Adelaide Crows coach makes bizarre claim amid Matildas frenzy at World Cup

With Australia firmly embracing Matildas fever amid their spectacular Women's World Cup run, Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks is hoping there could be an unintended benefit for his side as they travel to face the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night. The Crows remain an outside chance of making the top eight this season, amid a logjam of tames sitting sixth through 12th on the AFL ladder heading into round 22.

The Crows' clash with third-placed Brisbane looms as a must win if Adelaide hopes to contend beyond the home-and-away season, and Nicks is hoping the massive interest in the Matildas can tip the home ground advantage at the Gabba away from the Lions. Saturday night's match coincides with the Matildas' quarter-final clash with France, with Nicks optimistically hoping the Lions will have less fans in the stands cheering for them as they tune in to watch the Aussies take on the European powerhouse side.

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Even Nicks could admit he would have liked to be at home watching the Matildas, his comments coming after it was announced that the game would be shown on the big screens at the MCG in the lead-up to the clash between Carlton and Melbourne. His hopes for less Lions fans in the stands were laughed off by Brisbane counterpart Chris Fagan however, who backed their fans to be out in full force.

"Hopefully that takes away from the crowd a little bit because if I could, I'd be watching the Matildas as well," Nicks said. But Fagan says strong ticket sales don't bode well for Nicks and the Crows.

"We get a lot of energy from our fans and they have been particularly good all year, they have turned up in droves to most of our games," Fagan said. "Our players feed off their energy so the more of them that turn up ... the better for us.

"When you go to Adelaide, the Adelaide crowd make you feel really uncomfortable. I'm hoping our crowd can make the Crows players feel really uncomfortable."

Fagan believes Brisbane learnt valuable lessons from losing to Gold Coast and pipping Fremantle in the past fortnight - clubs also battling to sneak into the finals. "It's like every game is a final," Fagan said.

"That's the mistake we made against the Gold Coast, we underestimated how desperate they were to keep their finals hopes alive. They went the journey in that game and we didn't quite.

"But I thought we learnt the lesson from that in the Fremantle game last week ... they brought not just their best footy, but their best effort and we were able to be resilient enough to stay in the fight and win. We get another opportunity to put that into practice this week.

"We know it's going to be a finals-like game. We know what's coming, the last few weeks have prepared us well."

When do the Matildas play France? How to watch

Kick-off between the Matildas and France is scheduled for 5pm, Brisbane time, at Suncorp Stadium.

The Matildas have been boosted by the return of superstar striker Sam Kerr, who made her first appearance of the World Cup in a 15-minute cameo against Denmark in the round of 16. After coming off the bench at the death, debate has broken out about whether or not Kerr should start against France.

Former Matildas player Emily Gelnick said it would be "silly" to mess with the Matildas' winning formula, with Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler and Emily van Egmond all excelling in Kerr's absence. But football icons Ian Wright and Craig Foster said Kerr must start if fully fit.

Kerr was keeping her cards close to her chest when asked if she would start against France after the 2-0 win over Denmark. "It was amazing for Sam to experience that," defender Clare Hunt said on Thursday about the reception Kerr received when she came onto the field.

"To have the disappointment of not starting that first game, the way that she was met by the Australian crowd and by her teammates ... was special for her."

With AAP

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