IT WAS just last week that Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers spoke to 400 guests in the club's chairman's function and reflected on the pressure cooker environment that the club had been living in 12 months ago. 

Beaten by Richmond at home in June last year, there were widespread calls for the club to move on from coach Matthew Nicks and other senior football staff as furious fans flooded talkback radio to vent. 

Silvers opened his address by telling the room of corporate guests, who are now filling the club's sold-out match-day suites, that in football "you are never as good and never as bad as it seems".

It was a reminder about how much has changed for the third-placed Crows, who stuck by their senior coach and are now being rewarded, but also a suggestion to keep perspective during the good times.  

Alongside Nicks as one of the most under-pressure coaches leading into 2025 was Western Bulldogs counterpart Luke Beveridge, with the pair meeting on Saturday in a tantalising clash at Marvel Stadium as just one game separates the two clubs. 

Like Adelaide, the Bulldogs backed their senior coach through a period of high pressure and are now in a position of strength, with Beveridge re-signed until the end of 2027 and targeting a top-four finish after weathering early-season injuries. 

A common ingredient in the resurgent seasons of Nicks and Beveridge has been getting the right support around them and allowing them to do more of what they do best.  

The key figures have been new Adelaide head of coaching Murray Davis, who joined the club from Brisbane, and Western Bulldogs general manager of football operations Matt Egan, who was last year redeployed to be Beveridge's right-hand man in a department reshuffle. 

Davis, according to those at Adelaide, was exactly what the club needed at exactly the right time, bringing instant credibility after the Lions' 2024 premiership and a hard edge that is balanced with excellent people skills. 

His experience with the Lions under Chris Fagan, guiding them from the bottom to the top, mirrors what the Crows are trying to do after finishing 18th in 2020, and Davis has used his experience both to suggest change and provide positive reinforcement. 

Perhaps most importantly, he has been the ideal sounding board for Nicks and a calming influence when pressure is high, sitting alongside the senior coach on game day and managing communication in the box. 

Alongside senior assistant coach Scott Burns, it has been notable that Davis has helped carry the load with media commitments in 2025 and eased the burden on Nicks with other commercial requirements. 

It has resulted in Nicks spending more time on the coaching tools and face-to-face with his players than at any stage in his six years in the job. 

Beveridge, meanwhile, has highlighted the importance of his own right-hand man this season, telling AFL.com.au last month that Egan had done a "significant and critical job" for him since first arriving as coaching and performance manager at the end of 2023. 

His impact has grown since moving into the role of general manager of football operations last season after a review by former Essendon and Melbourne chief executive Peter Jackson. 

Beveridge also highlighted the importance of former list manager Sam Power's elevation to executive manager of men's football at the start of this season, continuing the shift in support around the senior coach. 

Those at the Bulldogs said Beveridge and Egan were "extremely" close now and 'Ego' had played a leading role in shaping a culture at the club – and within the football department – that has hit an excellent spot.

Like Davis at the Crows, the former Geelong key defender is said to have been a calming presence at the Bulldogs during a period in which the club and its coach waited to see the season unfold before committing to each other. 

In observing the seasons of Nicks and Beveridge, AFL Coaches Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson said it was clear both had high energy and were being well supported. 

While the spotlight had focused on the pair during the pre-season, senior coaches continued to stress the importance of their coaching teams – and right-hand men like Davis and Egan – when speaking with the AFLCA. 

"There's a lot of focus in the media on the senior coach, but the reality is that the senior coach is almost a manager now and people close by, like those experienced assistants, are critical in keeping everything running," Nicholson told AFL.com.au. 

"That allows the senior coach to do what they're good at and work to their strengths. 

"With Murray Davis and Matt Egan, both of those individuals are very team-first people and what they have probably done is shored up responsibilities so people can go and get at it. 

"That can seem pretty straightforward, but it is very important in a marathon of a season."

Sources at both the Crows and Bulldogs stressed the importance of the wider coaching groups in supporting their senior coaches but also acknowledged the importance of recent changes involving Davis and Egan. 

While the needs of every senior coach are different, Nicholson said the coaching director role that Davis fills was one worth considering for clubs as they prepare to pass on the soft cap increases that will apply over 2026 ($750,000) and 2027 ($350,000). 

"One of the soft cap reforms that we pushed hard for was how do you reward the people who already play this type of role?" Nicholson said.

"So, 20 per cent of the most senior assistant coach's wage will be excluded from the cap, allowing the club to remunerate the relevant individual a little bit more. 

"The system has recognised there is some real value in a senior assistant or director of coaching, because of the support they provide."