Adelaide coaches Matthew Nicks, Scott Burns learning from time with Australian cricket team
Usually in red, gold and blue, Matthew Nicks and Scott Burns swapped Adelaide colours for those of the cricket side as they watched how the world champions went about things.
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Matthew Nicks has spent the week picking the brains of one of the country’s foremost coaches, Australian cricket mentor Andrew McDonald.
The Crows coach and senior assistant Scott Burns sat in the Aussies’ box on day two of the Adelaide Test against the West Indies on Thursday.
Wearing the national side’s polo and shorts, the AFL duo talked to players and staff about the team’s plans while Australia batted, before joining McDonald on the oval when he spoke with head curator Damian Hough during the tea break.
Two days earlier, McDonald, his assistants and high-performance staff spent about three hours at West Lakes, exchanging ideas with the Crows about topics such as communication, preparation and training.
McDonald has steered Australia to success in the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup since being appointed in April 2022.
The Crows catch-ups were organised by Ashley Ross, a former New Zealand cricket coach who now worked in coaching development with Adelaide.
Ross also arranged for Nicks and Crows football boss Adam Kelly to spend a week inside New Zealand Rugby in October.
Kelly said clubs always learnt something by chatting with other people in elite sport.
“It was interesting to hear some of their thoughts on preparation, training, communication, team building and ultimately performing on game day,” Kelly said of McDonald and his assistants’ visit to West Lakes.
“And following that we were fortunate enough that Nicksy and Scott Burns were able to spend Thursday at the Test Match and in the Aussies’ box, getting to see first hand some of their philosophies and plans put into practice in real time.”
Swapping ideas with other sports has become increasingly common for AFL coaches.
Stuart Dew was embedded with the Australian cricket team ahead of the fourth Ashes Test last year, a week after Gold Coast sacked him.
North Melbourne mentor Alastair Clarkson spent time with NBA team Golden State Warriors and the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2022 once he left Hawthorn.
Four-time Warriors championship coach Steve Kerr later told this masthead Clarkson had a lot of creative ideas and thoughts that helped him during the team’s title run that season, while Clarkson said Kerr had inspired him to return to coaching.
Set to enter his fifth season in the role, Nicks is aiming to coach the Crows to the finals for the first time in 2024.
The club fell agonisingly short last year, finishing 10th.
Originally published as Adelaide coaches Matthew Nicks, Scott Burns learning from time with Australian cricket team
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