Kane Cornes believes Adelaide fans are misguided if they think they’re currently rebuilding, saying rookie coach Matthew Nicks “looks lost”.
On the back of a 69-point smashing at the hands of North Melbourne on Saturday, questions are continuing to be asked about the current direction of the Crows.
Adelaide remain winless in 2020, with Nicks still yet to taste victory in his first season as a senior coach.
Cornes says the age profile of the side they played this week was no different to North Melbourne’s, calling for more changes to be made with youth in mind.
“Crows fans have been thinking that we’ll get some losses while we’re rebuilding,” Cornes said on Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“Look a little bit deeper into what the Crows put out there against North Melbourne, the average age (of the team) is exactly the same. In fact, the Crows had in fact more 100-plus game players than North Melbourne.
“Crows fans can’t hang their hat on the fact they’re rebuilding, the four inclusions they had in their selected side were Bryce Gibbs, Rory Atkins, Jake Kelly and Riley Knight. They’re not a young side.
“Crows lack depth and clearly a lot of the senior players are not playing well. Matthew Nicks looks completely lost and you feel sorry for him.”
Crows feels Nicks needs to be ruthless with his under-fire playing group, saying harder calls are required for the remainder of the season.
“I think they need to demand more and Matthew Nicks is being too nice,” he said.
“All the talk is there’s a great feeling in the group but it’s time to get really ruthless and make so big selection calls.
“Apart from Matt Crouch, no senior Crow has lost his spot in their side.”
Adelaide will be looking for their first win when they face Melbourne next Wednesday night at Adelaide Oval.