In the build-up to the Friday night blockbuster at Adelaide Oval, Crows Senior Coach Matthew Nicks joined Port Adelaide counterpart Josh Carr in a press conference.

Below is a snapshot of what the Adelaide coach had to say. 

The potential return of Dan Curtin

Adelaide is weighing up whether to unleash 21-year-old utility Dan Curtin for his first AFL game of the season, after a successful return to competitive football in the SANFL last week.

“We feel like he (Dan Curtin) has done enough, nowadays the amount of work that goes into rehabbing a player and making sure they’re ready, there’s no exact science behind it - but Dan’s done a lot of work, even pre playing a game on the weekend,” Nicks said. 

“He looked really strong (last week), everyone is going to benefit from a run, we’ll just have to look at that and make a decision around not jumping too early - there’s no rush for Dan because he’s a very important player for us.

“When it comes to Dan it would be great to have him playing midfield like we saw him in the pre-season, but we haven’t seen that in the regular season, we just saw it in the pre-season and everyone was quite excited about what we saw. 

“But that’s at training, so there are some unknowns around all of that, and we won’t rush it.” 

Jordan Dawson to miss Showdown 59

Crows Captain Jordan Dawson will not play against Port Adelaide on Friday night for personal reasons, and provided an update on the Skipper. 

“He’s going as well as he can be. He won’t play tomorrow night, as you can imagine it’s been a big week for the family and the community of Robe yesterday, it was a really special day yesterday,” Nicks said.

“The full community of not just Robe, but surrounding football clubs, golf clubs, the entire community came together and just bonded, and they were there for the family. 

“We’ll give Jordan what Jordan needs, so he’ll make some decisions around that, we don’t know whether he’ll come to the game tomorrow night, we’ll probably chat later today. 

“Our group is reasonably mature with it. If Jordan wants to be at the game and be around his teammates, then he’ll come to the game. He did that last time and the boys were able to perform well.”

Facing Port Adelaide under new coach Josh Carr

Adelaide will face a Josh Carr coached Power unit for the first time on Friday night, a challenge Nicks said he was excited to take on.

“I’ve seen a really exciting style of footy, a really consistent style - I’m sure Carry is doing a lot of stuff we can’t see behind the scenes,” Nicks said. 

“There’s been the odd video posted online about some of the training, and it wasn’t a surprise to see them put in a lot of physicality and the hard work, multiple efforts - and we’re seeing that come through in their game at the moment. 

“There’s definitely a brand, every coach has a brand, and he’s done a great job to this point to bring that through so early.” 

Soligo’s SANFL confidence boost

A decision was made last week to play midfielder Jake Soligo in the SANFL as he negotiated a return from an ankle injury.

It paid dividends, according to Nicks, who said it was part of a deliberate plan to get Soligo back to his best.

“He’s placed really well, there’s different reasons as to why you take a player out of the AFL side, and it’s not always about that they're not up to it,” Nicks said. 

“There’s a lot of different reasons around omitting a player, and there’s danger around people making assumptions. We were very deliberate with Soli and what he’s worked his way through, and the challenges he’s had to this point, and we felt like he needed a release and a way to just play. 

“We wanted to do that at AFL level, but you play against a Brisbane team, you’re up against some of the best in the game, so we felt it would benefit him playing in the SANFL and it did. 

“He had a fantastic game, feels really good, do we look at that again? Maybe, but I think Soli at his best is in our best 23 players.” 

Thilthorpe continues to build

All-Australian forward Riley Thilthorpe is “starting to hit his straps” from a body point of view according to Nicks, with the forward primed for Friday night’s Showdown.

“Riley’s worked through a fair bit to start this year, I think we’ve been fairly open and documented he hasn’t quite been at 100 per cent, but he’s really starting to hit his straps over the last few weeks,” Nicks said.

“He’s feeling great and done a hell of a lot of work to get himself to the point where, yeah it’s been frustrating for him because he’s coming off a really strong and no matter if you’re 100 per cent fit, coming off a year like he did there’s going to be a target on your back. 

“This year’s been tough for him, and he’s worked his way to a point now where he’s feeling fantastic, and we’ll start to have a look at a number of key areas.” 

Crows ready to embrace tough midfield challenge 

Adelaide enters Showdown 59 knowing it will need a strong performance from its midfielders and Nicks provided an insight into how the team would go about facing an in-form Power on-ball unit.

“We came off probably one of the biggest challenges last week into the first or second biggest challenge, with respect as both have unbelievable midfields,” Nicks said. 

“So it’s going to be a huge challenge, it (the midfield) is the most important area, which way does that ball go. 

“If we can get to a point where we’re fighting in there and the contest is even, and give ourselves as many opportunities, well that’s something we’re looking at. 

“The reality is they (Port) are in some pretty good nick around the footy, and they’ve got some high end players that are playing their best footy - so we need to get that centre square area right.” 

Nick Murray trains with the forwards

Defender Nick Murray was seen training with Adelaide’s forwards this week and Nicks said it was aimed at helping him add more strings to his bow.

“We’re just trying to develop Nick, keep working on all sides of his game,” Nicks said. 

“There are players in the game that play multiple positions, there’s not many that play at both ends, at a high level. 

“We’re just trying to continuously develop Nick and his game, and round it out, we finished last week’s game with him ahead of the ball and each time we’ve done that he’s done a really good job.

“He’s brought something a little bit different, he’s dynamic, he’s powerful, so we don’t want to necessarily pigeonhole him into one spot and say that’s it - he’s had a run around this week forward of the ball, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll play forward.” 

Young ruck continues to impress

Adelaide has opted for nine-gamer Lachlan McAndrew to lead the way as the Club’s number one big man and Nicks lauded the 25-year-old’s start to 2026.

“Our first ruck at the moment, from an experience point of view, is still at the start of his career, and he’s doing a fantastic job,” Nicks said. 

“It seems to be one week after the other, you don’t get many easy games as a ruckman, teams just have a lot of talent in that space. 

“But we’ve been really pleased with where Lachie’s game is at, and how he keeps developing for a player who’s played under 10 games.”

Nicks on the importance of Variety partnership 

Both Adelaide and Port Adelaide have partnered with Variety for the Showdown since 2018, with the South Australian children’s charity helping amplify one of the state’s biggest sporting occasions.

Nicks said the work the charity does in both supporting the game, and the state as a whole, had been vitally important. 

“I think that’s what sports is about, the community getting involved and putting support behind what is a great event,” Nicks said. 

“Ultimately, sport is an entertainment industry and it needs support so that we can bring people into the stadium. 

“So what Variety do, and what they do outside of the Showdown as well, is so important for our state and they’ve been an incredible contributor to what is a big moment in South Australia.”