Adelaide Senior Coach Matthew Nicks is remaining tight-lipped on how his team will attempt to quell Collingwood star midfielder Nick Daicos on Saturday night.
The Crows will open their campaign with a Round One match against Collingwood at the MCG, while the Magpies’ season began last weekend with a win against St Kilda.
During that game, Daicos finished with a match-high 41 disposals and four clearances, helping his side to a 12-point victory in Opening Round.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Nicks said the Crows respected Daicos highly but would not reveal plans for stopping his influence.
“We’ll hold on to that one and that could change mid-game to be honest,” Nicks said.
“I saw (Isaac) Quaynor describe him as a teleporter - he’s a fantastic player, and there’s a lot of opinions around tagging, and what you should or shouldn’t do.
“There’s certain players who are very, very hard to tag - especially someone who can teleport.
“He’s elite speed, elite endurance - it’s hard to lock down just one player, so there’s a system that can look after that and then there’s the other option of ‘have you got a player who can do it (tag)?’
“We might look at both, we’ll see how the game pans out.”
The Crows, meanwhile, could unleash a debutant for Saturday night’s clash, with Toby Murray in the frame to play his first AFL game.
Nicks said the ruck/forward had enjoyed a strong pre-season and his name would be discussed during match committee.
The Senior Coach also expected fellow forward Riley Thilthorpe to line-up in the game, despite missing the Crows’ trial match against Fremantle a fortnight ago due to back soreness.
“He’s (Toby Murray) done really well, he’s had a great off-season, he’s very similar to his brother in that there’s nothing left to chance, he’s a pro,” Nicks said.
“(I’m not) surprised because of how hard he works, we saw something there, but really pleased with how fast he has developed… he’s done well to get to this point.
“It just wasn’t worth us risking Riley (against Fremantle), we travelled further than we do for any round during the season, so it just didn’t make sense to play him in a practice match.
“He’s (Thilthorpe) in a good space at the moment, but again, we’ll train today and give him a last look and feel on how he is going. We’re really confident with where our group’s at, the majority will be available for this game, we want to take our best over there and have a real crack at it.”
Adelaide faces Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday at 7.05pm (ACDT).
The game will be broadcast live on Fox Footy and Kayo, with a delayed telecast on Channel 7 Adelaide.
