22-point elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788662913_432_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
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And it sent the Crows faithful into a frenzy, even as Nicks gave the thumbs up to a young fan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat might have been a smile there \u2026 Good on you Nicksy!\u201d Anthony Hudson said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s on the big screen too so the crowd are loving it,\u201d Garry Lyon added.<\/p>\n
Matthew Nicks gives thumbs up to fans.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are going nuts; they are going boonta here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what football does to you!\u201d Hudson replied as Nicks was still smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many lows so you\u2019ve got to enjoy the highs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ain\u2019t going anywhere, Nicksy right now. There\u2019d be a riot in Adelaide,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
The coach conceding post-match it was \u201cnice\u201d to enjoy that moment with the crowd, given the tough week as reports emerged this week that a loss could see the club part ways with Nicks.<\/p>\n
Izak Rankine kicks the sealer! | 00:43<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a discussion in the box \u2013 the young lad was just staring back at me, just a huge grin on his face,\u201d Nicks shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was about 14 years old, had the double thumbs up waving his jacket above his head at the same time. I was like, yeah no you\u2019re right, this is a good moment for our footy club and for our supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a coach, it is hard in those moments. You\u2019ve got to be mindful of not riding this rollercoaster because the highs are amazing. The lows can be really tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to go right to the peak until you\u2019re holding that cup up. You\u2019ll see me let lose in three weeks if that happens (smiles).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nice to smile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking after the win, multiple players backed in their coach, who was seen high-fiving fans post-win.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, well we\u2019ve been on a journey for a long time, and you know it is external noise,\u201d Taylor Walker told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do hear it, you see it, but to us it just stays as external noise.<\/p>\n
John Olsen, Chairman of the Crows, congratulates Matthew Nicks after the win.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew what we needed to do, and we\u2019ve been doing it for the back half the year, and we just need to keep sticking to our process for the next three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd who knows, mate, what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all love Nicksy. Just glad we got the win for him!\u201d Josh Worrell said in his post-match chat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNicksy\u2019s great! He tried to just bring it back to the team and focus and not listen to the outside noise,\u201d he shared on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
Nicks could only laugh when asked about the week and how he has dealt with the speculation surrounding his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoaching is a shocking job,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s like being a really, really passionate supporter that is just 100% invested. And it\u2019s frustrating \u2013 especially when you\u2019ve played because you feel almost hopeless at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players ultimately do it for you, so on a game day it\u2019s sometimes hard to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked specifically about the reports on his future at the club, Nicks was brutally honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a part of me that I\u2019m a realist, I know the industry, I\u2019ve been in it for a long, long time so I understand the narrative that pops out at this time of year and where I sit as a coach and what we\u2019ve been building,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Matthew Nicks embraces retiring great Taylor Walker.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless you know the detail, unless you\u2019re actually inside the four walls, anyone can throw mud around and have their view \u2013 that\u2019s OK. I don\u2019t hold a grudge there at all. But we\u2019re in a really good spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a hell of a lot further on than where we were last year. Getting an experience that we did last year where you\u2019re in the rooms 12 months ago and it was gut-wrenching for our guys, and they didn\u2019t know what they didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have enough guys who had experience. We build that into this year and we have guys jumping out of their skin to get out there tonight and make amends for how they felt last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can win it, don\u2019t worry about that \u2026 we just need to believe in ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicks doubled down on his stance in his post-match press conference, insisting the speculation surrounding his position had done little to distract him during the build-up to the do-or-die clash.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been around long enough to understand the industry and the narrative and why things come up about coaches,\u201d Nicks said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s next? What\u2019s the next big thing? Who\u2019s the best? Who\u2019s the worst? I understand how that works.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve worked in that space for a long time. So it was business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n
And despite the external noise surrounding his future, Nicks revealed there had been no need for any extraordinary conversations about his position beyond this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no need for a conversation around, I\u2019m contracted into next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a conversation about my contract or any of that. We head down and go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew Nicks celebrates Adelaide\u2019s breakthrough finals victory over the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Nicks said there had been nothing out of the ordinary in his conversations with the club\u2019s hierarchy, adding he had continued to receive support from Adelaide\u2019s president and chairman.<\/p>\n
And while Saturday night\u2019s victory may have eased the external pressure surrounding his future, Nicks rejected the suggestion there was a feeling of relief inside the four walls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not pressure. We\u2019ve waited 12 months for this night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t wait. We went to work. What we\u2019ve got here, we reinforced belief tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t release pressure. We know how good we are. We know how good we can be, but we also respect that the opposition bring a certain game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Nicks pointed to the pain of 12 months ago and Adelaide\u2019s failure to get the job done as an experience that had hardened his young group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opposition hit the front and the question was asked and we answered it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it comes off the back of, you know, 12 months ago, going through a fair bit of pain and what it felt like to not get it done. It\u2019s amazing what that experience can do for a young group.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Nicks, the breakthrough was less about releasing pressure and more about reinforcing Adelaide\u2019s belief that it belongs on the finals stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in them. They just need to believe in themselves. And you get that through moments like tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Crows will now fly north to Brisbane to take on the Lions in Saturday night\u2019s semi final. The winner of that match will then head to the MCG for a preliminary final showdown with Hawthorn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the Adelaide crowd\u2019s reaction to Matthew Nicks is anything to go by, the Crows coach is not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-881620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}