Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Even without looking at the AFL ladder, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks is content.
Nicks says his Crows are “exactly” where they want to be after downing arch rivals Port Adelaide by five points.
The Crows, seeking to return to the finals for the first time since 2017, hold fifth spot with six wins and three losses.
“We’re exactly where we’d like to be performance-wise, not necessarily win-loss,” Nicks said after Adelaide’s 13.10 (89) to 12.12 (84) win over Port on Saturday night.
“We’ve talked about what sort of performance we want as a ground level of what we expect.
“Our bad performances this year have been a three-goal loss to Freo over in Perth, we lost to Geelong (by 19 points).
“So we’re in a position where, even when we haven’t got the outcome we’re after, we still come away with a lot of positives.
“Tonight wasn’t our best performance by any means but we come away with a win.
“So really pleased about where we’re at – the win-loss looks after itself.”
Adelaide’s other loss this season was by one point to Gold Coast when the AFL admitted an umpire error denied Izak Rankine the chance to kick the match-winning goal.
Nicks hailed the gritty nature of Saturday night’s win which gives the Crows a 29-28 edge over Port in the overall head-to-head record.
“It was a great win … we had a lot of guys who weren’t at their best,” he said.
But not among that company was Riley Thilthorpe, whose 62nd AFL game was among his most influential.
Pitted against renowned aerialist Aliir Aliir, the big Crow collected 10 marks, half of them contested, booted three goals and also had three score assists.
“Riley, he really looks forward to these big games – and they are big for him,” Nicks said.
“It was talked about a lot in his early part of his career, people were sort of challenging him around what he needed to be better at.
“So he went to work and now he just loves it, he embraces the big contest.
“He had some really tough match-ups and he wanted to show where his improvements have come.
“I thought he did that, especially in the first half.”
