“His ability to relate to all players and communicate to all guys is first class and something that he’s very good at, and something that comes very natural to him because it’s part of his personality,” Surjan says.
Nicks – who Adelaide appointed on Tuesday – built his bond with O’Loughlin as housemates in Sydney for eight years.
They arrived at the Swans from SA via the 1994 national draft – Nicks from West Adelaide with pick 21, O’Loughlin from Central District 19 selections later.
In the same off-season, Sydney recruited champions Tony Lockett (St Kilda) and Paul Roos (Fitzroy), hoping to boost a side that had finished bottom the previous three campaigns.
O’Loughlin was not ready for the culture shock of moving cities but came to view Nicks as a big brother.
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And O’Loughlin saw first-hand the care Nicks had for people when he and fellow Swans housemate Simon Arnott helped O’Loughlin settle in.
“Without those two I probably would’ve made the move back to Adelaide that first year,” O’Loughlin recalls.
“They did everything from cooking and teaching me how to clean, driving me to training.
“They were all new at this as well but I was the youngest in the house and certainly appreciated their efforts to go the extra mile to make sure this skinny, shy kid got the knock on the door to be ready to go to training in the mornings.
“They’re things you never forget and is why we’re so close.”
Incredible news regarding our great mate Matty Nicks. New head coach of the @Adelaide_FC So proud of him 👌🾠https://t.co/67uKSnGHiR
— Mick O'Loughlin (@MickOLoughlin) October 15, 2019
O’Loughlin went on to play 303 games for the Swans, including in the 2005 premiership.
Nicks featured in 175 matches from but cruelly missed the flag due to injury.
“He was the first one there (after the grand final win) patting everyone on the back saying ‘well done, well done’,” O’Loughlin recalls.
“He’s just a really selfless person.”
But being nurturing is just one part of Nicks’s kitbag.
O’Loughlin says Nicks, who has coached his teams University of NSW and Scotch College, and been a senior assistant at Port Adelaide and GWS, is an astute footy thinker and hungry for success.
“You always talk positively about your friends but Nicksy’s done the work required and experienced that in a lot of different environments, and hopefully he can translate into a really successful coaching career,” O’Loughlin says.
“I’m really just so proud.
“I think it’s a great appointment for the Crows.”
Surjan agrees, saying Nicks is “authentic” and will make it a priority to get to know everyone at Adelaide.
“He doesn’t care if you’re the 44th guy on the list, he’ll give you the time any time,” Surjan says.
Nicks was Surjan’s backline development mentor at Port for the final two seasons of Surjan’s 121-game playing career in 2011-12 and later coached together with the Power.
Surjan says Nicks is a student of lots of sports and models his coaching personality on Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks mentor Pete Carroll.
Nicks spent a week with Carroll at the NFL club several years ago.
“Pete Carroll is a fun, energetic, loving coach and that’s Matty Nicks all over,” says Surjan, who is now reserves coach at SANFL club North Adelaide.
“The players will play for him.”
Surjan believes Nicks can help lift the mood at Adelaide after a turbulent off-season and back-to-back years without finals.
“He’s got a very good sense of humour, is pretty funny and likes to have a laugh,” he says.
“Nicky’s a high energy guy – he’s a ripper.”
Originally published as From housemates in Sydney to proud mate: Sydney Swans great Michael O’Loughlin says Matthew Nicks is ready to coach Crows