Why Nicks had no use for ‘yelling and screaming’ at QT

Matthew Nicks celebrates Adelaide’s win during round 21, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

THE HOME crowd advantage helped Adelaide clinch its 15th win of the season, according to coach Matthew Nicks.

In a game that swung wildly back and forth, the Crows turned a 26-point quarter time deficit into a 14-point win in front of a deafening 50,654 people at Adelaide Oval.

CROWS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

“I’m not sure we’re winning this one if it wasn’t at home,” Nicks said following the win.

Where the crowd was raucous, Nicks was the opposite as he went into the quarter time huddle with his side having given up the first five goals of the match and sitting on its heels.

“We trust our playing group completely, because it’s been years of work. They trust us, so in that moment, there’s no need for yelling and screaming,” Nicks said.

“You go back three or four years, you’ll probably find me yelling and screaming at a quarter time break. I look back on that, I think that’s me not necessarily trusting that we’re all on the same page, and maybe then we weren’t. It took us to time to get to that and show that maturity.

“But tonight, it was calm. (It) was ‘take a breath, come together’, led by our captain, which is incredible… So, pleasing.”

Despite conceding two runs of five consecutive Hawks goals, taking advantage of the huge momentum swings was something that Adelaide was simply able to do better across the four quarters, kicking eight goals straight between the end of the first quarter and the start of the third, then adding six more in the last quarter to secure the finals-like victory.

“It just shows that we weren’t at our best, but it’s not always perfect, you know?” Nicks said.

“And that’s something that we’re working our way through as a group, the ability to still be able to perform even when it’s not perfect, and get a result.”

For Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell, that inability to capitalise as much as the opposition when in control was ultimately what he believes hurt his side.

“I think both teams did a decent job of, when they had momentum, putting scoreboard pressure on, but they were a little bit cleaner and a little bit more clinical when it really mattered,” Mitchell said.

“I think we had some momentum a couple of different times, but we weren’t able to put the score on the board (to) put them away. So, bit disappointing there.”

Hawthorn kicked the first five goals of the game before giving up the next eight. They then landed another run of five, but couldn’t clinch the game at the death.

The momentum swings might have suggested a gale blowing to one end of the ground, with 23 of the game’s 28 majors kicked to the Cathedral end, but that simply wasn’t the case.

“I actually rang down to the bench and said, it doesn’t seem like it but is there any breeze at all? So no, no answers for why they were all kicked to one end,” Mitchell said.

“But I think, it’s very rare that one team has the momentum for a whole game.”

It was the second quarter where the Hawks were really exposed, and were particularly hurt around stoppage. Will Day, who started the game at blistering pace with nine disposals and six clearances in the first term, was held tightly by Crows captain Jordan Dawson, allowing the home side to gain ascendancy at the contest.

“I think we lost the contested possession by 20 in the quarter, which is world record pace, so that’s not going to get it done against anyone, let alone Adelaide,” Mitchell said.

“So, there was a level of contest around the middle of the ground that we just got a touch up in the second quarter, and we weren’t able to get the ball into our front half at all, and then we just had too many issues int the game.

“There’s little details, like we gave up four goals from forward 50 stoppages, so stuff like that… we just weren’t quite sharp enough tonight, and when you play the best sides, that’s a challenge. You can’t afford to have any part of your game not on, and we had enough in our game that they were able to exploit.”

Day, who was playing just his second game back from a long-term foot injury, struggled throughout the second quarter, notably with the game pausing for him to come from the field with what appeared to be cramping.

“I figured I’d get asked about it, so I deliberately didn’t talk to the medical guys because I don’t have an answer yet. He was cramping, he has ice on most parts of his lower body, as plenty of the players do, so unsure just yet,” Mitchell said.