| Matthew Nicks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Nicks addressing Adelaide players, 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Matthew Nicks | ||
| Born | (1975-05-13)13 May 1975 (age 50) Adelaide, South Australia | ||
| Original team | West Adelaide (SANFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 21,1994 draft | ||
| Debut | Round 3, 1996,Sydney vs.Collingwood, atSCG | ||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 88 kg (194 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1996–2005 | Sydney Swans | 175 (125) | |
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2020– | Adelaide | 122 (55–73–1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 23, 2025. | |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Matthew Nicks (born 13 May 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of theAdelaide Crows in theAustralian Football League (AFL).[1] Recruited fromWest Adelaide in the1994 national draft, Nicks spent his entire playing career with theSydney Swans between 1996 and 2005.[2]
Following his retirement, Nicks has had an extensive coaching career. From 2011 to 2018, he was an assistant coach atPort Adelaide and theGreater Western Sydney Giants in 2019.[3] He was appointed the senior coach of Adelaide in October 2019. Under Nicks, the Crows completed the most significant turnaround in AFL history, rising from a 15th-placed finish in 2024 to claiming theminor premiership in the 2025 season.[4]
Nicks made hisAustralian Football League debut in 1996 for theSydney Swans and played a total of 175 games over the next 10 seasons.[5] He retired from AFL football in 2005 after prolonged struggles with injury and illness, including a broken leg in 1995,[6] pneumonia in 2000, a broken finger in 2001[7] and a stress fracture in his leg in 2005. His second last game was the round 10, 2005 match againstSt Kilda atMarvel Stadium in which the Swans came under severe scrutiny from the AFL, in particular from then-CEOAndrew Demetriou andNetwork 10 commentatorsStephen Quartermain,Tim Lane andRobert Walls, over their performance.[8][9][10]
Nicks joined thePort Adelaide Football Club in 2011 as a club development coach in an assistant coaching position under senior coachMatthew Primus until the end of 2012 season, during which time the Power struggled towards the bottom part of the ladder, finishing 16th and 14th in 2011 and 2012 respectively.[11] From 2013 to 2015, he served as the club's backline coach under senior coachKen Hinkley and in 2016, he served as the forwards coach under senior coach Hinkley.[12] In 2017, Nicks was named as Port Adelaide's senior assistant coach under senior coach Hinkley. Nicks left the Port Adelaide Football Club at the end of the 2018 season.[13]
Nicks joined theGWS Giants as a senior assistant coach under senior coachLeon Cameron for the 2019 season.[14]
In October 2019, Nicks was appointed senior coach of theAdelaide Football Club, shortly after previous senior coachDon Pyke announced his departure.[15][16][17][18] Due to a variety of reasons, including theCOVID-19 pandemic, the club entering a rebuild at his arrival, and the lack of experiencedassistant coaches at Adelaide, the Crows under Nicks slumped to a 0–13 start to the2020 season, leading to Nicks being called “the least supported coach” in Adelaide’s history.[19][20] He won his first game as Adelaide Football Club senior coach when the Crows defeatedHawthorn by 35 points in round 15, 2020.[21]
In season 2025, he guided not only the club to its first minor premiership since 2017 and also its first finals appearance since that very same season.
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1996 | Sydney | 36 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 11 | 36 | 12 | 8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 1997 | Sydney | 23 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 150 | 99 | 249 | 59 | 26 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 7.5 | 5.0 | 12.5 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 1998 | Sydney | 23 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 291 | 138 | 429 | 104 | 42 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 12.1 | 5.8 | 17.9 | 4.3 | 1.8 | 9 |
| 1999 | Sydney | 23 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 263 | 123 | 386 | 106 | 26 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 11.4 | 5.3 | 16.8 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 4 |
| 2000 | Sydney | 23 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 229 | 86 | 315 | 107 | 29 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 12.0 | 4.5 | 16.6 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 6 |
| 2001 | Sydney | 23 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 186 | 70 | 256 | 89 | 32 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 10.3 | 3.9 | 14.2 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 9 |
| 2002 | Sydney | 23 | 21 | 28 | 18 | 186 | 72 | 258 | 86 | 51 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 8.9 | 3.4 | 12.3 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 3 |
| 2003 | Sydney | 23 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 125 | 57 | 182 | 62 | 34 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 6.9 | 3.2 | 10.1 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 2004 | Sydney | 23 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 128 | 56 | 184 | 65 | 36 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 7.5 | 3.3 | 10.8 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 0 |
| 2005 | Sydney | 23 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 58 | 27 | 85 | 26 | 22 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 6.4 | 3.0 | 9.4 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 0 |
| Career | 175 | 125 | 84 | 1641 | 2380 | 2023 | 716 | 306 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 9.4 | 4.2 | 13.6 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 31 | ||
| Team | Year | Home and Away Season | Finals | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Drew | Win % | Position | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | |||
| ADE | 2020 | 3 | 14 | 0 | .176 | 18th out of 18 | - | - | - | - | |
| ADE | 2021 | 7 | 15 | 0 | .318 | 15th out of 18 | - | - | - | - | |
| ADE | 2022 | 8 | 13[1] | 0 | .381 | 14th out of 18 | - | - | - | - | |
| ADE | 2023 | 11 | 12 | 0 | .478 | 10th out of 18 | - | - | - | - | |
| ADE | 2024 | 8 | 14 | 1 | .348 | 15th out of 18 | - | - | - | - | |
| ADE | 2025 | 18 | 5 | 0 | .783 | 1st out of 18 | 0 | 2 | – | Lost toHawthorn in theSemi Final | |
| Total | 55 | 75 | 1 | .420 | 12th | 0 | 2 | – | |||
Matthew Nicks's playing statistics from AFL Tables
