Crows coach defiant amid talk he could be next AFL coach axed

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has broken his silence amid mounting speculation that he could be sacked if his side falls to the Western Bulldogs in Saturday night’s elimination final.

Despite Nicks having a year remaining on his contract, several leading journalists reported this week that the 51-year-old’s job hinges on the upcoming clash.

Nicks faced the media on Wednesday, looking unfazed as he downplayed the external noise and emphasised the unwavering support he has received from both inside and outside the club.

“I understand the narrative - it’s part of this industry,” Nicks said during a press conference.

“It’s not something I can talk to. I can talk to what we’ve built, what we’re developing and why I’m really confident about where we sit as a footy club.

“The focus for me at the moment is footy. The belief we’ve got as a playing group and a staff off the back of 12 months’ worth of work puts us in a really good spot.

“I’ve had a lot of support in the last 24-48 hours, as I’ve had over the last seven years.

“I’ve spoken to our CEO, President, and a number of board members about where we sit as a club - at this point in time, we’re really looking forward to the challenge we’ve got on Saturday night.

“I had a lot of positive conversations about what we’re seeing.

“It’s a tough one to give insurances and 100 per cent guarantees over what happens over the next week – there’s a lot of pressure over the jobs that we have - I've always said that it's the pressure that I love.

“I feel incredibly supported by our president and CEO. I sit in a position where I feel pressure as a coach, as we all do, but that’s why we’re in the seat. I feel great.”

Shifting focus away from the AFL rumour mill, Nicks doubled down on the playing group’s belief ahead of their elimination final clash with the Bulldogs.

“We’ve spoken about it internally; our players have incredible confidence in what we’re building,” Nicks said further.

“I don’t want to comment on whether it’s (the rumours) made up or not – that I don’t know.

“What I do know is I have incredible support from the football club.

“Things change quickly, but the momentum we have as a football club is something I’m incredibly proud of.

“Where we sit as a football club, we should be incredibly proud of. I don’t want to get into the he-said-she-said.”

Nicks comments came the day after AFL legend James Hird teed off at claims the Crows would sack their coach if they lose Saturday’s match.

Nicks took the reins of a rebuilding Crows side in 2020 and took them from wooden spooners that season to a team that many believe is capable of contending for a premiership.

Adelaide won last year’s minor premiership and backed it up with a sixth placed finish this season.

However, last year’s disastrous finals campaign, in which the Crows lost two home finals to go out in straight sets, has put Nicks under extreme pressure to prove he has built a team that can deliver in the heat of September.

“I find it ridiculous, he’s won 18 games last year, 15 games this year, you actually build on a coach’s success,” Hird said on Footy Classified.

“I don’t know too many coaches who have won 18 games in a year and then 15 the next year, you actually want to build. Yes, they’ve got a very good defence, their ball movement needs to improve, but you bring new people in to actually improve that to get better year after year and build on your success rather than cross him out and go somewhere else and start again.”

Pushed on whether the Crows had a list that should be progressing beyond just qualifying for the finals series, Hird agreed, but added that “things don’t happen in a linear fashion in football”.

“He’s built a defensive profile that’s the envy of most teams in the competition. He’s overlaying that with some better ball movement as it stands at the moment. And I would expect that whether he wins or loses on the weekend ... hopefully he’s there next year and he can build on it again,” Hird said.

“But to sack a coach after 18 wins and 15 wins I just think sounds absolutely ludicrous.”

The club has been given several opportunities to put that narrative to bed but statements by the chairman and another club director only inflamed the story by using language that leaves the door open for the axe to fall.

Hird was dumbfounded that the Crows had allowed the story to develop given Nicks’ recent record.

Adelaide radio personality Graeme Goodings, who sits on the club’s board, gave a particularly ominous quote this week on FIVEaa when he asked a guest a question about what constituted a pass mark for Nicks, and it was turned back on him.

“We have every faith in the coach, and we’ll take a look at the end of the season,” he said.

“That’s the official line and that’s all you’re going to get. Basically, the future of the coach is in the players’ hands at the moment,” he then added, unwittingly throwing fuel on the fire.

“Like everyone, sometimes perhaps you’d like a take two on those things, but it certainly wasn’t emphatic, and it’s heaped the pressure all over Matthew Nicks,” Eddie McGuire said of Goodings’ comment on Nine’s Footy Classified.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has the opportunity to turn the heat up even more on Nicks when their two sides meet on Saturday night but, speaking as a guest on Footy Classified, the 2016 premiership winning coach was bemused that Nicks’ axing was a possibility.

“He’s at a point where he just thinks it’s a fait accompli that of course he’s coaching next year,” Beveridge said.

“His record speaks for itself. Yeah they lost two finals last year but they’ve really jumped out ahead of most of the competition.

“They’ve got a good opportunity, which we’re trying to take off them, on Saturday night.

“So when something like that comes up, definitely Mr Goodings, the board member, that’s the most concerning one, like internally for there to be grey in that he (Nicks) wouldn’t like that.

“His mind and heart would be straight away with his family because they’re the ones who really struggle with it.

“He’ll be fine with it. He’ll be dealing with it in the best way possible but the family, people close to him [will be thinking] what does that mean for Matthew and what does that mean for us.

“He’d be concerned about them.”

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