Crows coach Matthew Nicks says he’s still looking for the right forward mix and won’t rule out Tex being used in the ruck again
With Billy Frampton and Elliott Himmelberg both left out of the Marsh Series loss to Gold Coast, Taylor Walker was used as a back-up ruckman, and Matthew Nicks hasn’t ruled out using him there again.
Crows
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crows. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Great slams Crows for putting Tex at ‘serious risk’
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says he still has not found the right forward mix and has not ruled out continuing to use leading goalkicker Taylor Walker as a back-up ruckman this season.
Surprisingly deployed as No. 1 big man Reilly O’Brien’s sidekick in Friday’s seven-point loss to wooden spooner Gold Coast at Noarlunga Oval, Walker’s use on ball for stages against the Suns appeared to leave the Crows short of marking targets inside 50.
Adelaide kicked only 9.10 and too often could not find the connection new coach Nicks is looking for from his midfielders and new-look attack following the off-season loss of veterans Eddie Betts (Carlton) and Josh Jenkins (Geelong).
Watch every match of every round of the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE & On-Demand with KAYO. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
With former Port Adelaide tall Billy Frampton and key forward/ruckman Elliott Himmelberg left out of the clash, Nicks used the 29-year-old Walker to support O’Brien with mixed results.
“We tried a couple of things, we played the one ruck, which meant Tex (Walker) came into the ruck and I thought we saw some really good stuff around Tex being near the footy,’’ said Nicks, whose rebuilding side lost both Marsh Community Series matches after a first round defeat to Melbourne.
“What that does do is make you a little smaller ahead of the ball, so we will look at that as a coaching group and make some decisions around that in the next couple of weeks.’’
By playing Walker in the ruck, the veteran is being put at greater risk of an impact injury but Nicks said it was a move fans might see during the year.
“It won’t be every week but there is different opponents where you may be able to do it,’’ he said.
“We thought this game was the opportunity where we could have a look prior to the season.
“It is not something we want to just roll out in round one and we probably took a lot of learning out of it as far as what we then need ahead of the ball if he was coming up.
“I think it was pretty obvious towards the end of the game where their backs were able to dominate in the air and we couldn’t quite get the contest we were after ahead of the ball.
“So there are some areas there that we will work on but Tex has worked a certain method where he knows how he is going to work in the ruck.
“He’s not going to take on a 206cm ruckman running straight on and take a knee in the face.
“I thought he did quite well.’’
Nicks said the decision to play Walker in the ruck did not show a lack of confidence in Frampton and Himmelberg, who he said were still in the running to play in round one.
“We’ve got confidence, we just wanted to look at something different,’’ he said.
“But in saying that, Billy and Elliott are both working on parts of their game that we need to see at a certain level.
“It maybe round one versus Sydney we might play a little taller ahead.’’
Nicks, who praised first-year key defender Fischer McAsey – “he looks like a player,’’ he said – and indicated he would play in round one against the Swans, loved the games of midfielders Brodie Smith and Paul Seedsman, who had 63 disposals between them.
But he said the forward line was still “a work in progress’’.
“We’ve got a young forward line, there is no hiding from that,’’ Nicks said.
I thought they battled hard but it was a tough day for them and credit to Gold Coast for the way they played down there.
“They positioned themselves well and probably had the better of our young forward line, although we looked stronger in the second half.
“But when you look at our inside 50s (45 to 66) we haven’t been able to hold the ball in there as much as we would have liked, so that’s a work in progress for us.’’
Adelaide started with Walker and the experienced Tom Lynch in attack, flanked by the inexperienced Darcy Fogarty, Ben Crocker, Lachlan Murphy and Tyson Stengle while Ben Davis came off the bench to spend most of his time inside 50.
Nicks said he had faith in his young team despite losing both Marsh games to Melbourne and Gold Coast and being well beaten for inside 50s and contested possession.
“There’s stuff that we have to work on but in the past three weeks we’ve seen enough positives that as a playing and coaching group we see ourselves going in the right direction,’’ he said.
Lynch (nose) and key defender Daniel Talia (back) copped knocks against the Suns but are in no doubt for round one.
Originally published as Crows coach Matthew Nicks says he’s still looking for the right forward mix and won’t rule out Tex being used in the ruck again