Adelaide will complete its 2026 home and away season this Saturday night, when it hosts Greater Western Sydney. 

The Crows will be looking to get back on the winners’ list after a hard-fought loss to Fremantle last week, and celebrate Club great Taylor Walker’s final home and away match at Adelaide Oval. 

Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media on Friday and touched on the following. 

Ah Chee managed for Giants clash

Forward Callum Ah Chee will miss the Crows’ home and away season finale after battling general soreness throughout the week.

Ah Chee’s 2026 campaign has been hampered by persistent hamstring injuries, with the 28-year-old returning to the side for the past three matches. 

Nicks said the decision to manage him this week came with an eye to the finals series, and confirmed the soreness was not to his hamstring. 

“Cal's got some general soreness, probably a little bit more specific soreness that we just can't take a risk on,” Nicks said. 

“We'd love to have him in for this week, but the risk's too high there, he's moving quite well today. He's improved day-by-day throughout the week, but it was one that we just weren't willing to risk. 

“So we set him up for hopefully a 21-day break and maybe a 14-day break depending on results.

“(It’s) not (the) hamstring, we're just working through a little bit out of the game, and we were going to give him through till today. 

“It's just too much of a risk for the way his season's played out, and you know we don't want to go back there. And we're confident the way he comes off a spell, he's got great touch. He's an experienced player and he'll be good to go.” 

A celebration of Tex

Saturday night will mark Crows all-time leading goalkicker Taylor Walker’s final home and away game, with the Club set to make the night a celebration of all things Tex. 

Walker returns to the Adelaide line-up for the match, after being managed for last week’s game against Fremantle, and will be a welcomed boost according to Nicks. 

“Oh, it will be a celebration, if you get a chance, get on down,” Nicks said. 

“Tex’s kids are here all the time, so it's sort of business as usual when it comes to that, but it's been fantastic to have Ellie and the family out of training, and it's been great for us to celebrate who he is for this footy Club.

“He'll continue to be a massive part of this football Club, and to be able to do it (celebrate) knowing that we've still got a final series to come, I think it's a bonus, it's going to be a great night for our supporters. 

“That’s the key to this Saturday night, it is an opportunity for Tex to say thank you to our supporters, but at the same time know that we have another here after.

“It's been a big couple of weeks for Tex, this week's been great. He's focused right in on footy, last week was a huge week for him, so it will be nice to see him out there and for us all to get around him.” 

Milera’s return

Dashing defender Wayne Milera will make his return to the Crows’ line-up this Saturday night, after missing the past three matches with a hamstring injury. 

In the midst of a career-best season, Nicks said Milera’s influence would have a big impact on his team and its ability to move the ball out of defence. 

“I think we'd all agree, if you watch Junior this season, this has been his best,” Nicks said. 

“He's in the conversation around All-Australia for a reason, and a lot of that is around the fact that he's got everything at the moment: contest, defence, and the offence is a big part of what he brings. 

“He’s a very good decision maker, great with the ball, so no doubt he helps and adds to our ability to move the ball from the back half.”

Keeping an eye on other results  

Crows fans will be glued into a host of other games across the country this weekend, as the Club could finish anywhere from third to eighth on the ladder, depending on other results. 

But while the punters will be working all the different scenarios at play, Nicks said the group was simply locked in on the task hand, which is beating the Giants on Saturday night. 

“We don't look at any of the other games, I mean, of course, our guys will be watching. There's some there's some great games of footy this weekend and it's going to change the shape of the final series,” Nicks said.

“But we have a game Saturday night that we have to win. Otherwise, all of that's irrelevant anyway. So our focus is, and again, these are lessons we've learnt in the last two or three years. We focus on now. 

“So Saturday night is our focus, GWS, and again, in a month, that is us finding our complete game so that we are confident and can compete when the finals do come.”

Being ready for the finals series

Adelaide will play finals football for a second-straight season, with the group set to use the learnings from last year’s experience to push it forward. 

Nicks said the group had been deliberate in its preparations for this point in the season, and was confident they would perform better than they did last year. 

“I think we're ahead of last year, we're coming in with a completely different path to this final series, one we're a little lower on the ladder,” Nicks said. 

“Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where that is yet, but we've been doing a lot of work around what it was we didn't get right last year. 

“Under that immense pressure that Collingwood and Hawthorn brought last year, we weren't able to execute and deliver our game on our game plan. 

“So we've been working on that now for 12 months, and we come into this year in a different space, still with improvement needed in our game. But there's no doubt mentally we're ready to attack that challenge.”

Adelaide takes on GWS this Saturday night, with the match to begin at 7.40pm (ACST). 

The match is sold out, with General Admission and Western Stand unreserved members still able to scan into the match, subject to capacity.