In the gun: What Crows must do to avoid Freo smacking

David King has put Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks in the gun ahead of Friday night footy.

The Crows take on the ladder leaders in Perth as they chase a top four spot and King wants to see some swift ball movement.

He believes they simply must avoid playing a slow brand of footy or they’ll be on the end of a heavy defeat to the Dockers.

“I’ve got Matty Nicks in the gun tonight, I’m having a closer look at them,” King said on SEN’s Fireball.

“If you look at the game in general play when it should be at speed - three times for the season they’ve been at or above AFL average for ball speed.

“This is the new black. It is the fashion of footy in 2026.

“So whether it’s with time or taking distance or aggression to goal, they’ve got to be better.

“The three games where they’ve been AFL average or above was a win over Sydney in Round 19, a win over Carlton in Round 5 and a two-point loss to Freo in Round 4. Those figures stack up really well.

“But across the course of the year they’re 15th for ball speed and ball movement. Nicksy was the ball movement man. He was the one that started all of this stuff.

“I think they’ve been left behind with the stand rule and now is not the time to continue on with this slow method against Freo tonight.

“They’ll get smacked if they play a slow brand of footy tonight.”

The fifth-placed Crows sit in a precarious position, 0.2 of a percentage outside the Brisbane Lions in fourth, requiring a win to force their way into the double chance positions.

A loss tonight would likely dampen their chances of a top four finish and could even see them tumble into the Wildcard slots with Geelong (7th) and Melbourne (6th) a game behind and faced with very winnable games.