David King does not believe Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks will survive the club’s rebuild, given the quality of their list.
The Crows currently sit 15th on the ladder and King believes their youngsters have less upside than North Melbourne, who recently parted ways with coach David Noble.
“There’s no way Matthew Nicks can survive this rebuild phase at the Adelaide Crows,” King told SEN Breakfast.
“I’m looking through it and right now he has got a win-loss strike rate of about 27 per cent. They’ve finished 18th, 15th and tracking 15th this year.
“He’s got a list that’s far from the envy of the rest of the coaching fraternity. The list is more than poor. I think they’ll be asking for priority selections within three years.
“Their form at the moment, they’re wallpapering over the cracks through the unbelievable season of Taylor Walker, guys like Rory Laird producing a high level, Ben Keays is having a great year.
“So the older bracket are playing seriously good football. Who are the under 23s that are actually saying, ‘I’m your man, follow me’.
“I actually think the Kangaroos’ list, and it has been flogged this week, has a better four to five prospects for five, six, seven years time than what the Adelaide Crows’ list does.”
Kane Cornes doesn’t disagree, saying the club has missed too many times on top draft picks.
“I honestly don’t disagree with this and I’ve been following it closely, because they’ve had a lot of picks, they’ve invested and done the right thing at the draft, the strategy is fine, but you’ve got to pick the right guys,” Cornes said.
“We’ve said the list has less upside than North Melbourne. They’ve had the picks, they continually get them wrong. They continue to draft the same scrappy hard-nosed, tough midfielders with no polish that are small.
“Fischer McAsey is still playing twos after being a pick-six and has stagnated in the SANFL.
“Jordan Gallucci was a first-round pick and he’s gone, Chayce Jones, Ned McHenry, many of them that aren’t coming on at the stage they should be.
“When does the pressure go on list management? Mark Ricciuto has had a heavy influence on the list, Justin Reid has done it for a long time, and he’s a great footy person and was my manager for 10 years, Hamish Ogilvie is their recruiter, where’s the pressure?
“These guys get 10 to 15 years before we start asking questions.”
King believes the situation is unfair on Nicks, given he has barely had a chance to show what he is capable of as a senior coach.
“So who pays for that in the end (missing draft picks)?” he said.
“I reckon Matthew Nicks is a seriously good AFL coach, but he’s not getting the ability to show his wares.
“I’m concerned that the win-loss strike rate, which gets all coaches in the end, will come under serious scrutiny in the next 12 to 24 months.
“There were a couple of people challenging whether he should have had his contract extended. That’s the first point. That’s the start of the discussion. It’s a shocking setup. I think the AFL needs to look at all the tools that can help get lists back in order.
“I know it’s mid-season trading and I know it’s trading contracted players, it’s all of these things, otherwise you are just going to continue to set fire to young coaches with vulnerable lists and footy clubs that get jumpy because boards panic.”
Adelaide hosts Collingwood on Saturday afternoon.
The club’s 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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