Matthew Nicks believes his club as a whole is “on the same page” in reference to where they sit in comparison to the rest of the league.
Adelaide recorded a miracle win on Friday night, coming from behind to topple Port Adelaide as Jordan Dawson kicked a goal after the siren to win the game.
It capped off a heavy week for Nicks and his Crows, who had been battered by critics after their disappointing loss to Collingwood the week prior.
One of those critics was Adelaide footy director Mark Ricciuto, who suggested the Crows couldn’t get worse than the performances in their first two games.
“There’s a lot of talk about Port Adelaide at the moment, but I tell you what, the Crows have been just as bad, they’ve been underachieving,” Ricciuto told Triple M in South Australia.
“They can’t kick, they can’t handball, they can’t kick at goal, they’re giving away free kicks, they really can’t do anything worse.”
When discussing the comments, former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson admitted it’s a tough situation for Nicks to navigate, given Ricciuto’s standing in Adelaide.
However, he suggested it would have been preferable if those conversations were kept private.
“It’s a tough one because Mark Ricciuto is the football director, he sits on the board and ultimately he makes most of the decisions at the Adelaide football club,” Sanderson told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He has a role in the media, he's very passionate about the Crows, obviously he’s a superstar player… you can’t help but absorb information that goes public, which ultimately you would prefer to be private.
“But that’s just the way that it is in Adelaide and that’s the way it’s been for a long time and you just get on with it unfortunately.
“But you’d prefer those conversations to be private, and I'm sure Matty Nicks would agree with that.”
Sanderson added that situations such as this are “part and parcel” of footy in South Australia, such is the media bubble on the two sides.
“It’s just the way that life rolls (in Adelaide), it’s just the way that it is,” he continued.
“It’s part and parcel of being involved with the Adelaide football club. All the stories in Adelaide are about the Crows and Port Adelaide…
“Roo (Ricciuto) has a responsibility to be able to report on stories from the Adelaide Crows, but he is the football director, so sometimes you’d prefer those conversations are private.
“But ultimately, they’re public, which is fine, that’s just the way things are in Adelaide.”
Ricciuto's comments may have sparked Adelaide’s remarkable performance on Friday night, but Crows midfielder Matt Crouch admitted the comments were “not great” at the time.
In discussing the criticism of his team, Nicks refused to be drawn into showing any dissent towards Ricciuto.
However, he reiterated that key figures at the club were comfortable with where the club was at, adding he knew the side was capable of “flicking the switch”.
“I won’t make a comment about that (Ricciuto comments) either because it’s not really an area of concern for me,” Nicks said.
“We are all on the same page… I talk with all our key stakeholders and we’re on the same page about where we’re at. We’re in a rebuild now, we’re working with a really, really young squad and there are challenges that come with that.
“We had that conversation as a playing group, we’re not executing by hand and foot, and the reason we’re not doing that is not because we can’t, but because we’re not doing a lot of other areas (well)…
“We knew we could change that in a week, we know that mindset and ability to play your role is not something that takes a long time to change, we’ve trained it too much for us not to be able to flick the switch.”
Adelaide takes on Essendon in Round 4, Nicks’ men a good chance to even the ledger at 2-2 given the Bombers’ winless start to the season.
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