Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Maybe there is no combination of players within our current list to rebuild successfully with?

Mistakes carry on down the line. Previous errors (contracting, selection, list management, drafting, draft sanctions, some poor trades) means that our senior core is thin.

Even good players like Smith, Laird and Brown don't scream leadership to me. They don't appear to be marshalling the troops on game day or stepping up at crunch times.

Our senior players need to be surrounded by mid-range 6 out 10 contributors right down to Spot 22 on the team sheet. They aren't good enough to carry a group of inconsistent younger players.

And our kids need to be surrounded by a quality senior core to show them the way, set standards, bring them into the game and so that they can rise to their level.

Neither group is getting what they need from the other.

We keep having draft "misses" because the players aren't in an environment that gets the best out of them or sees them improve significantly.

Our senior players look like they're dropping off a cliff or not contributing because they need to be elite level players to carry the younger brigade, and they're not.

Maybe we just don't have the pieces to rebuild with?

How do we get out of it...? Stay tuned for Part 2

 

[MrBarry]

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.


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It's really damning when you look at that, 2020 and 2021 look OK, I personally think the jury is still out on Fog - but jesus the rest of them are shocking. McAsey looks like he might never even play a game for us again.

 

[FR0GGY]

Maybe there is no combination of players within our current list to rebuild successfully with?

Mistakes carry on down the line. Previous errors (contracting, selection, list management, drafting, draft sanctions, some poor trades) means that our senior core is thin.

Even good players like Smith, Laird and Brown don't scream leadership to me. They don't appear to be marshalling the troops on game day or stepping up at crunch times.

Our senior players need to be surrounded by mid-range 6 out 10 contributors right down to Spot 22 on the team sheet. They aren't good enough to carry a group of inconsistent younger players.

And our kids need to be surrounded by a quality senior core to show them the way, set standards, bring them into the game and so that they can rise to their level.

Neither group is getting what they need from the other.

We keep having draft "misses" because the players aren't in an environment that gets the best out of them or sees them improve significantly.

Our senior players look like they're dropping off a cliff or not contributing because they need to be elite level players to carry the younger brigade, and they're not.

Maybe we just don't have the pieces to rebuild with?

How do we get out of it...? Stay tuned for Part 2

The combination is probably the new recruits being the elder statesmen of a group contending in 8-10 years.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

The combination is probably the new recruits being the elder statesmen of a group contending in 8-10 years.

But will they develop as we want (need) them to in the current environment?

Or will they go the way of Gallucci, Poholke... and the way some others are trending?

 

[Sanders]

What was he doing last year?

Haha. Fair point. I meant they’ve had 5 months of offseason to do the homework and preparation that isn’t possible during the season.

5 months to refine, tune and implement further the game plan

And we came out barely knowing which way was up

 

[skam85]

Isn't there some 6 month AFL clause for all coaches now?

 

[FR0GGY]

But will they develop as we want (need) them to in the current environment?

Or will they go the way of Gallucci, Poholke... and the way some others are trending?

Well Rachele has already shown more than either of those two combined.
If thilthorpe and Rachele go the way of those other two, then it’s definitely time to blow the place up.

 

[Sanders]

Just looking at the beginning of this thread, the enthusiasm was decidedly tepid. No excitement at all

Which is fine, but he doesn’t have all the capital banked to see out a regression in 2022

Was also surprised to see I was one of the very few to actually vote that we’ll regret this. I didn’t recall this at all, I thought I only just jumped off.

 

[Sanders]

Isn't there some 6 month AFL clause for all coaches now?

Only for those receiving AFL assistance packages

 

[rocket18]

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.

Last year he played every senior player in every game - even when they were injured and clearly hampered by their injuries.

It is a fallacy that Nicks chose to play youngsters over senior players - it never happened last year.

List management forced his hand to play the youngsters as we cut so many older players but he has always "backed in the old dogs" - especially the midfielders where he refuses to give our recruited mids a go in the midfield, not shoehorned into the forward pocket.

 

[relapse]

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.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Nicks was a Hobson's choice appointment.

It was clear at the time that there was a lack of quality applicants, maybe Nicks was viewed as the best of a bad bunch?

 

[GrommoT]

Last year he played every senior player in every game - even when they were injured and clearly hampered by their injuries.

It is a fallacy that Nicks chose to play youngsters over senior players - it never happened last year.

List management forced his hand to play the youngsters as we cut so many older players but he has always "backed in the old dogs" - especially the midfielders where he refuses to give our recruited mids a go in the midfield, not shoehorned into the forward pocket.

There have been a large number of complaints that we're still playing Laird/Crouch/Keays/Sloane in the midfield too much and not giving time to our next gen but hardly any seem to consider whether the next gen (besides Schoeny) have the tank yet to play out a full game competitively.

If we don't pick our strongest (or near strongest) line up each week, we risk the AFL charging us with deliberate tanking.

The fact we have already cut deeply into our list of seasoned players is by our own doing and any further weakening of our gameday lineups makes me nervous wondering if the AFL is going to cane us.

IMO when our next gen of mids have built the tank and strength to play out a full game without conking out after 2 or 3 quarters, they will start to take over more midfield minutes.

 

[Sanders]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Nicks was a Hobson's choice appointment.

It was clear at the time that there was a lack of quality applicants, maybe Nicks was viewed as the best of a bad bunch?

There weren’t great names lining up. Adam Yze was the other finalist wasn’t he?

I think we just prioritised a nice guy, because we thought that was needed to detoxify the place.

Turns out we also needed someone who could footy a bit

 

[Klug]

There have been a large number of complaints that we're still playing Laird/Crouch/Keays/Sloane in the midfield too much and not giving time to our next gen but hardly any seem to consider whether the next gen (besides Schoeny) have the tank yet to play out a full game competitively.

If we don't pick our strongest (or near strongest) line up each week, we risk the AFL charging us with deliberate tanking.

The fact we have already cut deeply into our list of seasoned players is by our own doing and any further weakening of our gameday lineups makes me nervous wondering if the AFL is going to cane us.

IMO when our next gen of mids have built the tank and strength to play out a full game without conking out after 2 or 3 quarters, they will start to take over more midfield minutes.

The issue is the young guys are not getting the minutes in there before they "conk out".

Fair enough, they may not have the fitness to run through the middle for the whole game, so give them more time in there the first halves when they do have their energy.

Especially if the current setup is clearly not working, you need to change something!

 

[craig crowing]

Another poor year which certainly looks likely then someone has to be replaced either Nicks or Hamish or both as simply not happening .
What is worse.
Hamish
The very poor high draft selections where no proved selections yet -- Rachele and RT look promising and Doedee has it but just not consistent or enough games.
Nicks
Our skills are diabolical and game plan very poor or very confusing as no structure or systyem in our game.

 

[GrommoT]

...
Fair enough, they may not have the fitness to run through the middle for the whole game, so give them more time in there the first halves when they do have their energy.
...

I imagine we're trying to do that as much as we can get away with. Against the Pies we had Pedlar, Gollant and Cook in - 3 players who may not have the tank/strength yet to be fully AFL ready.

 

[Thetrader15]

I imagine we're trying to do that as much as we can get away with. Against the Pies we had Pedlar, Gollant and Cook in - 3 players who may not have the tank/strength yet to be fully AFL ready.

None of those got a CBA though.

We could have had Pedlar, Rachelle, Cook and McHenry in for 5mins each one quarter.

They wouldn't have done any worse!

 

[MrBarry]

There have been a large number of complaints that we're still playing Laird/Crouch/Keays/Sloane in the midfield too much and not giving time to our next gen but hardly any seem to consider whether the next gen (besides Schoeny) have the tank yet to play out a full game competitively.

If we don't pick our strongest (or near strongest) line up each week, we risk the AFL charging us with deliberate tanking.

The fact we have already cut deeply into our list of seasoned players is by our own doing and any further weakening of our gameday lineups makes me nervous wondering if the AFL is going to cane us.

IMO when our next gen of mids have built the tank and strength to play out a full game without conking out after 2 or 3 quarters, they will start to take over more midfield minutes.

That sounds like a cop out and overly paranoid.

Theres a difference between deliberatley losing and making sure you are developing a list of players. Just because Sloane is in the team for instance, doesn't mean we need to put him in the midfield for 85% of the game.

 

[jackster83]

Another poor year which certainly looks likely then someone has to be replaced either Nicks or Hamish or both as simply not happening .
What is worse.
Hamish
The very poor high draft selections where no proved selections yet -- Rachele and RT look promising and Doedee has it but just not consistent or enough games.
Nicks
Our skills are diabolical and game plan very poor or very confusing as no structure or systyem in our game.

What happened to our run and handball game from last year?

It looked good when it worked. Granted some idiot further down the chain would either drop a mark or miss a 5m handball, but still it looked like a decent way to go about things.

 

[Milo Cyrus]

What happened to our run and handball game from last year?

It looked good when it worked. Granted some idiot further down the chain would either drop a mark or miss a 5m handball, but still it looked like a decent way to go about things.

No Seed.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

What happened to our run and handball game from last year?

It looked good when it worked. Granted some idiot further down the chain would either drop a mark or miss a 5m handball, but still it looked like a decent way to go about things.

It's been noticeable that the good teams increasingly are doing this.

Fast ball movement with run and handball. Clean takes, quick gives. Able to move the ball through congestion with high skill level.

Unpredictable for defenders. They don't know when the kick is coming or from who.

 

[relapse]

There weren’t great names lining up. Adam Yze was the other finalist wasn’t he?

I think we just prioritised a nice guy, because we thought that was needed to detoxify the place.

Turns out we also needed someone who could footy a bit

From memory didn't Yze withdraw?

The worry for me is the constant messaging about Nicks "fixing the culture", it's been constantly been trotted out to justify his poor record so far. He's now into his third year, at some point the measure has to start being about results and what is being delivered on the field.

If we look at Hardwick who arrived when Richmond were a basket case, he took them from rock bottom to the finals in his 4th year.

I don't think it's unreasonable to have a similar expectation for Nicks and to use it as a pass mark.

 

[Mutineer]

No Seed.

Replaced more than adequately by Jordan Dawson's inclusion.

 

[Scorpus]

From memory didn't Yze withdraw?

The worry for me is the constant messaging about Nicks "fixing the culture", it's been constantly been trotted out to justify his poor record so far. He's now into his third year, at some point the measure has to start being about results and what is being delivered on the field.

If we look at Hardwick who arrived when Richmond were a basket case, he took them from rock bottom to the finals in his 4th year.

I don't think it's unreasonable to have a similar expectation for Nicks and to use it as a pass mark.

Richmond didn't make finals in the 8 years before Hardwick began and managed to amass an okay list with a lot of top talent

Cotchin, Riewoldt and Edwards all had 40-70 games under their belts and they had Rance, Houli, Martin, and Astbury as 20 gamers. Plus they were supported at the top by Newman and Deledio

Their list was in a better position than when Nicks took over our team. We had a cooked senior core of which most aren't playing any more and our promising players were lucky to have scraped together 20 games (Fogarty on 14, Doedee on 21, Jones on 8, Schoenberg on 0, McAsey on 0, Butts on 0)

Hardwick basically took over a team that was 60-70% rebuilt, we had barely begun

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Nicks was a Hobson's choice appointment.

It was clear at the time that there was a lack of quality applicants, maybe Nicks was viewed as the best of a bad bunch?

We definitely waited too long in the year to make that appointment.

I wonder if the club regrets not rating Voss higher. I know I do. For years I thought he was crap, mainly because of his stint at Brisbane and how when he took over from Walsh at Port, they immediately took a step backwards.