Jason Horne-Francis has come in for a barrage of criticism following Port Adelaide’s surprise loss to Essendon, with even long-term admirer Kane Cornes giving the young gun a serve.
Horne-Francis struggled through the first three quarters at Marvel Stadium, including a poor dropped mark just before three-quarter time; and while he recovered to finish with 22 disposals and kick an outstanding final-quarter goal, it wasn’t enough for a Power victory.
Speaking on SEN, Cornes, one of Horne-Francis’ predecessors in the Power No.18, said the former No.1 draft pick ‘sooked it up’ on Thursday night, expressing concern for his career if the club begins to struggle on-field.
“It’s probably the first time I’m starting to think with the Horne-Francis stuff, what’s it going to look like in a couple of years if he’s in a poor side,” Cornes said.
“It’s the body language for me… he’s a competitive winner, but he doesn’t cope well when things aren’t going his way.
“He sooked last night – there’s no sugar-coating that. Then he seduces you into thinking he’s going to be the match-winner again with that one-handed grab and finish [in the final quarter].
“But consistently, he’s got to be better with the body language stuff and infects the whole of the group. When he’s moping around, when he’s giving free kicks against, when he’s fumbling and when he’s dropping easy marks, the influence his poor body language has on the whole of the group is a dark shadow over the rest of his teammates.
“That’s not good enough.”
Cornes’ criticism comes after Power coach Ken Hinkley admitted his team’s leaders were down on form against the Bombers, with captain Connor Rozee another to endure a quiet night.
“The disappointing part, our better players, the ones we needed to stand up, they just weren’t quite at that level all the way through the game,” Hinkley said.
“You’ve just got to accept that they can’t play great footy every week, but we had too many down together.”
The Power sit outside the eight with a 1-2 record to start the season, with pressure mounting on Hinkley as well as his appointed successor at the end of 2025, Josh Carr.
Richmond premiership defender Noah Balta is facing jail time for his alleged assault in an incident in country NSW in December – but he could still suit up for the Tigers again before the sentence is handed down.
Balta pleaded guilty to a single count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in a NSW court, which under state law carries with it a maximum penalty of five years.
It comes after CCTV footage of the alleged assault was released to the public, showing Balta run at the victim, shove him to the ground and repeatedly punch him.
After the initial incident, the Tigers handed Balta a club-imposed four-match suspension, while the AFL did not see fit to hand down its own ban.
With Balta due to be sentenced on April 22, it means he could again play for the club in their Gather Round match against Fremantle in the Barossa Valley on April 13, as well as their Round 6 clash with Gold Coast.
However, speaking on SEN, former greats Kane Cornes and David King have urged the AFL to intervene and extend Balta’s ban, regardless of whatever verdict the court hands down.
“It’s a sickening incident, and I’m wondering who is in control of the sanctions here. Is the AFL integrity taking control?” King wondered.
“When you see the vision, I’m wondering why the AFL hasn’t suspended him. Maybe now is the time.
“They’re talking about the potential for jail time. The AFL has to say something… it brings the game into disrepute.”
Cornes compared the alleged assault to on-field striking charges, which typically carry a greater penalty than four weeks – in particular, he referred to St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster’s brutal front-on bump that concussed North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin in the pre-season of 2024, which saw him cop a seven-match ban – while being scathing of the Tigers’ imposing a ‘soft’ ban.
“If Jimmy Webster gets seven weeks for a shocking bump, and Balta gets four, how is that like for like,” Cornes said.
“I don’t think it adds up where a player, for an on-field incident can get seven, and then for a far worse, horrific incident off the field gets four.
“How soft has Richmond’s suspension been? Four weeks they gave him for that. Maybe they didn’t see the vision.”
Essendon coach Brad Scott has thrown his support behind Ben McKay, after the maligned key defender attracted Bronx cheers from his own fans in the Bombers’ breakthrough win over Port Adelaide.
McKay was Essendon’s boom recruit at the end of 2023, lured as a free agent from North Melbourne on a bumper contract.
But McKay and the Bombers’ defence have had a difficult start to 2025, including the brutal 61-point loss to Adelaide in round two, and he received Bronx cheers when taking marks early in Thursday night’s 9.18 (72) to 8.12 (60) win.
Scott didn’t believe the cheers were derisive, but made a point of how important McKay, who started his career under him at North Melbourne, had been.
“It’s funny that. I don’t think it was Bronx cheers – maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t,” he said.
“But he was the leading intercept defender on the ground for the most part of the game … he was really, really important for us tonight.
“Ben McKay’s got all the attributes of a really good key defender. He’s a great size. He can play on all the big strong key forwards.
“When you have breakdowns all over the ground defensively, it’s usually the last line, key defenders, that get hung out to dry. And we hung them out to dry last week.
“We can get going and keep improving our system. Ben McKay is a really important part of what we’re doing, and I have great belief in his capability.”
Wingman Nic Martin echoed Scott’s thoughts, telling AAP: “Obviously, Ben was really disheartened with his performance, but the thing with him and Zach Reid for that matter and Mason Redman is we let them hang out to dry against Adelaide.
“We didn’t support them at all through our rotation or through our defence. So we really let them hang out to dry against quality players one v one.
“So they’ll go to work on their craft and their performance but it’s a team defence, it’s not individuals.”
Scott delighted in the “character” his defence showed and noted key defensive trio McKay, Jordan Ridley and former No.10 draft pick Reid, who shut down Mitch Georgiades later in the game, had barely played together.
“We’re optimistic about what it can look like going forward, but that doesn’t mean that we’re prepared to wait for it,” he said.
“We think they can do it now.”
Scott can’t guarantee Dylan Shiel will remain in the midfield after the veteran, who started the season off half-back, delivered an inspired performance in his return to his preferred position.
He praised “underrated” wingman Xavier Duursma and delighted in how “Batman and Robin” young pair Nate Caddy and Isaac Kako stepped up in big moments, along with debutant Saad El-Hawli.
(AAP)
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
A moment to remember for the whole family!
It would be silly to do any analysis of Sydney's season, nor their eight-point loss to Essendon, without noting the injuries that have cruelled…
Joel Hamling couldn't believe he'd been pinged for this crucial free kick.
A nightmare from Aaron Francis!
Pure undiscipline from Sydney!
The stoush between controversial AFL media pundit Kane Cornes and North Melbourne only escalated throughout the Kangaroos' Thursday night loss to Essendon, with Cornes…
