AFL: Adelaide Crows break their 16-game drought

It was 16 games in the making and Matthew Nicks, his players and suffering Adelaide fans in 2020 may have been wondering if it was ever going to happen this season. They finally won.

Shane McAdam and Lachlan Sholl celebrate the Crows’ win at Adelaide Oval

It was 16 games in the making and Matthew Nicks, his players and suffering Adelaide fans in 2020 may have been wondering if it was ever going to happen this season.

But the Crows have won an AFL game for the first time under Nicks and for the first time since they defeated St Kilda in August last year as they heaped more woe on Alastair Clarkson and Hawthorn as they finally tasted victory in 2020.

Adelaide won by 35 points after holding off a late Hawthorn surge and kicking clear in a 12.11 (83) to 7.6 (48) result.

Nicks said the Crows’ first win of 2020 wasn’t about him getting his first win as coach of Adelaide, but rather showing his players “that we are going in the right direction”.

He admitted he started celebrating the win with about 37 seconds to go in the final quarter.

“More importantly than singing the song was just looking around at the room, looking at the staff and players and seeing smiling faces and pride in what we saw tonight and we’ve probably seen it in the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“We’ve been able to play footy the way we’ve wanted to and we finally got some reward for that.

“Tonight was really rewarding for everyone, for our members and supporters who have gone through a really tough year and stuck by us.

“It was more about that than singing the song to be honest, I was just dodging Powerade.”

The game at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday night, strangely scheduled as a Hawks home game, loomed as the best chance the Crows would have to save themselves from becoming the first side in AFL history to go throughout a season winless and since Fitzroy in the 1964 VFL season.

And while there were moments where it seemed Adelaide may let this opportunity slip away, when the siren sounded Crows players and coaches were able to celebrate like it was August 2019 again.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks after the win. Picture: Sarah Reed

Brad Crouch came back into the side for the first time since injuring his hamstring in Round 8, while after copping criticism for not impacting games enough brother Matt Crouch has been ranked No 1 in the AFL for average pressure points (66.7) from Rounds 10-14.

And in a game when the Crows needed to win the contested ball the Crouch brothers put in a vintage performance.

Matt may still handball it a lot but finished with 32 possessions (11 contested), while Brad is unlikely to be at the Crows next year — but what both did was help Adelaide smash Hawthorn in the contested ball by 25.

The Crows have been routinely smashed in the contested ball stakes this season, against the Hawks they gave some back.

Adelaide’s Shane McAdam takes high mark over the pack. Picture: Sarah Reed

Arguably for the first time as a Crow Tyson Stengle showed just how he can impact games.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing since he came to Adelaide from Richmond, but Stengle against the Hawks showed why the Crows backed him with a new two-year contract two weeks ago.

He missed out on kicking the first goal of the match for a remarkable fourth-straight game — although he should have kept this run going when he passed up to easy opportunities to open the scoring.

But for the rest of the game Stengle showed why he was given Eddie Betts’ No 18 at the end of last season, with his crumb to extend the Crows’ lead in the second a moment of magic between two struggling teams.

Lachlan Murphy kicks a goal over Jarman Impey at Adelaide Oval

Nicks said the biggest aspect of the win, was that it would show the Crows players they are on the right path.

“From my point of view, I hope what it does is just reaffirms to our players what it’s going to take, give them some confidence and I know I’m talking about our players but that’s what makes me feel good,” he said.

“I’ve been in footy long enough to know what is needed to win games and our players have been working so hard on a particular system and game plan and we’ve been able to implement it now for two weeks, we didn’t get a result the first week so it is hard as a coach to convince your players that it is enough to get it done longer term.

“So it was just confirming that to our players, I could see it on their faces and even chatting to them they know we are on the right track.

“So as a coach it is pleasing to get that feeling back from your players and reassurance that hey we are going in the right direction.”

Before the game Clarkson said winning against the Crows wasn’t “absolutely crucial” for the Hawks.

But Hawthorn fans will want to see something in the final three games of the season to give them some hope about the future of the struggling Hawks.

Jack Scrimshaw (22 disposals, six marks) has stepped up in the absence of James Sicily while Chad Wingard was definitely up for the fight.

But not enough in brown and gold were good enough against a Crows side who have struggled so much this season.

Clarkson said his side looked “so dead-legged” coming off a five-day break against Essendon while the Crows had a nine-day lead-up for the clash.

“Part of me wants to smack the players in a sense because god that effort seems so unacceptable but the environment we are in and what we are going through is so difficult,” he said.

“We are coming off a five-day break and they are coming off a nine day break, is that the difference? I don’t know but we looked so flat and lethargic.”

Clarkson said the Hawks’ horror 2020 after going 3-1 has “fast-tracked our views in where our next piece of silverware is going to come from”, but it wouldn’t be about Hawthorn “throwing 10 or 12 kids to the wolves”.

“Whilst we are disappointed where we are we don’t think it is a mountain to climb for us,” he said.

“When did you think the Bulldogs piece of silverware was going to come in 2015? What about Richmond? what about Hawthorn in 2006 and 2007? the game can change really quickly, the fortunes of clubs can change really quickly.

“Right now it just seems like we are a world away from that and it’s not just Hawthorn it’s a lot of clubs in the competition

“So we will continue to stick to that view that this isn’t a five, six, seven, eight-year turnaround this can happen really quickly but it just seems right at the moment that it seems a long way away for us but we will find our way.

“We just have to be really careful that in assessing where we are as a footy club that we don’t throw everything (out) and make a really bad decision because of the circumstances that we find ourselves in and the really unique challenges that we have had to confront this year.”

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