AFL coach’s clipboard: Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks reveals his clear vision for Tex, Sloane and Fogarty
Jordan Dawson moved from the backline to the wing at Sydney, and an even bigger move could be on the cards at Adelaide. Coach Matthew Nicks reveals his plans for 2022.
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Heading into the 2021 season Adelaide had many doubters worried about year resembling a horror film.
Though they ended the year squelching those fears taking some culture building scalps enroute to a seven win season.
The question is now, can the Crows take another big step forward in 2022?
Simeon Thomas-Wilson goes one-on-one with Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks.
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We are coming into the third year of your term at Adelaide. Are we approaching the end of the ‘rebuild’?
I think you’ll find if you speak to any football club that there is always a build. There is always room for improvement, the pinnacle is winning a flag but then you reset your goals and you want to win two. So from our point of view we will continue to build, we still have the youngest group in the competition. We’ve added more youth this year and we have lost some experience. The challenge for us is to now acquire some experience as we go as well as develop these young kids. I guess I haven’t answered it exactly as you’ve asked, only to say I don’t think you ever stop building or rebuilding your football club. There is a constant turnover of players, you are required to bring in three players through the draft each year.
Are we in a different position to Geelong? Yes we are, they are playing slightly different style to us because they have an older group. We would like to think that we don’t remain the youngest group in the competition for too much longer and we put 50 to 100 games into these guys very quickly.
When do you see or think the Crows can contend for finals again?
The famous question, the ‘f’ question. Look you are never that bad and you are never that good. That’s one of my mottos. The game can change so quickly — one year you can be winning seven games and the next you can be fighting it out. We’ve got a lot to learn and we have learnt a lot over the last two years and you do that through going through challenges, by making mistakes and you also learn by winning games. So we will keep working and I know I haven’t answered your question because I can’t tell you how good Fremantle is going to be this year. I know they are going to be working hard, as will the other teams in the comp.
So we will focus on us … and with a bit of luck and things on our side we can give it a crack.
Do you think Crows fans can continue to be patient with the group?
I think there is a level of patience but also a level of understanding. When you come out and watch our games live as a member or supporter or watch them on the TV there is a level that you expect from the group, they expect them to play in a certain style and with a certain veracity and our guys they put that out there last year. I think the competition is so even. Could we have won more games last year? Possibly. Did we sneak a couple of wins? Yes. But our challenge from here is to put out a brand that our members enjoy watching and come to the footy to support. I have no doubt that in time as we become more experienced we make critical decisions in games that will be the difference between winning and losing and I think the more footy we play the more we learn and we make the right decisions in those moments.
What part does Jordan Dawson play in this? Where do you see his best position for the Crows in 2022?
Well, Jordy is a really important part because he has experienced something similar in Sydney, some might say that they are 12 months ahead of us from a list point of view. So he brings what he has learnt from that, he is more of an experienced player on our list compared to others now, so he is going to bring that. We are expecting him and he is pushing, he has the ability to play a lot more footy on-ball. Now whether that is on a wing or that is through small stints on the ball, we will work through over the year with the rest of those guys that we are looking to move through the midfield this year. I know he is really looking forward to it.
How important was it for Adelaide that the club was able to convince him to choose the Crows?
I guess we did convince him but really we just showed him where we were at and what we are putting together. We told him of our values and we were lucky enough for him to have the opportunity to meet some of our playing group and coaching staff. There was a fair bit of work that went into showing him what we are doing at the football club. I guess when you put yourself out there like that you hope they make the decision to come to you and it is a fantastic sign for the footy club that we are heading in the right direction because Jordan has come from an outstanding culture at the Sydney Swans. So for him to make the decision to come and join us is a real positive for the footy club.
The list/recruiting team said the plan going into the draft was to add speed and power in the midfield, do you feel like you added that with the players you picked up?
Yeah I can go through them individually. Josh Rachele at pick four, it ended up being pick six in the draft, we were really pleased to be able to get him at that pick. He definitely brings that power and scoring ability that we’ve really been looking for. He has that polish in front of goals. In time we hope that he develops and becomes a really powerful midfielder, he has some attributes from different sports. He is a natural sportsmen and we’ve seen that in his early time here. At this stage I would say initially he will play forward of the ball a little more. And if you look at Jakey Soligo, well he’s a young kid who still has a fair bit of development to go but he enjoys the contest and embraces that. Zac Taylor, again a younger lad with a fair bit of work to go and building his experience and Luke Nankervis, well, there were a lot of clubs who said it was a great pick by us to get him where we got him. He loves a tackle, he loves to put his head over the ball. These guys are going to help us in the contest, it might take 12 months for them to really find their feet but we are really pleased with what we’ve added this year, that little more depth in the midfield.
With Josh, he said you might give him the arse if he pulls out the backflip celebration. Surely you will let him do it?
He can do whatever celebration he wants as long as he puts them between the big sticks. I love his passion, we all love his passion. He has come in very level headed and trains hard. He has already learnt some things from some of the senior players but there will be no question he is a competitive machine and he will be putting his name up (early on).
I hope he gets that opportunity to celebrate.
Do you feel there is a need for a tall midfielder, though? All three of the players taken in the national draft were 180cm.
That’s up for debate. We obviously brought in those guys who are around the 180cm mark and if you look at some of the best players in the game you will come up with three, four players who are 180cm or smaller — actually in fact the majority of the best players in the game are 180cm or under. But we need to balance that, you are right. We need to balance who goes through that midfield and we are looking at it. We are looking at some guys who have pinch hitted through there from time to time, whether we balance that out as we said before Jordy Dawson is one who is looking to get into the midfield and he is 191cm. It is not like we will have all 180cm guys in there at any point in time but if you give me three Rory Lairds, I can tell you we will be playing three on-ballers who are 179cm.
What sort of role do you see Matt Crouch playing in 2022 after he didn’t play an AFL game in 2021?
Matty will be an on-field leader for us and I have no doubt that he will come back from this bigger and better. He is training extremely well at the moment and his progression back into the side … it is a challenge, it is two steps forward one step back for him at the moment but he has his head down and is working really well. He will be back out there before you know it and talking to him he is feeling really good at the moment and he is confident of making a full recovery.
Is Rory Sloane a full-time midfielder in 2022? He was moved around a little bit during the season, what’s his best position for the Crows now?
We’ve had brief conversations around that. His experience in there is really important for us. He is the one that steps up and understands structure, understands what needs to be done at crucial times in games. We would like to think his experience we keep that around the footy as much as we can. But in saying that, he is really open to giving the younger guys an opportunity. Sam Berry has returned to pre-season in outstanding condition and we saw Harry Schoenberg take his game to a whole different level last season. At some point we want to give these guys a run through the midfield and that may mean that Sloaney, who has a number of attributes such as marking and kicking goals, may become a really good asset for us working across half forward and pinching on ball. So we will see how that works out.
Jordon Butts claimed the key defender post as his own in 2021, who joins him there in 2022? Do you feel like you have the height in the backline required?
Buttsy has come back in amazing nick, not a lot of people are beating him at the moment which is a great sign. He had an outstanding year in a young side that was under pressure a lot. He stood up. Tom Doedee plays tall, we would prefer him being the third (tall) and being able to play on a mix of talls and smalls. Towards the end of the season Nick Murray was the one who stood up down back for us. He’s very raw and is still learning his craft but at the same time he is an outstanding worker, he leaves nothing to chance. So I would expect him to step up. Billy Frampton also played some great footy, Fischer McAsey has gotten a good off-season under his belt and we’d expect him to challenge for spots as well. Butts will be our pillar and I guess it depends on who we are playing if we go with two talls or three, we are seeing right across the league at the moment that some teams are playing with a smaller backline. So we will see how that plays out.
Which younger player will benefit from Jake Kelly leaving for Essendon?
Well Jake was a very important player for us. Jake rarely got beaten and we will need someone to step up for that opportunity. I know they will. Mitch Hinge is another player who can play both tall and small and has a beautiful left foot so he will put his name in the ring.
It will also depend on where some of the new guys play as well. Does Jordan Dawson play on a wing or across half back?
Do you still see Taylor Walker as the leader of the Crows forward line. What’s his role for the club in 2022?
You can’t take the leader out of him and he is an outstanding leader. Especially when it comes to what he does on the footy field and his communication. He has a young forward line out there with him. So we will need him to be the leader he is and I don’t think Tex knows another way to be honest. He’s a former captain of the club so by know means he will not stop leading.
Was there a moment where you realised or knew he could be integrated back into the group successfully or did you never doubt this?
I’d be lying if there were no doubts there but I was confident. We had been communicating throughout and what we were working on with the playing group there weren’t a lot of moments where I did doubt that he would be back playing footy. I was confident that he was doing the work and the playing group was working their way through what was a really difficult situation. But they did a really good job of it. This is a guy who has been back and training since day one of pre-season and leading as you said before. I know he has embraced it and he is looking forward to it. Unfortunately we won’t see him for the first three weeks of the season but I know he will be leading off the field in those weeks and he will be ready to go when his time is right.
What do you see as Darcy Fogarty’s best position?
I think we know Darcy — when Darcy has the footy in his hands he is one of the greatest decision makers. He is very polished and we want the ball in his hands more. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he should be in the midfield as we tried last season, I’m not going to say we won’t look at that again because I think he has the ability. He has had a great off-season, he is moving really well and he will only get fitter and fitter as he matures. But we love what he does in front of goal, he doesn’t miss all that often when given the opportunity. So we just need to deliver him the ball, and as a team that’s part of us playing our best footy.
So I think you will find he will play more forward of the ball this season. But at the same time when a player is not able to inject themselves into the game I do love the opportunity with a Darcy Fogarty of him being able to throw his body around on the ball and seeing if he can spark the game for us.
You’ve worked with Darren Burgess before, what does he bring to the Crows and what are the early impacts that you’ve seen?
Apart from some nervousness from some of the players prior to him arriving I would say a wealth of knowledge. Darren has been there and done it at the highest levels across the world.
I think it is going to be great … it will take some time for Darren to sit down with some of our players and give them some of his knowledge that he has built up over the years. He has also spoken to our coaching group about some of the things he has seen and noticed. He is coming off a team that won the premiership so he is able to bring some of that IP and some of what they were able to do really well as a group and do a comparison of them and where we are.
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