The GWS Giants are "almost certain" that assistant Matthew Nicks will become Adelaide's next senior coach.
Foxfooty.com.au understands that informal discussions are giving GWS officials all the confidence that Nicks will win the job.
Nicks has spent just the one season at the Giants under Leon Cameron and is highly rated at the club and also his former club Port Adelaide, where he spent eight seasons.
Nicks has been the frontrunner for quite some time and has seemingly beaten out other candidates including Adam Kingsley.
Kingsley was never formally interviewed for the position but did speak to the Crows about the role. Scott Burns and Adam Yze were also in the running.
GWS head of football Wayne Campbell has already begun speaking to potential football department staff for next season, but won't be able to replace Nicks until he knows for sure that there will be a vacancy, which appears more likely than not at this point.
GWS football director Jimmy Bartel discussed the club’s football department review early last month.
"There has to be a (review) looking at the whole football department,” Bartel told The Age’s Real Footy podcast.
“If we finish where we do finish, which again is the same spot we have the last couple of years, and with the amount of injuries we have which is above the average by so far. We have to review all that.
“We can’t keep having our key players like (Stephen) Coniglio, (Josh) Kelly, Toby Greene — all these guys missing. You just can’t compete and its been three years in a row.
“All clubs review what they do, but we need to look at that whole department and how is it going. How can we get better so we don’t finish between third and six each year?”
Nicks, who played 175 games for Sydney from 1996-2005, was interviewed again on Wednesday and an announcement is understood to be imminent.
