I don’t mind it: Crows coach on heated post-game clash

Steve Larkin | July 17, 2025

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has no issue with the feisty Gold Coast flashpoint threatening to spark again on Sunday.

In a bitter aftermath to the Suns’ controversial one-point win in round four, Mac Andrew literally got in the face of Crow Riley Thilthorpe.

On Sunday at Adelaide Oval, Nicks expects Andrew to resume the personal duel with Thilthorpe but doesn’t expect a repeat of their hot-headed clash.

“I don’t mind it,” Nicks told reporters on Thursday when asked about Andrew’s post-game act.

“It was two competitive players that want to win.

“And I felt that’s how it finished, the game finished on that note and I have got no issue with it whatsoever.

“It’s going to be a great match-up if it does end up that way, which we’d anticipate it would.

“And I love that. We don’t want to shy away from that.

“Both players are really looking forward to it, you can see it, but neither of them are going to come out and say: ‘We’re going to have it on and this is going to be a fight ‘and so on.

“Both of them just want to play really strong footy.”

Thilthorpe enters Sunday’s Adelaide Oval fixture after a career-best six-goal return in a win over the Western Bulldogs.

The Crows, who hold third spot on the ladder one win ahead of the fifth-placed Suns, are odds-on to return to the finals for the first time since losing the 2017 grand final.

“I knew that we’d continue to improve as a group,” said sixth-year coach Nicks.

“We were developing really fast and we have been now for a number of years.

“At the moment, we’re in a really great position when it comes to the season, though just locking in on what is the moment right now – it’s Gold Coast.”

Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson, who has extended his tenure by signing a two-year contract extension until the end of 2029, said his side’s confidence was at a high.

“As a group, it’s definitely the most consistent (season),” the 28-year-old said.

“All our leaders are playing good footy, all the young guys coming through have shown such great development.

“Individually, I know I’ve got more to give. But also as a group, I feel like we’ve matured as well and we’re playing some good footy off the back of that.”