Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach (Part 2) - Full Support of the Board

[jenny61_99]

And there’s only 2 that have taken longer to make finals.
We are 5 years in..

Of a full rebuild. You keep forgetting that bit.

 

[FR0GGY]

Of a full rebuild. You keep forgetting that bit.

Not forgetting that at all, but it was his choice, basically no rebuild coaches survive.
His job is done.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Not forgetting that at all, but it was his choice, basically no rebuild coaches survive.
His job is done.

Poor Sam Mitchell & Clarko.....goneski then

Paradigms are meant to be broken

 

[FR0GGY]

Poor Sam Mitchell & Clarko.....goneski then

Paradigms are meant to be broken

Have you actually watched hawthorn?
If Clarko doesn’t have the Roos on the up of course he’s gone ski, but he also has achieved something, nicks has not.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Have you actually watched hawthorn?
If Clarko doesn’t have the Roos on the up of course he’s gone ski, but he also has achieved something, nicks has not.

You made a generic statement !!!!

 

[FR0GGY]

You made a generic statement !!!!

And you gave bad examples.
Paradigms would be broken by people doing exceedingly well, not ones well below average.

 

[George Kramer]

Poor Sam Mitchell & Clarko.....goneski then

Paradigms are meant to be broken

You’re up an about, we must have had a good win.

How are the juniors Nicks said had work to do? Or you giving him credit for timing their entry perfectly ……… after we copped injuries

 

[jenny61_99]

Not forgetting that at all, but it was his choice, basically no rebuild coaches survive.
His job is done.

You may well be right… but he has two more years to prove you wrong.

 

[FR0GGY]

You may well be right… but he has two more years to prove you wrong.

If he lasts those two years, either we are stupid or he has turned it around.
I have zero issues being wrong about him.

 

[George Kramer]

The thing that annoys me with Nicks and the Nicks brigade is their lack of awareness and acknowledgement as to how Nicks has cost us and how he’s been dragged kicking and screaming to change.

Now before you tell me we are the youngest team, well that’s a list management decision, there are literally **** all experienced players he can play that he’s hasn’t given a lot of opportunity to.

Nicks approach this year has been to play the most experienced side he can irrespective of form as he believed this is what was required to win and make finals. As the early losses accrued to his shit game plan and this selection approach he slowly introduced players, held some back stating they had stuff to work on and made the famous line “they need to learn our values”. Once finals were off the cards he’s played more kids and what do you know, our forms the best it’s been culminating with a great come from behind win against the Bombers with not only senior players missing but injured in the last.

Those of us critical of Nicks have stated this as a major flaw in his coaching all year, all we got was injury excuses, trust the coaches they know more and now? Well they’ve got the gall so say they and Nicks have been right all along.

Let’s look at some examples:

Nank plays well in his games last year, trains all preseason with the B team, he’s not considered an A team player. Introduced round 4. Plays wel against Port made sub the following week for a cooked Smith who Nicks eventually has to drop. Nank shows more poise than a number of our senior players.

Dowling, putting in good games in the SANFL. Has stuff to work on. Injury to Crouch opens the door and he’s held his spot since. Playing on the wing in not his preferred position, putting up good numbers and kicking clutch goals.

Taylor, has stuff to work on apparently the week of his debut, only gets a debut to Jones being a late out. In one quarter as sub showed he belongs and is a footballer. Stupidly is made sub again. Full games now and he clearly belongs.

Our midfield. Relied on a senior mediocre midfield mix until he couldn’t justify it any longer. Introduces Soligo, Rankine, Berry is back and now Taylor.

Backed in McHenry and Jones way too long. McHenry has to have played his last game.

We absolutely should be playing finals this year, the top 8 is far from elite or set. We’ve blown a chance and it’s 100% on Nicks. Changed our gameplan because he didn’t trust our young defence and in the process crippled our strength. Poor midfield mix. Lack of faith in the list.

 

[LoBu]

The thing that annoys me with Nicks and the Nicks brigade is their lack of awareness and acknowledgement as to how Nicks has cost us and how he’s been dragged kicking and screaming to change.

Now before you tell me we are the youngest team, well that’s a list management decision, there are literally **** all experienced players he can play that he’s hasn’t given a lot of opportunity to.

Nicks approach this year has been to play the most experienced side he can irrespective of form as he believed this is what was required to win and make finals. As the early losses accrued to his shit game plan and this selection approach he slowly introduced players, held some back stating they had stuff to work on and made the famous line “they need to learn our values”. Once finals were off the cards he’s played more kids and what do you know, our forms the best it’s been culminating with a great come from behind win against the Bombers with not only senior players missing but injured in the last.

Those of us critical of Nicks have stated this as a major flaw in his coaching all year, all we got was injury excuses, trust the coaches they know more and now? Well they’ve got the gall so say they and Nicks have been right all along.

Let’s look at some examples:

Nank plays well in his games last year, trains all preseason with the B team, he’s not considered an A team player. Introduced round 4. Plays wel against Port made sub the following week for a cooked Smith who Nicks eventually has to drop. Nank shows more poise than a number of our senior players.

Dowling, putting in good games in the SANFL. Has stuff to work on. Injury to Crouch opens the door and he’s held his spot since. Playing on the wing in not his preferred position, putting up good numbers and kicking clutch goals.

Taylor, has stuff to work on apparently the week of his debut, only gets a debut to Jones being a late out. In one quarter as sub showed he belongs and is a footballer. Stupidly is made sub again. Full games now and he clearly belongs.

Our midfield. Relied on a senior mediocre midfield mix until he couldn’t justify it any longer. Introduces Soligo, Rankine, Berry is back and now Taylor.

Backed in McHenry and Jones way too long. McHenry has to have played his last game.

We absolutely should be playing finals this year, the top 8 is far from elite or set. We’ve blown a chance and it’s 100% on Nicks. Changed our gameplan because he didn’t trust our young defence and in the process crippled our strength. Poor midfield mix. Lack of faith in the list.

Nicks' approach to winning games is not his alone. The fact is that the decision to go all in to make the finals has been a strategic approach to the club the entire rebuild. This means playing the best 22 each week, and also means rookies have to wait their turn until they get a game - no free gifts. Once they get a game (usually injury) it's up to them to cement their spot.

Exceptional players fall outside this - see Michalanny, Rachele, Soligo, Curtin, etc - all in from the start of their career or close to, based on talent and training and form.

If Crouch is seen as the better player, the policy of the club (not Nicks alone) is to play him over Dowling. This is not a secret, Nicks even said the same a couple of weeks ago when Smith was dropped.

If Nicks was put on a long term contract (knowing he can be fired in his last year), along with a club decision to play youth and take longer to build a list, we would play Dowling and delist Crouch. But we don't, we have a short term approach to making finals and getting back our 'pride as a powerful club'. I would suggest this is a key metric for the club and it's position in SA (rightly or wrongly - another discussion).

North essentially did this (even the now long term coaching role), and it's a very dangerous approach - evident by the floggings they have endured for years. Is this really a better option? North have the best young talent in the league, but still can't beat anybody above them.

I'm not arguing that Nicks isn't flawed, he is, and he's been outcoached on game days multiple times. But the strategy is not a Nicks strategy, it's a club strategy. So what has Nicks cost us? Which players have left due to lack of opportunities? Yes he's cost us a couple of games. Has he cost us 10 games of experience for each player you mention? Maybe, but again look at the alternative of North. You'd be hard pressed to argue that's a better strategy.

For the record I agree that we should have played the younger guys sooner, and hate the old one dimensional midfield. He should have played Rankine in the midfield round 1. However, I'm not as convinced that our pick 30-50 players are the answer to all our woes. We need high end talent such as Draper (and even an Oliver) to come in as clear better players and allow our high end forward line to dominate.

You're whole argument seems to be on the bottom 5 players of the team, and you ignore the gains in the forward line and defence which can catapult us forward once we sort the midfield out. Murphy, McHenry, these guys are bottom 2-3 role players in the team.

I see a team being built that the players all want to be apart of, that the young guys have taken ownership of, that is almost complete in transition from 2017/ 2020, and that is almost there in talent including top 5-7 midfielder in this years draft (finally), along with Curtin last year, Rankine in the mid, Fogarty breaking out, Thilthorpe improving, breakout players everywhere (Soligo, Michalanny, Hinge, Keane, Murray, Dawson, Nank, Rachele, Worrell) - with lots more to come.

You seem to see failure everywhere, and pin in all on the coach. You didn't mention trading and drafting, but lots of posters see issues here too, whereas I see huge Nick's era gains to where I'm comfortable that we have hardly missed for the entire era.

 

[baldandbroke]

So if your mind is made-up .....why are you throwing questions out still ?

The matter has been debated infinitum .....and your position already declared long ago, with other luminaries

If you don't know how to judge a coach ....I'm not seeing any purpose to this post, except maybe an escape plan

You're right, a footy forum in the thread about Matthew Nick's as Adelaide's coach is no place for this discussion.

Luckily we have posters like you to save us from ourselves.

If having your mind made up meant no posting in threads discussing the topic ... you'd be well short of the 123k post count Wayne.

I know how I judge a coach, I was asking others how they do it.

No escape plan needed for me - If Nicks delivers a premiership, I promise I won't pretend I ever thought he was any good.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

You're right, a footy forum in the thread about Matthew Nick's as Adelaide's coach is no place for this discussion.

Luckily we have posters like you to save us from ourselves.

If having your mind made up meant no posting in threads discussing the topic ... you'd be well short of the 123k post count Wayne.

I know how I judge a coach, I was asking others how they do it.

No escape plan needed for me - If Nicks delivers a premiership, I promise I won't pretend I ever thought he was any good.

There's only one way to judge a Coach .....has he maximised the Club's performance, given the list and fit players available to him

That's a judgement the board makes .....and over the years, the Crows have demonstrated their ability to accurately assess a list .....hence the demise of several Crows coaches

It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

There's only one way to judge a Coach .....has he maximised the Club's performance, given the list and fit players available to him

That's a judgement the board makes .....and over the years, the Crows have demonstrated their ability to accurately assess a list .....hence the demise of several Crows coaches

It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches

My personal opinion as an outsider is Nicks has not had a very good support/assistant coaching panel around him

I am not sure what your soft cop situation is, but I think the most reasonable way for the Crows going into 2025 is keep Nicks as senior coach, but basically almost have a total clean out of your assistants and try pinch a couple of highly credentialed assistants from other clubs, aka Leppitsch from Collingwood etc)

Nicks clearly should be given an ultimatum that it's finals or bust for him in 2025 with a better/stronger assistant panel and I assume a better run of injuries.

All clubs do need at least one quality assistant (ideally 2), Carlton are lucky we have Ash Hansen as part of Vossy's assistant crew.

Also adding money to your footy department/young player development and SANFL squad wouldn't hurt either I suspect.

 

[George Kramer]

There's only one way to judge a Coach .....has he maximised the Club's performance, given the list and fit players available to him

That's a judgement the board makes .....and over the years, the Crows have demonstrated their ability to accurately assess a list .....hence the demise of several Crows coaches

It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches

Except for last Friday night

Oh Wayne, of all the crap you’ve posted, then to use the board as validation, yes clubs board has provided a lot of success since 98.

 

[baldandbroke]

There's only one way to judge a Coach .....has he maximised the Club's performance, given the list and fit players available to him

That's a judgement the board makes .....and over the years, the Crows have demonstrated their ability to accurately assess a list .....hence the demise of several Crows coaches

It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches

Well seeing you are back in the “post even if your mind is made up” swing of things … I think you might find that your way of judging a coach might be different to others.

I’d almost say that you seem to have tailored your “one way” to retro fit Mr Nicks’ performance so far

So get those fingers ready and be prepared to smash that keyboard as we ask know you love to do!

 

[Soggy2112]

There's only one way to judge a Coach .....has he maximised the Club's performance, given the list and fit players available to him

That's a judgement the board makes .....and over the years, the Crows have demonstrated their ability to accurately assess a list .....hence the demise of several Crows coaches

It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches

If it was obvious the list wasn’t good enough, why was all the talk pre this year about finals being the benchmark, taking the next step, etc.

Can’t blame inexperience when you haven’t given players experience because you thought the guys you had were good enough.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

If it was obvious the list wasn’t good enough, why was all the talk pre this year about finals being the benchmark, taking the next step, etc.

Can’t blame inexperience when you haven’t given players experience because you thought the guys you had were good enough.

That's NOT what I said ....re read the post

 

[Soggy2112]

That's NOT what I said ....re read the post

“It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches”

 

[WaynesWorld19]

“It was obvious even to a novice observer, our list lacked the depth in experience to cater for the key injuries this year ......inexperienced kids won't win you matches”

So where exactly did I say the list was not good enough ......sheesh, a basic inability of people to actually read & understand

 

[George Kramer]

So where exactly did I say the list was not good enough ......sheesh, a basic inability of people to actually read & understand

Oh Wayne, if the list can’t cope with some injuries, you’re saying it’s not good enough.

Remember when you laughed at the suggestion of Dowling?

 

[Soggy2112]

So where exactly did I say the list was not good enough ......sheesh, a basic inability of people to actually read & understand

If a list can’t cope with injuries and still compete then it isn’t good enough.

Even still, who were the key players we were missing when we went 0-4?

 

[skam85]

WHY ARE WE STILL REPLYING TO THIS DRONGO

 

[George Kramer]

If a list can’t cope with injuries and still compete then it isn’t good enough.

Even still, who were the key players we were missing when we went 0-4?

And which players were Richmond missing when we lost to them at home?

 

[rabidcrow]

WHY ARE WE STILL REPLYING TO THIS DRONGO

Settle. Difference of opinion doesn’t need name calling and all caps

And like it or not - the wider footy world is not calling for Nicks sacking or suggesting such. So it’s not like Wayne’s opinion is crazy left field - the overwhelming majority of footy pundits agree with him


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