Jordan Dawson may be Matthew Nicks most significan change | Graham Cornes

Successful footy coaches all share one trait. And Matthew Nicks has it in spades, writes Graham Cornes.

Successful coaches come in many and various forms. There is no template. However there is one characteristic that they all share - and that is OPTIMISM. In time Matthew Nicks’s success will be determined by results but he could never be accused of lacking optimism. After the round two loss to Richmond, the Crows pre-season expectations were in tatters. The exciting, attacking style of play that we saw in the pre-season had been exposed by opponents that remembered a most basic football tenet: “to attack you must first win the ball”.

After his team wilted in the Western Sydney heat in round one, Nicks would have expected a response the following week against a declining Richmond. It wasn’t forthcoming and the Crows were smashed in the mid-field and around the stoppages. Basic skill errors didn’t help. Even the Crows better players dropped easy marks, missed easy goals and couldn’t find a team-mate with their disposals. Nicks had to accept some responsibility with selection disarray as well. He dropped Jordan Butts which left the Crows undersized in defence and made Riley Thilthorpe the medical sub, and persisted with his underperforming mid-field.

The following week in the Showdown, Butts was reinstated in defence, Riley Thilthorpe started in the 22 and the classy Wayne MiIera, one of Adelaide’s better ball users, came back into the team. However, the most critical move was that of captain Jordan Dawson into the centre square. Feeding on the coach’s optimism, the transformation has been dramatic. The team, under Nicks, has beaten Port for the first time in an away Showdown, Fremantle for the first time, and Carlton in the stand alone Gather Round match.

Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks has a post-win laugh with Rory Laird. Picture: Michael Klein

It is a critical year for Matthew Nicks. There must be improvement. Whilst some reject the term “rebuild”, believing it’s an excuse for poor list management and poor performance we have to accept that the Crows playing list was shallow when he took over. That word “rebuild” was constantly implanted into our football conversations; so much so that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Say it often enough and people believe it. Accordingly, the team plummeted to the bottom of the ladder, finishing last for the first time in the club’s history. How the Port fans relished that. “Wooden Spooners”! Who would have thought?

It’s not a pre-requisite that you have to hit rock-bottom before you start to improve, but once you do, there is only one way to go.

Throughout it all – the ridicule, the abuse, the disappointment - Matthew Nicks remained optimistic. Improvement has been slow, but he had a vision for his team. They had to be tough to play against and although the improvement has been slow the team has a reputation for being tough to play against. The words that club insiders use are “grit and determination”. They are not the most glamorous of football’s adjectives but they underpin the success of any successful footy team. Nicks’s challenge then was to add class and quick, efficient, direct ball movement to his “gritty, determined” team.

That was why the pre-season performances in Perth were so impressive. This was a classy team, although in hindsight, the opposition was poor. Nevertheless, there was optimism in the air which emboldened the long-suffering Crows fans. Unfortunately, this new-found attacking flair and accompanying praise also emboldened the players, at the expense of their defensive mindset. Remember: “to attack you must first win the ball.” The club rejects the suggestion that the players got ahead of themselves but there is no doubt an element of complacency crept in leading up to the first game when GWS smashed them. The enervating conditions in Western Sydney and a shorter turnaround complicated the preparation for the round two Richmond game but it was a reality check for the players, supporters and the coaching staff alike.

Captain Jordan Dawson signs autographs during the Gather Round Footy Festival in Adelaide. PictureL Dylan Burn

After the disappointment of the first two rounds, Nicks had to get back to basics and reinstate the principle that without great defence, attacking flair is nothing but superficial hype.

Perhaps the most significant move Matthew Nicks has made in his four years at the club has been the appointment of Jordan Dawson as captain. Moving him into the centre has been the second most significant. At first glance Dawson seemed an unlikely leadership contender. Quiet and understated, he gave a perception of shyness. But perception can be deceiving. Within the club, those who worked with him and could observe him more closely, recognised his composed exterior was offset by a ruthless winning mentality.

It’s only been a small sample size of three games since Dawson was moved into the centre square but the team’s transformation has been amazing. He may have been fortunate to win the Showdown Medal in front of Reilly O’Brien or Izaak Rankine but he has clearly been the Crows most influential player in the past three matches. The challenge now is to withstand the extra scrutiny and negating tactics that he surely will have to contend with.

Which leads us to today’s game against Hawthorn in Tasmania. Hawthorn, the team that currently sits at the bottom of the ladder. If ever there was a danger game, this is it.

Crows skipper Jordan Dawson runs with Jake Soligo. Picture: Sarah Reed

Matthew Nicks knows it. “Hawthorn in Tasmania, it’s a tough, tough game. We’ve been found wanting the last few times we’ve come up against them”, he said at this week’s press conference. The Hawks have won one game for the year, against that other cellar dweller, North Melbourne yet they are not without a chance on that ground in Launceston.

“We’ve played the ground, we know what to expect”, said Nicks. But they don’t know it like Hawthorn. There will always be an advantage to the home team. At least Nicks is optimistic.

However, optimism has to be tempered with reality. Blind optimism, which can descend into complacency, is more destructive than pessimism.

The Crows have not won many games in recent years, but the times they have been most vulnerable is when they have come off good wins and are expected to win the next game. Remember last season, after a great win against the Bulldogs in Ballarat, they were thrashed at home by GWS.

No, this is a danger game but if the Crows have genuinely improved and their gritty determination has been truly balanced with class and attacking flair, they should comfortably account for Hawthorn, even in Tasmania. If only this writer was as optimistic as Matthew Nicks.

Originally published as Jordan Dawson may be Matthew Nicks most significan change | Graham Cornes