AFL 2024: All the latest Adelaide Crows news as Matthew Nicks faces the media

Crows coach Matthew Nicks says his side is confident they have addressed the areas of the game that have let them down in their first three games of 2024, ahead of a must-win clash Thursday.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 16: Head coach Matthew Nicks of the Crows looks on during the round one AFL match between Gold Coast Suns and Adelaide Crows at People First Stadium, on March 16, 2024, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )

Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks says the Crows are “confident we have found what it is that has let us down” in their winless start to the season, as he concedes they need to convince fans again.

The Crows are winless after three games, the latest an extremely poor showing against Fremantle on Good Friday where Adelaide only managed to kick 34 points – a far cry from the highest scoring team in the competition last year.

This has fans venting at and questioning the direction of the Crows, selection, the game plan and Nicks’ two-year contract extension announced after round 1.

The Crows take on powerhouse Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night to open Gather Round.

Matthew Nicks’ Crows are under the pump. (Photo by Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )

Nicks said the Crows were confident they had identified where they were falling short so far in 2024, and was hopeful of a performance that would convince fans about the direction of the club again.

“Hopefully we are able to do that on Thursday night, we know how quickly we are able to turn this around,” he said.

“We are confident we have found what it is that has let us down over these first two to three weeks.

“In saying that we were in the fight in week one (against Gold Coast) and we played a half of footy.

“So now we need to get out there.”

Much of the analysis about the Crows’ winless start to the season has centred around their drop off in attack.

Nicks said it wasn’t as simple as that.

“There’s a connection piece to all of this, I am very mindful that we don’t lock into one area such as “your forwards aren’t performing” because that is not the case,” he said.

Rather Nicks said it was the shape on the ground that was hurting the Crows.

“There is a certain system that we play to and when we play our best footy it runs smoothly, at the moment it is not working,” he said.

“It is a bumpy road for us at the moment and we have to find our way back to I guess simplifying what it is and the areas we have to get right and then trust that our contest will look after itself and get the things right that we have to but also getting our shape right.”

The Crows are winless after three games this season. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

He said there was a lack of connection and cohesion between Crows players.

“Do we look up and know where our teammates are going to be? Are we connected? Is there cohesion there?” he said.

“At the moment that is not what we are seeing, we know it can change that quickly.”

If the Crows go down to the Demons, who are on a high after a stirring victory over Port Adelaide last time out, they will start a season in which they were aiming to return to finals 0-4.

Just one team since 1975 has recovered from a 0-4 start to play finals that year.

Nicks said he wasn’t focusing on that.

“I’ve seen teams in the past who have gone 0-6 (Sydney in 2017) who have come through and played some good footy in the latter part of the season,” he said.

“We aren’t looking at the win/loss record, we are looking at Thursday night and how we get it done.”

With Wayne Milera already out for the season after he ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee, the Crows will be without fellow leadership group member Lachie Murphy for three to five weeks after suffering what has been described as an “odd lateral ligament injury” to his knee.

Jordon Butts is expected to return. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Key defender Jordon Butts is expected to play after missing the loss to the Dockers.

Nicks said young midfielder Billy Dowling was in the mix after a huge game at SANFL level with 34 disposals, seven tackles, seven clearances, five marks and a matchwinning goal.

“He has put his name up,” Nicks said.

But Crows fans crying out for mass changes could be disappointed with connection and cohesion to be a big focus.

“We are going to have some forced changes, we have some players playing at SANFL level who have been unlucky to play in the first couple of rounds,” Nicks said.

“They have shown some really good form in pre-season so they are knocking on the door.

“But we aren’t going to make changes unless we think they are necessary.”

Originally published as AFL 2024: All the latest Adelaide Crows news as Matthew Nicks faces the media