Is North's list any better? Why "no way" Matthew Nicks survived Crows rebuild

David King does not believe Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks will survive the club’s rebuilding, given the quality of their roster.

The Crows currently sit 15th in the ladder and King believes their boys have a bit of an edge over North Melbourne, who recently parted ways with coach David Noble.

“There’s no way Matthew Nicks will survive this phase of rebuilding in the Adelaide Crows,” said King MON breakfast.

“I looked through that and at the moment he has a win-loss ratio of around 27 per cent. They have completed 18, 15 and 15 tracking this year.

“He has a list that is far from the envy of other coaches. This list is more than poor. I think they will ask for priority options in three years.

“Their form at the moment, they covered the gap through a great Taylor Walker season, the likes of Rory Laird produced a high level, Ben Keays had a great year.

“So the older bracket plays really good football. Who under 23 really says, ‘I’m your man, follow me’.

“I really think the Kangaroo roster, and having been whipped this week, has four to five better prospects for five, six, seven years than what the Adelaide Crow roster does.”

Kane Cornes disagreed, saying the club had missed too many top draft picks.

“I honestly don’t agree with this and I’ve been following it closely, because they have a lot of options, they’ve invested and done the right thing on the draft, the strategy is fine, but you’ve got to pick the right people,” Cornes said.

“We have said that the list has less of an advantage than North Melbourne. They’ve chosen, they’re constantly wrong. They continue to design the same stubborn tough midfielder without any minor polish.

“Fischer McAsey is still playing in pairs after being pick-six and has stagnated in the SANFL.

“Jordan Gallucci was a first-round pick and he went, Chayce Jones, Ned McHenry, a lot of them weren’t on the stage they were supposed to be.

“When is the pressure on list management? Mark Ricciuto has had a huge influence on the roster, Justin Reid has been at it for a long time, and he’s been a great guy and my manager for 10 years, Hamish Ogilvie was their recruiter, where’s the pressure?

“These guys get 10 to 15 years before we start asking questions.”

King believes the situation is unfair to Nicks, given he has barely had a chance to showcase his abilities as a senior coach.

“So who paid for it in the end (missing draft selection)?” he says.

“I think Matthew Nicks is a very good AFL coach, but he doesn’t have the ability to show what he’s capable of.

“I worry that the win-lose strike rate, which all coaches end up with, will come under serious scrutiny in the next 12 to 24 months.

“There were some people who questioned whether he should have extended his contract. That’s the first point. That was the start of the discussion. This is a surprising arrangement. I think the AFL needs to look at all the tools that can help restore the list.

“I know it’s a mid-season trade and I know it’s a contracted player trade, it’s all these things, otherwise you’re just going to keep burning young coaches with vulnerable lists and restless foot clubs on board panic.”

Adelaide host Collingwood on Saturday afternoon.

Club first-round picks since 2015: Josh Rachele, Riley Thilthorpe, Luke Pedlar, Fischer McAsey, Chayce Jones, Ned McHenry, Darcy Fogarty, Jordan Gallucci, Wayne Milera, Tom Doedee.

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