AFL Round 11 Adelaide v West Coast: What coach Matthew Nicks will take out of Crows’ Eagles demolition
Adelaide booted 21 goals to five in a comprehensive rout on Sunday. Despite having a draw to their name, Matthew Nicks said every bit of percentage counts.
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Matthew Nicks admitted he had a few queries about Adelaide’s attack without important forward Izak Rankine against West Coast, but the coach’s concerns were quickly put to rest in his side’s percentage-boosting win.
With Rankine (hamstring) and Elliott Himmelberg (cheekbone) sidelined, the potent Crows burst out of the blocks and had 13 goalkickers in Sunday’s 99-point drubbing, with Chayce Jones surprisingly leading the way with a career-high three.
Taylor Walker monstered West Coast last season with hauls of 10 and nine goals in their two clashes, but he was one of six Crows to kick two majors in an even contribution that delighted Nicks.
“We were clean with the ball, we were deliberate, and gave our forwards a chance,” Nicks said.
“It was really pleasing that we had 13 goalkickers … hopefully going forward we can have a number of goalkickers that can contribute and we don’t rely on one.
“I was a little nervous coming in with Izak not being there.
“He’s been so important for us and with him not being there through injury, where were our goals going to come from, but the group stepped up.
“They went to another level, which was really pleasing.”
One of Jones’ goals came from a turnover caused by a brilliant chase and smother from Luke Nankervis in the first quarter that Nicks said was an example of the work rate and intent that formed the foundation of the well-rounded display.
“A lot of people see and talk about the offence and the goals that are scored, but when we dig deeper we go into those acts … and we had a lot more than (Nankervis’) on the day, little things that maybe go unnoticed on the TV,” he said.
“It was a really positive day for us, one that we’ll learn a lot from.
“I often talk about learning from wins and losses, but this is one where we can go back and look at some really positive moments and individual acts.”
The Crows improved to a 4-6-1 record with the win that added a whopping 12.1 per cent, which could prove pivotal if they are to challenge for a finals berth in the second half of the season.
“Percentage will be important, some would say it’s not because we’ve got a draw, but there seems to be more draws this year than ever,” Nicks said.
“So, percentage may be really important.
“But it’s just another confidence builder.
“We came into this game confident of how we’re playing, we weren’t necessarily getting the rewards – we were losing close games and we had a draw – but it’s been a strong five or six weeks for us where we’ve built confidence.
“We’ve probably found ourselves a bit frustrated, so this was a nice reward for that form that we feel we do have.”
Star onballer Jake Soligo was subbed out of the game at half-time, but Nicks confirmed the move was strictly to manage the 21-year-old’s workload and not injury-related.
What did we really learn from Crows’ demolition of uncompetitive Eagles?
– Simeon Thomas-Wilson
For arguably the first time this season Adelaide looked like the attacking juggernaut it was in 2023.
But the Crows couldn’t have been helped more by West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday as the Eagles resembled the side it was last year as well.
Before the ball was bounced Eagles’ senior coach Adam Simpson said the form of his side on the road had been “horrendous” but he was hopeful that would not continue against the Crows.
Early on all his hope was dashed.
While the Eagles had the territory, going 5-1 in the inside 50 count, early on the Crows sliced through them like a knife through hot butter.
They goaled from their first three inside 50 entries.
The number one side scoring from defensive chains was able to take as many marks as they wanted to and work the ball forward.
“They are giving them a lesson in ball movement the Crows,” Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy said on Fox Footy.
Captain Jordan Dawson had one of his best quarters for the Crows, and one of the best by a player this season, with two goals, 12 disposals, three marks, one tackle and 397m gained.
Best on ground by a mile, Eagles fans will be wondering just what their side was thinking once it became apparent he was having a day out.
After his great job with a tagging role last week, Simpson said Dom Sheed would again go to a player when he entered the field – having started on the interchange bench.
But while it was apparent Dawson was tearing it up from the opening minutes of the match when Sheed did run onto the ground he was manning Crows veteran Brodie Smith and then Mitch Hinge off half-back.
That wasn’t where the Crows were killing the Eagles.
Sheed eventually did go to Dawson in the second quarter, and the Crows captain did have a quiet 10 minutes in that term as the Eagles briefly fought back.
But soon enough they were again resembling witches hats with the Crows rampant.
Adelaide great and football director Mark Ricciuto said he was “gobsmacked” just how uncompetitive the Eagles were after coming into the game off some promising form.
“I came to this game thinking it was a genuine 50/50 contest after what they did to Melbourne last week,” he said.
So were the Crows back to playing like the side that came close to playing finals?
Or were the Eagles just that bad?
It was probably a bit of both.
The pressure just wasn’t there from the Eagles at Adelaide Oval, save aside from wonderkid Harley Reid who looked to be the only West Coast player having a real crack.
And the Crows took advantage of this, especially going forward.
While last year’s two meetings were dominated by Taylor Walker, he only managed the 2.2 as he endures a relatively quiet patch of form when it comes to goalkicking after his efforts in 2023.
But the positive for the Crows from that was that others stepped up.
The Crows started the year being labelled as too reliant on the 34-year-old Walker, so it would be a positive sign for Adelaide that it got such a big win with a spread of goalkickers.
Wingers Chayce Jones and Lachie Sholl cashed in with three and two goals, Brayden Cook finished with two of his own.
And while the Crows are still behind the eightball when it comes to the race for finals, they did get a very important percentage boost.
During the week senior coach Matthew Nicks said the Crows remained confident they could still challenge for finals and were not thinking about 2025 just yet.
This drew the ire of the frustrated Crows fans on social media.
But the hopes, however faint they may be with the Crows 10-points off the eight, are still alive.
And while it was against an Eagles side that barely showed up, if the Crows can build on this offensive performance and regain their attacking mojo then they could explode and make a run for finals.
Their poor start to the season might make it a bridge too far, but could some seeds for a big Crows run home have been sown on Sunday evening?
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