Matthew Nicks has assured his Adelaide Crows have moved past the controversial umpiring blunder that ensured they didn’t have a late shot on goal to beat Gold Coast last Saturday.
Plus, both Nicks and Fremantle mentor Justin Longmuir were asked if they thought they were coaching for their jobs this season.
Recap the biggest talking points from Monday night’s edition of AFL 360.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
‘I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN KARMA’: NICKS ON UMPIRE BLUNDER
A mark nor a free kick was paid to Izak Rankine in the forward pocket in the waning moments of the Crows’ one-point loss in Carrara, with the AFL since admitting it was an error in judgement by the adjudicating umpires.
But while the club’s supporters continue to lament the crucial calls gone against them in recent years, senior coach Nicks says Adelaide has completely shifted its attention.
“We’ve got to move on quickly,” Nicks told Fox Footy of his club’s mindset post-game last Saturday.
“Probably within an hour we were on a bus to Brisbane … we had already moved on. We had to get our heads around what the next challenge was, so part of that’s my job.
“Part of that is to lock in on what’s next … and let other people look after what they need to look after.”
Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers made a statement on the weekend claiming his Crows once again found themselves “faced with AFL acknowledgement of an umpiring error”, adding that “in reality, it is of no use or benefit to our club, or our players, coaches, staff, members and supporters”.
Nicks said he left the following-up to the CEO.
“I don’t get a phone call (from the AFL); I don’t expect a phone call. My job is to coach the footy team, I don’t coach the umpires,” he continued.
“I’m locked straight into what’s next, as were our players. To their credit, we haven’t spoken about it since in the footy department, but (in) our football club, people have different roles.
“Our CEO has a role where he’s got a responsibility to our football club (to make sure) we are being treated being equally, and I’m sure he went to work in that space — I don’t know, because he’s basically stood with me after the game, we were on the same page (about) ‘you go coach the team’.”
Crows moving on from umpiring error | 00:57
Asked by host Gerard Whateley specifically how incidents like those left him feeling, Nicks spoke of a confidence that at some point in the future, his Crows would have the whistle in their favour.
“I like to look at it from a point of view of there’ll be a time soon where there’s an even more important moment where we’ll get the rub of the green,” he said.
“You make your own luck, and that’s part of footy. We got a lot of things wrong on the weekend, and we were beaten by a better side … in the end, it doesn’t necessarily come down to that one moment.
“It’s stuff that I can’t affect. We all make mistakes. I strongly believe in karma — I believe that if you do the right thing, eventually (good) things will come to you.
“We’re the ones who had ourselves in that position in the first place … let’s get ourselves three or four goals in front in that moment so we don’t even have to worry about it.
“That’s how I look at it … I don’t lose myself in that (what if) space.”
Walsh backs Voss as pressure grows | 02:13
NICKS, LONGMUIR ON COACHING EXPECTATIONS
Nicks is contracted at West Lakes until the end of the 2026 season, but pressure will rise rapidly if the Crows don’t play finals this year.
Asked if he was coaching with the expectation the Crows had to play in September or he’d be in danger of losing his job, Nicks said: “Not necessarily.
“I mean, we’ve spoken about where we’d like to be, come the end of this year, but there are so many different things that can go on during the season.
“Teams … at the moment, have injuries, and they can be injuries that you can’t necessarily avoid … it’s amazing what one or two injuries can do to a side.
“We’re trying to sack coaches off the back of three or four rounds, when teams are missing players.
“Coming back to where I’m at — no, we’ve got a lot longer term than just this year.”
Unlike Nicks — and every other coach in the competition — Justin Longmuir’s contract at the Dockers was converted to an ‘ongoing employment agreement’, effectively meaning the team’s performance will dictate the security of his position.
And when posed a similar question to Nicks, Longmuir, too, referenced injuries as an important uncontrollable factor that influences team performance.
“I think we’re always coaching on that (expectation that it’s time to rise), taking steps forward in our development and progression as a team, absolutely,” he began.
“But there are things out of our control which do come into it, as ‘Nicksy’ said, and as a footy club I think we’re well aware of that.
“We’ve had a few injuries at the start of the year which have made us young … but we want to progress as a footy team, for sure.”
Discussion about this post