The Lowdown: Nicks has failed again on selection in dropping Reilly O’Brien

It was more of the same from Port Adelaide against GWS, as the Power failed to dispel the outside perception that they’re a ‘fake’ contender. See more likes and dislikes from round 14 here.

It’s been a rough week at the top level of South Australian football, with the Crows haemorrhaging a mammoth loss to Sydney after being on top early and the Power’s new-look forward line unable to fire on Sunday.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson unpacks his likes and dislikes from the week.

DISLIKES

1. The ROB decision

Yes you want to reward form and show that you aren’t afraid of making tough decisions, no matter what the player’s status is at the club. But the decision to drop Reilly O’Brien has been a strange one by Nicks.

Reilly O'Brien takes an uncontested mark against South Adelaide in the SANFL on the weekend. Picture: Cory Sutton

The leadership group member might have not been performing at his absolute best but he was one of few players to be giving it a crack against the Hawks before he was dropped for the Tigers loss. And it isn’t like understudy Kieran Strachan is a promising young player just not able to get a chance, he is 28 the same age as O’Brien. Strachan has gone OK in his two games but was monstered by Richmond’s Toby Nankervis and then Sydney’s Brodie Grundy in hit-outs. The Tigers won the centre clearances 12-8 and then the Swans had a whopping plus 15 on Saturday night. O’Brien hasn’t played the last two games but still leads the league for when it comes to hitouts. He cops it from Crows fans because of the awkwardness in which he moves around the ground and his kicking action, but he had been a dependable servant for Nicks side. Now the ruck is an area to watch for the Crows in the off-season with both O’Brien and Strachan out of contract at the end of next season.

Reilly O'Brien kicks a goal against the Eagles in Round 11. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

2. Rinse and repeat

Port Adelaide fans have seen this before. The Power lose the contested possession and aren’t accurate and go down against a top eight side. The worrying thing for Ken Hinkley and his coaches would be just how flat his side looked after they had a week off. Rather than being refreshed the Power looked a step off from the Giants. Connor Rozee had 14 disposals, Zak Butters 17 and Jason Horne-Francis 18. The Power’s three guns cannot be that quiet. Butters was tagged well by Toby Bedford and has now shown other teams that he can lose his cool if you tag him very hard. The Power weren’t happy with the “fake top four team” tag that was thrown its way after the loss to Carlton. It was another game Port dropped that could have gone a long way to dispelling the outside perception of them this year. Now the Power are clinging onto a spot in the top eight. There’s still a lot of footy to be played but Port need to find form and quick.

Jason Horne-Francis handpasses to Zak Butters on Sunday. Both players were below their best as the Giants overran the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

3. Crows throw an Amartey party

Adelaide’s defence has largely been one of few positives for the Crows this year. Against the Swans they were embarrassed with Joel Amartey kicking nine goals. The Sydney key forward was given way too much space at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, as was Brownlow Medal favourite Isaac Heeney in footage that was unforgivable if you were a Crows defender. They weren’t able to make any changes to counter this before it was way too late, despite having Nick Murray back in the side, and leadership group member Mitch Hinge’s rush of blood to give away a free-kick after being provoked by Taylor Adams was inexcusable – however much Adams may have milked it. The Crows sit equal fifth for giving up goals to key forwards with 61 so far in 2024. So it has been an issue for them, but you would have expected with Murray alongside Mark Keane and Jordon Butts that the Crows could have done a lot better job of handling Amartey and stopping yet another team from slamming on a run of goals on them.

Joel Amartey of the Swans remonstrates with Mitchell Hingeand Nick Murray after kicking one of his nine goals on Saturday. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

LIKES

1. Mitch Georgiades

Port Adelaide have some big issues with its forward line with its scores drying up. It would be even worse if Mitch Georgiades wasn’t in the form he is in at the moment. After kicking four against Carlton he backed it up with three in the loss to GWS on Sunday. The confidence is back after the ACL injury, and most importantly from this his accuracy is back. It was a mystery as to why his accuracy deserted him after his promising start to his career in front of goal but the high-flyer looks to have his mojo back. He needs more of the Power key forwards to join him in making an impact. Todd Marshall couldn’t take his chances and kicked 1.3. He kicked five against North Melbourne two games ago but still looks to be lacking confidence. Ollie Lord was subbed out in his first game of the season and Charlie Dixon and Jeremy Finlayson were dropped to the SANFL.

Mitch Georgiades has been papering over the cracks in the Port Adelaide forward line this season. Picture: Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

2. Lachie Sholl

There hasn’t been much to Crow about for Adelaide over the past couple of weeks. One player who can hold his head up is Lachie Sholl with the wingman extremely consistent for the last month. He is averaging 28 disposals and seven marks a game, and only didn’t kick a goal in the loss to Richmond. He was even thrown into centre bounces against Hawthorn as Matthew Nicks threw the magnets around. Sholl has put together a block of good form for the Crows before, but mainly this has been at the start of the season with it remarked that he would begin a campaign well before somewhat fading as the year went on. It has almost been the opposite for him in 2024. He was in and out of the side to begin the season, and has been the sub once and subbed out once as well. Too many Crows players have regressed this season, Sholl has improved.

Lachie Sholl has performed well for the Crows in the past month. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

AND THE LOWDOWN ON …

Last week Port Adelaide footy boss Chris Davies and development mentor Paul Stewart met with SANFL representatives. It would have been an extremely interesting discussion if it took place this week after Charlie Dixon was hit with a three-game ban from the SANFL for the bump that resulted in West Adelaide’s Jordan White concussed. Complicating this is that White was caught on the chest and was concussed when his head hit the ground. Port Adelaide are expected to challenge this and it will only add to tensions between the club and the state league. While the AFL has put a National Reserves competition on the backburner, to the annoyance of the Power, Adelaide and West Coast, Port are expected to try and ramp up its push to leave the SANFL. An incident like this will only fuel the desire at Alberton to get a result soon.

Originally published as The Lowdown: Nicks has failed again on selection in dropping Reilly O’Brien