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Kane Cornes is good at dishing it out, but not copping it back, according to a former teammate.
Former Port Adelaide captain Dom Cassisi highlighted the Channel Seven commentator’s ‘hypocrisy’, after strong criticism of North Melbourne players Harry Sheezel and Jy Simpkin that resulted in him being banned from interviewing coach Alastair Clarkson.
Speaking on Channel 7’s online Two Team Town show, he revealed that Cornes took personal negativity and criticism particularly badly, therefore, he couldn’t believe Cornes criticises players so frequently after seeing how he’d react when he was younger.
“Knowing Kane, I was drafted in the same year as him, I was with him every day and us guys understand that if someone said something about Kane’s game, he took it worse than anyone,” Cassisi said.
“He would literally struggle to come to the club, he wouldn’t talk to anyone. He would be flat.
“So we sort of look at it and go ‘what you are doing to this kid you couldn’t really take yourself when someone criticised you’”.
Cassisi added that Cornes’ comments about Sheezel probably did get a little bit too personal for a young player, but he is not the only former player from the Power who cannot take what he says seriously.
“For us who are close to him we sort of laugh it off a bit because it is like ‘you struggled with that and you are doing it to this kid’, which doesn’t really stack up,” he said.
“Because Kane struggled with it so much, and he has spoken publicly about his anxiety you do go how can you inflict that on other people but that is the path that he has gone down.
“And so maybe to all the players out there … maybe take it with a pinch of salt.”
Cassisi, who was drafted in the same year as Cornes in 2000 and is now a member of Port’s football committee, also does commentary for Triple M.
Sydney have decided against going to the AFL tribunal and will accept Lewis Melican’s three-game striking ban.
The Swans weighed up their options after Melican avoided direct referral to the tribunal. He caught GWS midfielder Toby Bedford across the face with a swinging arm in Sunday’s win over the Giants at the SCG.
The incident was graded as careless conduct, high contact and severe impact.
Bedford passed a concussion assessment, but was sent from the field under the blood rule for a cut to his right cheek.
He was later substituted out at halftime with blurred vision due to swelling around his eye.
Melican will miss Saturday’s match against Essendon at Marvel Stadium, then the home game against Carlton and the MCG visit to play Melbourne.
Collingwood have been forced to make sweeping changes for their trip to face under-fire Fremantle, ruling out Jordan De Goey, Brayden Maynard, Brody Mihocek and Scott Pendlebury.
Mihocek has an abdominal strain while Maynard, De Goey and Pendlebury are all officially being “managed” amid a five-day break and travel for Thursday’s game.
None of the quartet trained with the Magpies’ main group on Tuesday.
“They all won’t play – somewhat deliberate for most of them,” coach Craig McRae said.
“Checkers has got a bit of an abdominal strain which will keep him out hopefully only for one week, we’ll see how that goes.
“And then the other three will be managed, and we planned this – it was a long time ago. We saw the draw when it came out and thought ‘let’s be strategic in this.'”
Maynard has been managing plantar fasciitis and was originally going to be rested against Geelong, before Collingwood delayed it a week.
After an interrupted pre-season, midfield dynamo De Goey has failed to hit his explosive best.
Jordan De Goey. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
The Pies plan to use De Goey’s break from playing to bank aggressive training loads.
“Jordy’ll just be managed this game,” McRae said.
“We’re sort of like one step forward, one step back with Jordy at the moment, we’d like to be going a bit faster than what we are with him.
“But we’ve got to play the long game. We have patience … because the plan is to get him going in the coming weeks, and this is part of that.”
McRae insisted De Goey wasn’t dealing with any further groin issues, but was building his loads.
“We’re deliberate in saying we’re not going to chase our tail,” he said.
“We’re going to just add his loads and training loads when we can.
“And this week is five days – it just doesn’t allow for that.”
McRae confirmed Mihocek – who Collingwood had been keen to rest before his injury – remarkably played through his abdominal strain against Geelong.
Returning defender Jeremy Howe and held over emergencies Ed Allan, Lachie Sullivan and Oleg Markov are set to play, while McRae could hand a debut to “old-school full forward” Charlie West.
The 19-year-old has impressed in the VFL and will travel but will have to prove his fitness after a foot complaint.
McRae is expecting a fired-up Fremantle, and a hostile environment at Optus Stadium, after the Dockers were battered by St Kilda.
He showed his players footage of Fremantle practicing contested work at training, along with Justin Longmuir’s post-match press conference.
The Dockers coach had said he wasn’t sure his team were up for the fight.
When asked which bits of Longmuir’s press conference he had shown, McRae said: “oh just the things that he said that was lacking.
“So if it’s lacking, you’d expect it to be there – or you’d want it to be.
“So we’re not going to shy away from what’s coming.”
Luke Beveridge insists he won’t be “selling himself”, as his future as Western Bulldogs coach remains undecided b
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has no issue with former ace Bailey Smith’s “cheeky” jibes towards the club he left last year.
Smith caused a stir after starring in Geelong’s thrilling win over Collingwood, taking a shot at the Bulldogs’ second home ground.
Asked about the atmosphere at the MCG, as 82,514 fans witnessed a pulsating contest on Saturday night, Smith replied: “Beautiful mate. Not getting that at Ballarat.”
Luke Beveridge. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Only hours earlier, the Bulldogs had demolished Port Adelaide by 90 points in front of only 4814 people at Mars Stadium.
The capacity at the Ballarat ground is currently heavily reduced by construction taking place across half of the venue.
Beveridge labelled Smith’s comments “interesting theatre”, but urged his players to leave them until they face the Cats in Geelong on May 22.
“There’s no real filter with ‘Baz’ (Smith), so you come to accept that and I don’t think it’s going to change,” the coach said.
“It’s just the way he is – and he’ll tell you ‘it’s just the way I am, I don’t have a filter’, so he doesn’t try and hide from it.
“It’s going to be interesting, if everyone keeps grabbing him (for an interview) straight after a game. I’m not sure whether Geelong are going to like that every week, but it’s just the way he rolls.”
Beveridge downplayed any tension between Smith and the Bulldogs.
After missing all of last season with a knee injury, the 24-year-old left for Geelong following 103 games since being drafted by the Bulldogs in 2018.
Smith has been open about his mental health challenges, and also served a two-game suspension in 2022 after he admitted to using an illicit substance.
Since switching clubs, the hard-running midfielder has recaptured the form that made him a match-winning player in the 2021 finals series.
Smith is averaging a career-high 30.1 disposals and 4.9 clearances this season for Geelong.
“It’s been well reported he had some real challenges the two years before he exited our club,” Beveridge said.
“I’m just really rapt for him that he’s playing good footy.
“Ultimately, the competition’s better. Geelong are a better side with him playing like he is.
“Ultimately him moving to Geelong, it seems like it’s been a good move for him and a good move for Geelong.
“We’re going OK, so no heartache there.”
– with AAP
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