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Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks praises ‘shaken’ ruckman Reilly O’Brien for apology to Eagles star Nic Naitanui

Steve LarkinThe West Australian
VideoCrows ruckman Reilly O'Brien has been caught red handed with an embarrassing social media post.

Adelaide’s season of woes has continued, following ruckman Reilly O’Brien’s accidental public sledge of Eagles star Nic Naitanui.

Reilly O’Brien called West Coast star Nic Naitanui ‘lazy and unfit’ in an accidental tweet.
Camera IconReilly O’Brien called West Coast star Nic Naitanui ‘lazy and unfit’ in an accidental tweet. Credit: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos

But coach Matthew Nicks says a “shaken” O’Brien should be praised for how he handled the Twitter debacle, where he labelled his opponent “lazy and unfit”.

“It was an honest mistake,” Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks told reporters on Friday.

“You could see yesterday that he was shaken up by it.”

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Nicks credited O’Brien for his hasty video apology.

“He made the call and put something out there to the public and probably more for Nic Nat, because he has got huge respect for Nic Naitanui,” he said.

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“The footy that he (Naitanui) is playing at the moment is second to none when it comes to ruck work.

“Rob, every week, he is a true professional, he goes through and takes his notes as to what he needs to do for that weekend.

“And part of being an athlete is finding weaknesses, finding areas that maybe he can expose an opposition. We don’t normally tweet that out.

“He had some phone issues. It is what it is ... and now he has just got to get ready for that first centre bounce because Nic Nat will be pretty fired up.”

The Crows ruck soon deleted the Twitter post ahead of his duel with Naitanui in Saturday’s AFL game on the Gold Coast, replacing it with an apologetic video.

VideoWATCH: Adelaide ruckman Reilly O'Brien has apologised for an accidental tweet he posted with notes on how he plans to take down Nic Naitanui this weekend.

Teammate Rory Laird said O’Brien was “embarrassed” by the whole ordeal.

“He’s obviously apologetic... Nic Nat’s a superstar player,” he said.

“(The notes) just happened to be somehow, some way put on social media... Nic Nat’s probably read it and will come out firing.

“First of all (O’Brien) has to buy a new phone and secondly, maybe write on a piece of pen and paper.”

O’Brien’s blunder adds a fascinating sub-plot to Saturday’s fixture between the winless Crows and 15th-placed Eagles.

Nicks will field a forward line without ex-captain Taylor Walker, who sidelined by a knee injury — only 144-gamer Tom Lynch has played more than eight AFL games in Adelaide’s attack.

But Nicks said he was excited rather than concerned at the prospect of coming up against a battle-hardened Eagles defence long-renowned as among the competition’s best.

“We feel like the youth is going to give us a contest and enjoy the challenge, and what bigger challenge than West Coast’s backline,” Nicks said.

Adelaide’s forward line will feature Tyson Stengle, who has served a club-imposed four-game suspension for drink-driving, while defender Andrew McPherson will be the eighth player to debut for the Crows this season.

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