The Lowdown Round 21: Crows counting the cost of Nicks’ failings as coaching decision lets Jeremy Cameron off the chain
For the second week in a row, Adelaide was left behind the eight ball thanks to decisions made in the coaches’ box. SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON explores what went wrong in The Lowdown.
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The Power stunned premiership favourites Sydney to such a degree they’ve nearly lost their iron grip on top spot, while Adelaide fell so agonisingly short against the Cats.
Simeon Thomas-Wilson unpacks the weekend of South Australian football in The Lowdown.
LIKES
1. ARE THEY CONTENDERS?
Port Adelaide seethed at Jason Dunstall’s “fake top four” label after the loss to Carlton all the way back in May. Ken Hinkley was booed by fans after the humiliating loss to Brisbane in June. But now we are in August and could the Power be flag contenders? Well the run home was among the hardest but the Power look like it will emerge from this playing finals and sent a huge statement as Port absolutely smashed Sydney on Saturday night. Yes the Swans had been in a slump but the way the Power went about humiliating the ladder-leaders was quite incredible. From the outset Port looked like a team that was almost unstoppable. Hinkley’s side owned the corridor, the pressure was sky high, everything seemed to be working for the Power. Last year it seemed like the Power gave all it could to go on that 13-game unbeaten run and were cooked when it got to finals. This year could the Power be peaking at the right time?
2. LACHIE JONES’ MARKING
Against Melbourne earlier this year Lachie Jones came down with a serious case of the yips as he fumbled regulation marks. But against the Swans he was plucking pretty much everything that came his way. He finished with five intercept marks and nine intercept possessions, to earn the praise of Power assistant Chad Cornes. “He was outstanding, five intercept marks and I thought he was really clean when the ball was on the ground,” Cornes said. It has been a bit of an interesting year for Jones, he has dealt with some injuries and the concussion against Gold Coast, and has been subbed out of a game on three occasions. But it is games like this that demonstrate why the Power do rate him so highly.
3. JOSH RACHELE
It’s been an interesting year for Josh Rachele. He’s made headlines for reasons he would not want to, shirking those marks against Essendon and then his comments about his lack of CBA’s against Hawthorn earlier this season – the fallout from that is why he isn’t on Channel 9 as a paid talent any more. And to be frank for most of this season, save the winner against the Bombers last month, it looks like he hasn’t been playing with the excitement, energy and enjoyment that we have seen from him in the past. This was stark as Hawthorn’s small forwards celebrated and celebrated as the Hawks smashed the Crows last month. It makes you wonder has the negativity got to him? But against Geelong he showed just how talented he is. He was right among it as the Crows surged in the third quarter. His three second-half goals were a big reason why the Crows pushed Geelong as far as they did, prompting Matthew Nicks to say it was his best game for the club. Crows fans are looking for positive signs for 2025, if Rachele can end the season strong then it will be a big one.
DISLIKES
1. THE STARK DIFFERENCE
Plucky, yes. Brave and courageous, you could use them to describe the loss to Geelong. But there is another word that can also sum up the Crows this year, frustrating. Against Hawthorn they were insipid but against Geelong they showed that they can take it up to the best teams in the competition. Like they have in the wins over Carlton, Port Adelaide and even Essendon. So how do the Crows go from looking like they threw in the towel at home against Hawthorn to taking it right down to the wire in Geelong? Nicks must be asking himself the same question. Because when they are up and about the Crows can seriously test any side in the competition. But we haven’t seen enough of it in 2024.
2. WRONG MATCHUP
For the second week in a row Nicks didn’t have a great day in the coaching box. Jeremy Cameron feasted on Saturday as he took advantage of a the Crows putting Nick Murray on him. There’s only one centimetre between the two in height, Cameron is taller, but the gap in their ability to cover the ground is miles apart.
And Cameron absolutely took advantage of this strange match-up. Time after time Murray was just too far behind Cameron, who on multiple occasions had 10 to 15m on the Crow for goals. And for the sealer, Cameron just flat out burnt Murray as he ran across Geelong’s forward 50 to take an uncontested mark and then go back and kick his sixth goal of the game. Why did the Crows not put a Max Michalanney or even a Josh Worrell on Cameron when it became so apparent that Murray was getting absolutely cooked by the Cats star?
3. CURTIN IN THE SUB VEST
Filling in for Nicks on Friday, Crows senior assistant Scott Burns said Dan Curtin was in line to get more playing time at AFL level in the final games of the season, but also said “I think in Adelaide especially we get caught up with our high draft picks”. Well he got 7:55 against the Cats and the questions around just how the Crows are managing him by fans on social media went to another level. Post game Nicks said the Crows would normally make the sub by three quarter time at the latest but they felt like they had momentum with them. But it just fuels questions about how the Crows are managing and developing the talented draftee. They said they would take lessons from Fischer McAsey being thrown in at the deep end in 2020, but are they being too cautious with Curtin?
AND THE LOWDOWN ON …
The AFLW season is just weeks away, and for the second year in a row it looks like Port Adelaide is going to have one of the gun first-year players in the competition. Matilda Scholz was a revelation for the Power in the ruck last year, finishing fourth in the Rising Star race. In 2024 she is set to have a young gun to hit the ball down to. Young midfielder Shineah Goody has been seriously impressing at Alberton during the Power’s pre-season, with the 18-year-old already considered ready to play at the level and to be a good chance at the Rising Star award.
Originally published as The Lowdown Round 21: Crows counting the cost of Nicks’ failings as coaching decision lets Jeremy Cameron off the chain
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