Crows content as Power urged to maintain belief
Matthew Nicks is content with the Crow’s opening win, as Port Adelaide picks up the pieces following the heaviest defeat of Ken Hinkley’s coaching tenure.
Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks is content, but says his team are yet to prove anything in a season of reckoning, as Port Adelaide’s leader Ken Hinkley has urged his battered troops to stay the course following a 91-point defeat to Collingwood.
Nicks was well satisfied with his team’s 63-point trouncing of St Kilda – 21.9 (135) to 10.12 (72) in their season-opening game at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
The Crow’s boasted a dozen goalkickers, including its four primary midfielders – Jordan Dawson, Izak Rankine, Jake Soligo and Matt Crouch – who all collected at least 27 disposals.
Recruits Alex-Neal Bullen, Isaac Cumming and James Peatling also kicked majors and performed strongly.
And hyped draftee Sid Draper looked assured on AFL debut after coming on as a substitute.
Nicks, who is yet to take the Crows to the finals as he embarks on his sixth season, senses something brewing – but it’s yet to be proven.
“I’m confident our guys are maturing; organically, we’re growing as a group,” Nicks said.
“We added this year some really high-level acquisitions.
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“We brought in a young kid today, Sid Draper from the draft, who showed that he has a lot of potential to be a really strong player in this league.
“So with those, you’ve got to be confident in your group; I’ll back the group in.
“But our challenge is to prove it week-in, week-out.”
The Crows coach is demanding a repeat display when his side meets Essendon at the MCG next Saturday.
“We have got plenty of games still to come that we want to have the same performance,” he said.
“We’ve seen over time, it’s not easy to do so. But that’s our goal – knuckle down and get ourselves ready to go again.”
Saturday’s 91-point loss to Collingwood is Port Adelaide’s largest defeat under outgoing coach, Ken Hinkley.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley conceded the Power were “miles off the pace” and beaten in all facets of the game in their 21.10 (136) to 6.9 (45) loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night.
It was the heaviest losing margin of Hinkley’s 275-game tenure.
But the long-time Port coach, who will hand the reins to Josh Carr at the end of this season, isn’t about to throw the baby out with the bath water ahead of a round-two clash with Richmond at Adelaide Oval.
“We’ve got to remember it’s round one and maintain our belief in what we do and how we do things,” Hinkley said.
“You don’t always get the start you want but the reality is you can only sink quickly into a bad place if you go into too much negative stuff.
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“You’ve got to reflect on what’s been pretty positive in the build-up to the season.
“Tonight was nowhere near a level of acceptance for us as a footy team. We know that.
“But the reality is we’ve got to maintain our belief in the way we’re going to play our football and attack our football this year.
“We’ll be a better team and a different team next week.”
"We were miles off the pace."
— AFL (@AFL) March 15, 2025
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley faces the media after a heavy loss to Collingwood: https://t.co/FvOG5cbJ3N pic.twitter.com/dHoehP92op
Hinkley felt Collingwood, who were thrashed by GWS in opening round, gained some advantage over his side by starting their season a week earlier.
But he refused to use it as an excuse for his players, lashing their lack of effort and inability to match the Pies around the contest.
“They beat us physically and they beat us on the run as well. They didn’t just beat us one way,” Hinkley said.
“Clearly, when you win by that much, you dominate the game in all phases.
“It’s hard to be anything positive around the way we played other than that we’re in transition, we’re in a space of playing a slightly different game style, and clearly we’ve got a lot to learn.”
Pressed for positives, Hinkley reluctantly offered up the club debuts of Jack Lukosius, Joe Richards and Joe Berry, as well as skipper Connor Rozee’s fight against the tide.
But there was no escaping the brutal reality of the club’s heaviest defeat since 2011.
“We did our best to stick at it tonight but the reality is we were at different levels,” Hinkley said.
“That’s honest. They were miles above us and we were miles off where we should’ve been.”
Hinkley is hopeful tall defender Esava Ratugolea will be cleared to return from a knee injury against Richmond on Saturday.
