FRUSTRATED Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says Izak Rankine should have been awarded a shot at goal inside the final two minutes of Saturday’s one-point loss to Gold Coast.
Despite believing his team didn’t receive the rub of the umpiring green in the dying stages, Nicks says that’s not the reason his team dropped its first game of the season.
SUNS v CROWS Full match coverage and stats
In a controversial finish to a pulsating match, Rankine appeared to clutch a chest mark in the left forward pocket before the ball spilled free under the weight of a Sam Collins challenge.
The adjudicating umpire called play-on, and Gold Coast cleared it from the defensive 50 before hanging on to win.
“My version is I think if he didn’t mark it, he was tackled in the marking contest, but we made so many mistakes throughout the game. Things happen,” Nicks said.
“You get to the end of the game, and we’ve given ourselves a chance and you need every bit of luck in that moment. That last minute-and-a-half we clearly didn’t get things going our way.
“So, I sit here as a coach and say: 'what do I preach to the players?'
“I preach about being in the moment, don’t blame others, get on with life, you’ve got to butter up and go again next week, so I’m doing my best to stay in that space.
“I’d say we’ve got some frustrated fans out there and I feel for them and I’m a little bit with them.”
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick wouldn’t be drawn on the Rankine decision, saying a few free kicks could have gone either way and it was “a tough game to umpire”.
Although frustrated by the final moments, Nicks said his team had a lot to improve on ahead of opening Gather Round against Geelong on Thursday night.
The Crows led by a point at half-time against the Suns despite conceding 35 inside 50s and generating just 22 of their own.
“We came in at half-time and the scoreboard was in our favour, but the stats didn’t show that,” Nicks said.
“Our players are more frustrated that we didn’t play our best footy.
“I’m by no means depressed in what we were doing. We still played some great footy, had some good moments. There’s still a lot of positives to take out of the day.”
Hardwick’s message was very similar, saying Gold Coast had a bit to improve on as it moved to a 3-0 start to 2025.
Despite Adelaide winning the clearance count 46-35 and its three tall forward of Riley Thilthorpe, Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty combining for 12 goals, the Suns still found a way.
“It was a high contest game … high pressure. That's a big boy’s game of footy,” Hardwick said.
“Normally the motto's been if you win the clearances, you beat the Suns … but we found another way to win.
“I won't lie, 12 months ago we probably lose that game.
“We know where we’re at. We’ve got some work to do. We also understand we’re building into something I think could be pretty cool.
“We had some big contest wins at the end, and it was a good game of footy to come out on top of.
“Both sides can walk away thinking they’re in pretty good shape.”
