Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has urged fans to be patient with young forward Riley Thilthrope after dropping the young gun ahead of his side’s round two match.
Thilthorpe, Adelaide’s prized No.2 pick in the 2020 draft, was axed after managing just seven disposals and four marks in the Crows’ one-point loss to Fremantle last week.
Nicks’ selection call was met with raised eyebrows, particularly with Adelaide continuing to be without the suspended Taylor Walker up forward.
READ MORE: Players frightened as MCG alarm causes chaos
READ MORE: Fan set to return prized football to Lance Franklin
READ MORE: Defender’s bizarre ‘meltdown’ sums up Essendon’s struggles
“If you’re a rebuilding side and you’ve got the biggest star of your future – which is Riley Thilthorpe from Adelaide – just play him,” said Port great Kane Cornes on SEN after Adelaide’s round two line-up was unveiled.
“I cannot for the life of me understand how Matthew Nicks has omitted Riley Thilthorpe and kept (Harry) Himmelberg in the side.”
Following his side’s 42-point loss to Collingwood, Nicks said the decision to omit Thilthorpe was based around getting the young gun’s confidence back.
“(He needs to) try and find some of that confidence that he had when he was drafted and let him go at the ball hard,” he said.
“When you play at this level and you’re a key forward, you’re basically being tagged every week. You’ve got a key back who’s there who’s going to put you away. It’s the hardest position to come into as a young kid.
“We’ve seen (Carlton star, Harry) McKay talk about it post-game, he is an outstanding forward and he’s in his seventh year. It’s taken time, he talked through that, the first couple of years were a real challenge for him.
“We’ve got some guys in that space at the moment who are working through that and we want to make sure they develop well.
“We want to make sure they don’t lose confidence altogether, so we’ll make some decisions around that as we go.”
Despite being a young and rebuilding side, Nicks said there were dangers associated with continually selecting players week after week purely on the basis of their age.
“There’s a balance with it,” he said.
“Pumping a kid out there every week and not giving him any confidence to go and fight.
“He’s a super important part of what this footy club is doing. His teammates love him. I haven’t worked with someone who works as hard as he does. With this comes challenges.
“He’s a young and big lad, he’s probably still growing. We’ll keep working with him and he’ll be back.”