"No divide": Vasiljevic shuts down coach rift talk

Adelaide star DJ Vasiljevic has firmly denied reports of a rift with Mike Wells, declaring there is “no divide” between the pair.

Vasiljevic conceded he regrets his public comments last week, where he said Wells “has just got to chill out” in relation to a technical foul he received against the Phoenix.

But the 28-year-old rejected claims the situation escalated at the team hotel, saying reports of a confrontation are inaccurate.

“That’s just Matt Logue and CODE Sports trying to create something that’s so irrelevant. I’ll tell you right now there is no divide,” Vasiljevic told the media on Wednesday.

“You probably read me, Mike, Marko (Marinovic – assistant coach) and BC (Bryce Cotton) sat in the lobby. Yeah, we did. And I can go get CCTV footage if you want me to. We just sat there having a chat about the game plan and we knew we lost a series 3-1 against them (Sydney).

“We want to know what we could do a bit better. And yeah, it was nothing. There was no going at each other or negativity. It was more like ‘how can we help the team push the needle forward?’ and obviously now we’ve just got to do that in Game 2.”

Vasiljevic said he made a mistake by “going public” with his dissatisfaction regarding the technical foul, but stressed the importance of the entire club keeping each other accountable.

“I shouldn’t have gone public with it. But again I’ve been part of the media now and when I get asked the question it’s honesty,” he said.

“If that was me getting a ‘t’, he’s (Wells) going to tell me the same thing. It’s holding each other accountable. Doesn’t matter if it’s me, if it’s Mike, if it’s our team manager … we’re all in this together.

“The ship doesn’t sink one way or another. We got to keep it afloat together. And if we hold everyone accountable, that’s the only way we’re going to get better.

“So those comments, I shouldn’t have said it, but it was nothing negative to Mike.”

Vasiljevic said he and Wells had discussed the comments, before doubling down on his support for the coach.

“He was just like … he knows I’m in the media space and I’m an honest person and maybe I should have worded it a little differently,” Vasiljevic added.

“If you saw my reaction, Bryce’s reaction, it’s the heat in the moment. We got mad. But again, it’s holding people accountable because who knows, what if it came to a one-point game, that tech could have mattered.

“Mike’s got our full support. We play for him, we play for the organisation, we play for the city.

“He’s done a fantastic job. It’s hard taking a playing team last year to finishing second. It’s easy when you got the best player, but you also got to incorporate little bits and recruit and he’s done a fantastic job with that.

“That’s why we’re in the grand final. We’re trying to compete for a championship. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Mike’s done a fantastic job with that.”

Adelaide hosts Sydney in Game 2 on Friday night at a sold out Adelaide Entertainment Centre, live on ESPN.