Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach

[Ramify]

I’d love to know what we did over the pre-season. Our basic skills and structures seemed to have relapsed massively compared to the end of last season. I’m hoping it was the late covid that went through most of the list…..but that seems to be a pretty poor excuse.

I live interstate so I don’t attend many games, but I did manage to go to the Freo game last week and sat directly behind the goals. I found what our players did with out the ball just as poor as what we did with it.

For example , our forward structure seemed very poor. All 3 key forwards would stand next to their opponent with an arm in the air asking for the ball. Absolutely no movement, no leading to create space, no blocking for each other and barely any movement what so ever. Now all of Fog,TT and Berg have their limitations but there is no reason they can’t do these basic things. Berg and TT are suppose to have good endurance for big guys, so it has to be instruction. That’s just the forwards, there’s probably example’s of this over the whole ground. Maybe I’ve been out of footy to long and that’s how everyone does it these days .

This has been our preferred forward structure/leading pattern for near on a decade now.
The trickiest we ever got was to push Jenkins up to half forward dragging a KPD with him opening up space for his goose step.

For a long time I blamed our Fwd line and line coaches for this. Then I switched focus to our midfield delivery and it all started to make sense.
Forget the fwd line and start getting players with decent foot skills into the middle. Right now, we have maybe 1 player I'd consider to have decent foot skills. None elite.

 

[Jamezy88]

This has been our preferred forward structure/leading pattern for near on a decade now.
The trickiest we ever got was to push Jenkins up to half forward dragging a KPD with him opening up space for his goose step.

For a long time I blamed our Fwd line and line coaches for this. Then I switched focus to our midfield delivery and it all started to make sense.
Forget the fwd line and start getting players with decent foot skills into the middle. Right now, we have maybe 1 player I'd consider to have decent foot skills. None elite.

It’s a bit of both I think. Plenty of times a player down field would get the ball look up see and stagnant forward line and proceed to chip sidesways,run around in circles or just bomb it to no one in particular. No doubt we have a lot of average balls users atm, but the structure ahead of the ball was still very poor.

 

[skittlebrew]

This is ******* horrific

I’ll say it again Robert Shaw 2.0

Nick's rebuild free pass has probably expired now and the pressure is on to move up the ladder. Wouldn't be surprised if he has gotten cold feet and reverted to backing in the old dogs to try and get a win rather than pumping games into youngsters.

Apart from the second half of the first game I question where is our defensive pressure? Even if you don't have the offensive firepower it's something even the worse list is still capable of - and I thought we showed plenty the last half of 2021.

 

[MRB37]

Nick's rebuild free pass has probably expired now and the pressure is on to move up the ladder. Wouldn't be surprised if he has gotten cold feet and reverted to backing in the old dogs to try and get a win rather than pumping games into youngsters.

Apart from the second half of the first game I question where is our defensive pressure? Even if you don't have the offensive firepower it's something even the worse list is still capable of - and I thought we showed plenty the last half of 2021.

This is maybe the unfortunate side effect of having board members declare the rebuild is over and finals have to be back on the agenda.

Same thing Pyke did where he backed in the 2017 22 in '19 as a desperate attempt to scrape into the finals.

 

[1990crow]

How many times in the past 20 years does a 4 times premiership coach who wants to coach again hit the market?

If the season goes as it is looking.. have to consider paying Nick's out and getting Clarko.

 

[MrBarry]

How many times in the past 20 years does a 4 times premiership coach who wants to coach again hit the market?

If the season goes as it is looking.. have to consider paying Nick's out and getting Clarko.

Is Clarkson up for a rebuild though? That's the main question.

The club under any circumstances cannot allow him to go to port Adelaide. If he a bidding war breaks out between us and them we have to win that.

 

[Geoffa32]

Buckley is only available for Vic based clubs, so he is not available to us...

Teague, I'm not sure you are serious but he was a massive failure with a list that was ready to play finals

Clarkson, as long as the entire club is align with Clarko, he does not believe in the draft no matter where your clubs list is at.... he preferes the knows over unknowns

2022 hasn't been a great start for the coaching group, the team needs to show improvement again this year, we must play finals in 2023

We keep hearing the players are engaged and have done the work, well let's see it on game day

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Can we bring Teague back as forwards coach?

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Jcpdragonx]

Our list is one of the worst in the league, we've butchered majority of our first rounders the past few years and starting to pay for it. Aside from TT (who has issues at the moment) Rachele is already better than the lot of them combined since 2017. Our KPFs are in shambles at the moment, Butts and Murray didn't even make the national draft and theyre already integral to our structure. Laird is also our most important midfielder who is out.

He's not perfect but Nicks has done a lot right over the past two years (just stop playing Sloane midfield though please). This place was a toxic mess and the culture has improved. We capitulated at the end of the Pyke era starting to competitive late in year 1 and in year 2 for Nicks. Its still early and Collingwood should be good this year, have quite a few more damaging players than us. This is going to be a very long rebuild when you break down the list and where we are at.

 

[Geoffa32]

Clarko will coach the Tassie team.

Build the club from the ground up.


On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[relapse]

He's done more than that. He's been the key driver behind a culture change and the recent good retention of our players.

He has also had a tough time given covid, the mess our club was in and having to rebuild. I can understand why they gave him the extension, it sends a message to the players we have confidence in our direction and you should too.

We do need to see what he can achieve with a team thats not a basket case and unfortunately thats going to be a few years away given the state of our list thanks to shit recruiting and retention. The person that needs to be held to account that hasnt yet is Hamish.

Having said all that, Nicks can sort his selections out, his dumb game plan and our midfield set up now.

Who of note have we retained?

Changing the culture etc are normally buzz words that clubs use to justify a lack of success. The club can bang on all they want about "changing the culture" etc, but at some point the measure of success has to be about winning games and developing players.

Let's be honest, we've started 2022 looking like the worst team in the AFL and looking ahead at our draw there's a real concern that we might end up 0-8. We seem to lack a game plan and have a group of younger players who are yet to really put a foot forward.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong, but it's starting to feel like Matthew Nicks could be the new Matthew Primus.

Given that we've just re-signed him we're stuck with Nicks for the foreseeable future. For me I would be willing to give him until the end of 2023, but if we're just as garbage next year with no real sign that our younger players are developing then the club needs to move Nicks on and find someone else.

 

[1990crow]

Who of note have we retained?

Changing the culture etc are normally buzz words that club's use to justify a lack of success. The club can bang on all they want about "changing the culture" etc, but at some point the measure of success has to be about winning games and developing players.

Let's be honest, we've started 2022 looking like the worst team in the AFL and looking ahead at our draw there's a real concern that we might end up 0-8. We seem to lack a game plan and have a group of younger players who are yet to really put a foot forward.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong, but it's starting to feel like Matthew Nicks could be the new Matthew Primus.

We will just to wait and see if the first two rounds form is temporary or permanent.
I fear it's permanent though having watched some of the poorer teams play, they've improved - GC, Collingwood, Hawthorn, North.
If we finish last I actually think the club will be harsh.
But the truth is we don't have the cattle. Nicks isn't playing the youth he has (Berry, Thilthorpe, Worrell, McAsey, Hamill) but overall until we have the elite talent you need to win a flag no coach is going to do well.

If we finish last with 2-3 wins, and given our performance since 2017 the club would be within its rights to ask for a priority pick.

 

[Milo Cyrus]

No plan, no scheme just confusion

Robert Shaw 2.0

Robert Shaw had a better win/loss ratio didn't he?
Nicks 24.4%
Shaw 38.6%

Crows game plan is a hot steaming mess.
One the fans will enjoy, our DNA, yada yada yada.
The end can't come soon enough.

 

[relapse]

Robert Shaw had a better win/loss ratio didn't he?
Nicks 24.4%
Shaw 38.6%

Crows game plan is a hot steaming mess.
One the fans will enjoy, our DNA, yada yada yada.
The end can't come soon enough.

Here is a more accurate and somewhat scary comparison

Matthew Primus 47 games coached

13 wins, 34 losses 27.66%

Matthew Nicks 41 games coached

10 wins, 31 losses 24.39%

If you look at our draw ahead for the next six games there's a good chance that Nicks' winning percentage will be 21.2% after 47 games

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Here is a more accurate comparison

Matthew Primus 47 games coached

13 wins, 34 losses 27.66%

Matthew Nicks 41 games coached

10 wins, 31 losses 24.39%

If you look at our draw ahead for the next six games there's a good chance that Nicks' winning percentage will be 21.2% after 47 games

How many Kade Simpsons are we going to create?

 

[Jinglebells32]

This is ******* horrific

I’ll say it again Robert Shaw 2.0

won't be the last we see of Rachele in there I hope. Looked great

 

[GROTTO]

Who of note have we retained?

Changing the culture etc are normally buzz words that clubs use to justify a lack of success. The club can bang on all they want about "changing the culture" etc, but at some point the measure of success has to be about winning games and developing players.

Let's be honest, we've started 2022 looking like the worst team in the AFL and looking ahead at our draw there's a real concern that we might end up 0-8. We seem to lack a game plan and have a group of younger players who are yet to really put a foot forward.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong, but it's starting to feel like Matthew Nicks could be the new Matthew Primus.

Given that we've just re-signed him we're stuck with Nicks for the foreseeable future. For me I would be willing to give him until the end of 2023, but if we're just as garbage next year with no real sign that our younger players are developing then the club needs to move Nicks on and find someone else.

In fairness to Nicks though, look at this garbage.

How many if any of these players could literally walk into a Top side in the AFL?

If you say one and its Rachele, we are looking at least another 5 years of rebuilding. We literary have no elite talent whatsover.

 

[GreyCrow]

This has been our preferred forward structure/leading pattern for near on a decade now.
The trickiest we ever got was to push Jenkins up to half forward dragging a KPD with him opening up space for his goose step.

For a long time I blamed our Fwd line and line coaches for this. Then I switched focus to our midfield delivery and it all started to make sense.
Forget the fwd line and start getting players with decent foot skills into the middle. Right now, we have maybe 1 player I'd consider to have decent foot skills. None elite.

Which is why I liked Matty Roberts from South. I do like what Rachele brings and look forward to a great career.

But to have another long raking kick with spot ups would have been nice



To see in 2024 when he gets a go

 

[George Kramer]

Which is why I liked Matty Roberts from South. I do like what Rachele brings and look forward to a great career.

But to have another long raking kick with spot ups would have been nice



To see in 2024 when he gets a go

Who is he playing for an is he getting a game?

 

[Clayton Lamb]

Who is he playing for an is he getting a game?

Sydney

Matty Roberts | AFL

Follow Matty Roberts's progress through AFL

www.sydneyswans.com.au

 

[Mutineer]

Which is why I liked Matty Roberts from South. I do like what Rachele brings and look forward to a great career.

But to have another long raking kick with spot ups would have been nice



To see in 2024 when he gets a go

Roberts had a handy start for the Swans VFL against Footscray in his first game 25 disposals 15 kicks, 10 hb's, 6 Marks, 4 tackles.

 

[Sanders]

All Nicks has really done as a coach thus far is blow up the list.

That was the easy part, pretty much any coach could have done that.

Exactly!

 

[Sanders]

We do need to see what he can achieve with a team thats not a basket case and unfortunately thats going to be a few years away given the state of our list thanks to shit recruiting and retention.

Zero chance he gets that unless he shows he can devise and implement an effective game plan that the players understand, buy-into and execute on game day

We’ve had 5 months to drill his scheme into the players and they look lost and confused

He needs to turn things around and show he can be builder. Otherwise it’s curtains

Let’s not forget he got appointed with a fairly bland CV that inspired confidence in no one when he was appointed.

He was far from a sure thing, and he has started very badly into year 3.

 

[FR0GGY]

Zero chance he gets that unless he shows he can devise and implement an effective game plan that the players understand, buy-into and execute on game day

We’ve had 5 months to drill his scheme into the players and they look lost and confused

He needs to turn things around and show he can be builder. Otherwise it’s curtains

Let’s not forget he got appointed with a fairly bland CV that inspired confidence in no one when he was appointed.

He was far from a sure thing, and he has started very badly into year 3.

What was he doing last year?

 

[skam85]

In fairness to Nicks though, look at this garbage.

How many if any of these players could literally walk into a Top side in the AFL?

If you say one and its Rachele, we are looking at least another 5 years of rebuilding. We literary have no elite talent whatsover.


View attachment 1357307

Yeah only Dude and Rachele of that list. Possibly RT.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I'm already resigned to the fact we're going to need a new coach. I'm just praying the club can get out of his extension with a discount on account of him not meeting performance criteria.