Matthew Lloyd said he found Adelaide’s AAMI Community Series performance against rivals Port Adelaide “alarming”, saying Ken Hinkley’s side would have had more competition at training.
The Crows went down to the Power by 71 points at Flinders University Stadium on Sunday afternoon, on the back of the 2020 season where they won just three games.
Lloyd was so alarmed by Adelaide’s showing over the weekend that he forecasted that Matthew Nicks, who is entering his second season as Crows coach, would be under “enormous pressure” throughout the year.
“I found the performance (by Adelaide) alarming in their ability to stop Port Adelaide’s overlap,” he said on Sportsday.
“I want them to be competitive and I don’t want them to be wiped out, Matthew Nicks is going to be under enormous pressure – he lost his first 13 or 14 last year, but they were able to win three of the last four in 2020.
“They were treated like witches hats, I thought they were so poor. Port Adelaide hasn’t had a good lead up to the season by having to play them twice and you don’t want to speak like that about an AFL side.
“You might not have the talent, but the way Adelaide played I reckon Port Adelaide would have had it tougher at training than what Adelaide served up.”
Adelaide face a tough assignment in the opening round of the season, hosting Geelong at the Adelaide Oval on March 20.