AFL 2023: Collingwood storm home to beat Crows by one point

The Crows came into their game against Collingwood with a clear plan. Limit the AFL’s most damaging weapon. Even in defeat, Adelaide may have shown the competition how to curtail him.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson

@Simeon_TW

7 min read

May 1, 2023 - 6:07AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Tempers Flare between Brayden Maynard and Izak Rankine. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

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The fact they lost a game they should have pretty much wrapped up before half-time will hurt Adelaide players and coaches.

But the Crows can take some solace that their Nick Daicos plan worked.

So will other teams follow their lead?

Collingwood coach Craig McRae said post game that he thought the attention his young star received was “a non-story” from the game.

But after six weeks where Daicos has torn the competition up, surging into Brownlow Medal favouritism, coaches and fans from rival clubs would have no doubt watched how the Crows handled the Pies star with interest.

As expected after his jobs on Carlton’s Adam Saad, Ben Keays got the job on Daicos from the outset.

He lined up at half-forward, expecting the Collingwood wonderkid to be there but when Daicos started at the first centre-bounce, Keays quickly punted Jake Soligo from the Crows rotation to line up alongside his man.

The Crows made life harder for Pies star Nick Daicos. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Keays followed Daicos for the majority of the one-point loss, although when the Pies gun did go forward Mitch Hinge would quickly stand him.

And while Daicos still got his fair share of the footy, 27 disposals, the Crows will probably feel that they won this battle.

“Really pleased with the way Keaysey went about it,” Crows coach Matthew Nicks said.

“He is a super player Nick Daicos, in the end he impacted the game but Keaysey went in and we knew he would.

“We made them change up some things in that space, so pleased with the way that played out.”

Keays himself said he enjoyed the task.

“He is a brilliant player, he is one of the best in the comp,” he said.

“I thought he fought through it really well and he had a couple of tricks and still got involved.

“I really enjoyed playing on him.”

On paper 27 disposals is still a decent day out for most players in the comp.

But Daicos’ start to the season has been so hot that 27 is his lowest amount for the season, it was 32 when he also kicked two goals against Port Adelaide in Round 2.

Eight of them came from kick-ins, with the Crows inaccuracy in the first half killing them.

He only had two score involvements, while his disposal efficiency was 55.6 per cent.

Before the game his disposal efficiency was 82.3 per cent with his previous worse 76.3 per cent.

Ben Keays took the assignment and was stout in his duties. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

At half-time his disposal efficiency was 35.7 per cent.

Pre-match Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis said on Fox Footy that Daicos was a hard player to tag.

“You accept that he is going to get the ball at some stage,” he said.

“What you need to do is limit where he gets it and when he gets it.”

Nicks said that was the mindset the Crows had.

“That was our focus,” he said.

“He is a damaging player, he is often in score involvements.

“He still had a decent game.”

Throughout this season Daicos has often taken the kick-in, found a teammate and then receive the handball back to launch a Collingwood attack.

Keays and his fellow Crows tried to stop this as much as possible.

“Every game this year Nick Daicos would run back and get the ball back from the kick-in,” former St Kilda player Leigh Montagna said on First Crack.

“And he would set up the offence and set up the play but by having Ben Keays there it takes away those handball receives that Nick Daicos was able to get all year without any attention.

“And what it does is it forces someone else to kick and they weren’t able to generate any score.

“With Keays on his hammer all day he just wasn’t the same.”

Keays had played a similar role on Carlton star Adam Saad. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

The Crows were also happy to let Daicos get the ball on the wing, away from where he could damage them.

And Keays at times was able to get off Daicos and play his part in the Crows’ attacks and goals.

“I got helped out by the lads for three quarters but then we stopped playing,” Keays said.

“I do enjoy the challenges, I do like being versatile and doing different things.”

Montagna said Keays and Nicks should be pleased with how their plan to deal with Daicos worked.

“He still had the 27 touches Nick Daicos but eight of them came from kick ins and he only had two score involvements,” he said.

“So you aren’t going to completely take away him getting the ball but they just forced him to maybe bite off a little too much.

“And then at the right time Ben Keays was able to get off him and help the team score.

“It just showed that even though he had a bit of ball, the numbers might look like he had a bit of influence he didn’t really have an influence on this game.

“I thought Adelaide did really well and up until the last 10 minutes it was probably a match-winning move by Matthew Nicks.

“You are never going to stop him from getting the ball, it was about stopping his influence.”

The Crows were valiant in their attempt but it wasn’t enough to stop the Pies from claiming the four points. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

So could this be a blueprint for how teams could handle the young superstar?

Will John Longmire try something similar when the Swans take on the Pies at the MCG next Sunday?

As well as it went for the Crows, while Nick had far less of an impact on the game he normally would brother Josh stepped up in the fourth quarter with 12 disposals and a goal as the Pies reinforced their status as the comeback kings of the AFL.

But after six weeks of debate about how do you stop Nick Daicos, and why teams aren’t putting time into him, the plan the Crows had for him is sure to raise interest among other teams, their fans and coaches.

NICKS LAMENTS ‘HARSH LESSON’ DEALT TO CROWS IN HEARTBREAKER

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says it was his side’s inaccuracy in front of goal in the first half – not how they tried to defend their lead in the final quarter – that cost the Crows an upset victory over Collingwood.

The Magpies further reinforced their status as the comeback kings of the AFL with a thrilling one-point win over the Crows at Adelaide Oval.

Collingwood only led the game for 30 seconds on Sunday, but it was the most crucial 30 seconds of the match.

Nicks said while the Crows didn’t get key moments in the final quarter right, having come in with a 16-point lead – which did go out to 22 when Chayce Jones kicked the first goal of the fourth – it was their goalkicking woes in the first half cost them.

“I thought we had a number of opportunities, it wasn’t just the points we kicked there were times where we missed that connectivity inside 50,” he said.

“So we had our chances and we got the harshest lesson there is from not kicking straight or not being composed in those key moments.”

Brodie Smith reacts at the final siren. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Crows raced out of the blocks and had Collingwood on the ropes for most of the first half.

But at half time their lead was only six points after they kicked 3.10.

Nicks said it was uncharacteristic of his side.

“We lost the game in the first half,” he said.

“I was really proud of how the guys played their footy, they really took it on.

“I would say we have pushed the envelope in terms of how much we have done with shots on goal.

“We know that is a crucial part of the game, we kick goals in the first half and it is a completely different game. We didn’t.

“We kicked six goals 12 from intercept, enough times we won the ball back from the oppo but we didn’t convert.”

Nicks said if the goalkicking woes continued then he would do a forensic examination of what the Crows were doing in that space.

His biggest concern however was that the Crows got smashed by Collingwood at stoppages, with the Pies winning that 46-25.

“We will have to have a good look at that, we went 0-12 in that last quarter,” he said.

Coming into the game Collingwood had won nine of their last 12 when trailing at three quarter time.

Nicks said it would have weighed heavily on the minds of Crows players as they tried to protect their lead.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks says his side’s goalkicking caused their demise. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“I have no doubt, I have no doubt that was a massive mental part in the way they finished the game off,” he said.

“They’ve done it too often for it not to be (the case).”

Adelaide now embarks on a testing month of fixtures with Geelong, St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane in store.

Nicks said how the Crows performed in those fixtures would show where his side was at.

“I hope it does because I still feel that tonight our guys played some great footy,” he said.

“Maybe it does show where we are, Collingwood are on top and we had our chances to beat them.

“It will show where we are at, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be 3-1 for the next month or 1-3. That is not going to necessarily show who we are.

“It will be about how we play those games.”