Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks still has the support of David King despite his side’s drubbing at the hands of Hawthorn in Round 12.
Travelling to the MCG on Saturday afternoon, the Crows found themselves 29 points down at half-time and went on to lose 16.11 (107) to 12.8 (80). Hawthorn leapfrogged Adelaide on the ladder as a result, leaving Adelaide languishing in 14th.
For a year where the Crows were expected to jump into the top eight, Adelaide sits on just four wins through 12 games.
Despite the surprise loss, King doesn’t blame Nicks given he was missing Izak Rankine to a hamstring strain and lost Taylor Walker to a back injury early in the game.
Captain Jordan Dawson also needed to pass a pre-game fitness test on a foot concern, but only managed 15 touches and appeared hampered.
“I think if you take the magic out of your team this is what you get,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“Izak Rankine is a phenomenal talent and he creates scores, so when you rip that out for a couple of weeks and Taylor Walker has a back issue again, he’s been their most productive forward for the last five years and you have a fitness test for Jordan Dawson before the game – he’s clearly not right… he’s nowhere near 100 per cent.
“So there’s your ace, king and queen. One not there, one subbed out and one clearly impacted this is what you get
“I understand people come at me hard because they think I protect Matthew Nicks – I don’t protect him at all.
“You take Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner out and give me an injury-impacted Errol Gulden and I guarantee you’ll get this kind of performance from Sydney.
“Adelaide are not immune to these sorts of problems. I thought they played with a real safety, they put the safety switch on the weekend, it was dull and it’s not them.
“They need to play with a bit of freedom, run and gun and create and for whatever reason they just didn’t. I think Nicks found it hard to explain why they didn’t.”
Rankine is still 1-2 weeks away, while the Crows are yet to give an indication of Walker or Dawson’s availability for Thursday night’s clash against Richmond.
With Adelaide now 10 points behind 8th place, the Crows can only afford a handful of losses through the rest of the season if they are to contend.
“I still endorse his coaching, I see what he is doing,” King continued on Nicks.
“Okay, you’re going to have some bumps, but they’ve come from a long way back over the last few years.
“What we saw on the weekend was pretty poor and if that remains, he’ll be in the hot seat no doubt… but when Rankine comes back, it will look a lot more aggressive than it is now.”
The Crows don’t leave Adelaide Oval for the next three weeks and have a total of seven home games remaining in 2024. They play five teams currently outside the top eight in their run home.