Crows trying to crack St Kilda’s defensive code: Nicks

Adelaide’s gamers will cop a proverbial “punch in the face” from St Kilda, Crows coach Matthew Nicks says.

And simply how they react might be pivotal to the result of Sunday’s Adelaide Oval encounter, he says.

“We have got a plan coming in to St Kilda,” Nicks mentioned.

“But it’s all good until you get punched in the face and then we have got to be ready for that.

“And we will certainly get a punch within the face this weekend, they seem to be a good facet.”

The Saints, under new coach Ross Lyon, held third spot entering the round with six wins and two losses.

And Lyon’s defensive methods, honed in his initial stint at the Saints and then at Fremantle, have been trademark.

Entering round nine, St Kilda had conceded the least scores of any club, an average of 59.25 points a game – the next-best is Collingwood (72.38 per match).

“We know we’re going to have our work lower out for us,” Nicks said of his Crows, who are 10th with four wins and four losses.

“They (St Kilda) are disciplined they usually’re targeted they usually work onerous within the contest however they focus their mindset in the correct house.

“They are very much about limiting the opposition and then punishing on turnover – and they’re very, very good at it.

“They have gotten an skilled coach, extremely revered, and he has been in a position to drive that in them fairly rapidly.

“It’s a credit to him … they’re playing some really strong footy.”

But Nicks mentioned the Crows, regardless of consecutive defeats to pacesetters Geelong (26 factors) and Collingwood (one level), have been additionally performing properly.

“We have had our chances and we have fallen short … but ultimately we go through those games with a fine tooth comb and look at how we can improve,” he mentioned.

“We also look at a lot of the positives.

“And in the mean time there’s 80 per cent constructive that we’re doing rather well.

“We have just got to get that (other) 20 per cent right and that will get us the result, or the scalp if you want to call it that.”