Adelaide is eyeing a second-straight win when it faces Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval this Saturday night.

Crows Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media on Wednesday, and provided an insight into how a forward was tracking in his return from injury, the team’s form leading into this week, and more.

Callum Ah Chee ruled out of AFL action

Forward Callum Ah Chee will not make a return to AFL this weekend against the Suns, Nicks confirmed.

Ah Chee was listed as a ‘test’ in this week’s injury report after overcoming a low-grade hamstring injury sustained during the Crows’ Round 13 game against Geelong.

Nicks said Ah Chee would not feature in the AFL side this week, but the Club would discuss whether he features in the SANFL.

“We’ll work through that, just some management around what we feel is best, there’s no perfect way to come back, every player is different, so we’re just working our way through that with Cal,” Nicks said.

“He won’t play (AFL) this week, and we’ll keep a close eye on exactly what we’ll do with him, and it will be managed slightly, but as I said, we’re not locked into what that looks like.

“We’ll try and find the perfect spot for him to come back and play at AFL level.

“We know how important he is to us and we want him there at the business end of the season.”

Riley Thilthorpe set to be available

Key forward Riley Thilthorpe was a late out for the Crows’ match against West Coast last week due to illness.

Nicks said Thilthorpe was better and would be putting his hand up for selection this week, as long as he got through Wednesday night’s main training session.

“We found out about Riley at about 10.30am-11am (on Friday) and he went downhill really fast,” Nicks said.

“He flew back with us with a mask on and did whatever he could to stay away from the general public and us on the flight.

“But he’s recovered well, and we’ll see tonight exactly where he is out.

“It’s a big out to have last minute and for Billy Dowling to step up and fill that void is a great job.”

Crows expecting Suns to fire

Adelaide will enter this weekend’s game in fifth position with a 10-6 win-loss record, while the Suns are 14th with seven wins and nine losses.

But Nicks said the Crows would not underestimate Gold Coast, and expected the team to be fired up, wanting to atone for their recent form.

“We know the challenge we've got this Saturday night, it’s not always about win-loss, I mean, you see how close the ladder is at the moment,” Nicks said.

“There are 10-to-12 teams that are fighting now, it's going to be similar to last year, where it comes right down to the wire, and we know probably more than most.

“We finished top of the ladder last year, we knew we could have been anywhere from ninth, or 10th, possibly on that season, with a game or two being dropped.

“There’s some games that maybe they (the Suns) could have won, there's a lot of teams that are in the same boat. I think they're playing some really strong football, and it's going to be a tough one for us.”

Nicks on Soligo’s 100th milestone

Midfielder Jake Soligo is set to notch his 100th AFL game against the Suns this weekend.

And, after an interrupted first half of 2026, Nicks said he was proud of how far Soligo had come and pleased to see him hitting some form.

“It was nice to get him around the football a bit more (last weekend), we know that’s where his weapon is,” Nicks said.

“He’s coming up to 100 games, and when you watch back at his highlights, you see some of his best footy is in and around the contest. He’s sharp, clean over ground balls. 

“We will just continue to work through (where he plays) and it's what's best for the team. 

“Soli’s bought into that, to his credit, for such a young player, his understanding of what needs to be done at the moment has been outstanding.”

Focus remains on the present

Adelaide bounced back from a disappointing display in Showdown 60 to beat West Coast last weekend.

The win put them in reach of the top four with seven games remaining in the 2026 minor round.

Nicks said the Crows were encouraged by their trajectory but remained focused on continuing to improve each week.

“I think we used the word optimistic, we don't jump at one performance, we look at trends a lot,” Nicks said.

“We are one week at a time, especially when we talk about our opponent, and from our players' point-of-view, we've learned across the journey that starting to talk about what's down the track can be distracting, and that's not who we want to be.

“We're really optimistic about our performances, because we're not at our best, we've still been able to get across the line, and that's the most positive part.

“I think this time last year we were playing as good a footy as we could have, and our learning out of that was we couldn't quite hold that form through finals, so hopefully we've still got some upside.”

Adelaide faces Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval on Saturday at 7.40pm.

Tickets available here.

For everything you need to know ahead of the game, head to the Club’s game day hub here.