The wheels are well and truly in motion at the Adelaide Crows, but not in the direction that players, coaches and fans were hoping for.
Sitting with just four wins from their first 13 games, Matthew Nicks’ side have massively underdelivered on the hopes installed in them pre-season.
And subsequently, his tenure has come under as much scrutiny as it ever has since beginning during the rebuild years in 2020.
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Many Crows fans believe Nicks is still the right man going forward at the club, with responsibility sitting more on the output of players, list managers or recruiters – but results in 2024 have forced the hand of some critics.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, Herald Sun journalist Mark Robinson laid the Crows coach’s fate bare in what is now his fifth year at the helm.
“His career is on a knife’s edge; I know he’s long-term, (but) they can’t have a complete capitulation in the second half of this year – they just can’t, he can’t afford that,” Robinson said.
“There’s individuals at that club – some we know, some we don’t – who will need to ask themselves the question (of) ‘are they the right person to be involved in that role at the club?
“He (Nicks) was in pain after the game last week – ‘we’re in a dark spot’ – that is heavy language for an AFL coach… they’ve known for quite some time, and now we all know.”
Nicks’ press conference after Adelaide’s eight-point loss to Richmond was a dire sight for viewers, with no hiding from the reality of his club’s form.
As recent history has suggested so often, the Crows have been very good at competing against the competition’s best – but have failed to take home the four points.
This season alone, they have lost to Gold Coast (six points), Collingwood (four points) and Essendon (three points) by less than a goal – without including their draw against Brisbane and recent eight-point loss to the Tigers.
How different their season could look with a few of those losses turning into wins is scary, given the closeness of this year’s competition.
“The pressure is actually greater this week than what it was last week – the Crows always lose games they should win, (they) always lose the close games, (they) don’t have the fortitude to be a strong AFL club; now they come out and have the Swans who are the best team in it,” Robinson continued.
“They don’t have to win, you just need to compete and then you can build from that.”
Fellow panellist Gerard Whateley agreed on the sentiment, and emphasised the importance of future games against GWS, Brisbane (away) and St Kilda after the mid-season break.
“Post-bye, they will need to be winning games – they’ll need to show the first half of the season’s an aberration, rather than the small rise (last year) was an aberration,” Whateley said.
“The stakes are high for a handful of clubs at the back half of the season, and they might be at the top of the list.”
“There’s blood in the water over there (in Adelaide), but we don’t know which body’s going to float to the surface just yet,” Robinson ended by saying.
Adelaide’s clash with the Swans this Saturday night begins at 7pm local time (7:30pm AEST) live on Fox Footy.