Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media on Wednesday
Adelaide Senior Coach Matthew Nicks says his side will be doing everything to break its MCG hoodoo, ahead of its Round 12 clash against Hawthorn.
The Crows have not claimed a victory at the venue since 2017 and speaking to the media on Wednesday, Nicks said Adelaide was keen to end its sour patch at the MCG.
“We are playing at a venue that we haven’t had the best record at,” Nicks said.
“We love playing there but we haven’t had an outcome that we are pleased with.
“We are really keen to go over there and give it our best crack.
“We have a lot of belief out of last week, we’ve had a block of around seven games where we feel our footy has been played at a pretty good standard, we again haven’t got the results that we are after throughout that.”
Nicks said limiting the impact of Hawthorn’s on-ballers at the contest would be key to beating the Hawks on their home deck.
“They are a very good contested side, it starts in their midfield, they are as good as any in there, they’ve got some real bulls that love attacking the footy,” Nicks said.
“If you look at data and statistics, the ground ball for them is extremely strong, we are going to have our work cut out for us, we know that.
“We are coming up against a team last week that was coming off some pretty good form against Melbourne, Hawthorn has a real block of form, so we are going to have a big challenge.”
The Crows will enter the match off the back of a 99-point win over West Coast, and Skipper Jordan Dawson led the way with 32 disposals and two goals.
Nicks lauded Dawson’s on field leadership and his ability to step up when the team needed him.
“A lot of people can be put in leadership positions and it doesn’t make them stronger,” Nicks said.
“He is one that grits the teeth and wants to go harder and wants to get out in front and lead by example, especially on the field.
“He is an outstanding leader off the field but when he gets on a footy field he just says follow me
“I think that is why he has been so impressive, when we need him in games he has been able to step up.”
Following the return of Harry Schoenberg to the AFL side last week, the Crows will also welcome back another from a long-term injury, with Nick Murray returning through the SANFL this weekend.
Murray will be making his long-awaited return from a knee reconstruction after rupturing his ACL in Round 19 last year.
“It is a credit to our high-performance crew, we know they are high-end,” Nicks said.
“We saw Schoenberg come back on the weekend in fantastic condition, didn’t miss a beat, I thought he looked clean and sharp, but physically was ready to go at AFL level.
“He’s (Murray) done all the work, you can’t question the way he has gone about his rehabilitation.
“We look forward to seeing him comeback, he’ll play at SANFL level and hopefully we can enjoy that Monday and then start to plan when does he get a look at AFL level.”
Adelaide takes on Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday 1.15pm (ACST).