Former Glenelg coach Graham Cornes has no regrets over post-1990 SANFL grand final speech to Port Adelaide
Twenty-nine years after he almost started a riot in the victorious Port Adelaide changerooms following the 1990 SANFL grand final, South Australian football legend Graham Cornes says he would do it again. Relive the speech here.
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Twenty-nine years after he almost started a riot in the victorious Port Adelaide changerooms following the 1990 SANFL grand final, South Australian football legend Graham Cornes says he has no regrets.
As the Magpies and Glenelg prepare to meet for the seventh time in a grand final on Sunday at Adelaide Oval – and first since 1992 – Cornes said while his infamous “enjoy the moment because the good times will not happen again’’ comment saw him sensationally almost thrown out of the changerooms post-match, he would “do it again’’.
“I stand by those comments,’’ Cornes said, fuelling the fire for another fierce battle between the bitter rivals.
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The dual Tigers premiership coach and inaugural Adelaide coach bravely vented his frustration in front of the Port players and coaching and administration staff after the Magpies’ 15-point grand final triumph following a tumultuous year for SA football.
The Magpies had gone behind the backs of the nine other SANFL clubs to lobby the AFL for a spot in the national competition.
“It was a culmination of the whole frustration of the year,’’ Cornes told The Advertiser as Glenelg and Port continued their preparations for Sunday’s grand final.
“It was the backdrop of Port Adelaide’s bid to go into the AFL and how it, at that time, devastated the SANFL.
“Given the fact that (Magpies Magarey Medallist) Dave Boyd had been a director of the league, had sat around the table, and it was agreed that we weren’t going to make a bid for the AFL until all the conditions were right, to then, all of a sudden, have Port out of the blue go it alone ..... the frustration boiled over.
“I remember walking through the tunnel (at Football Park) between the changerooms, they had beaten us, fairly, after (star full forward) Scotty Hodges had limped off (in the first half) and come back on and kicked four goals.
“I could appreciate the performance, it was a heroic performance by Jack (coach John Cahill) and the team. I wanted to make that point ... I made sure that I paid the right compliments to Jack and the boys but the big-headed, arrogant officials standing there with their chests swelled out, I just wasn’t going to let them get away with what they’d done to South Australian footy.’’
After Port Adelaide's 1990 Grand Final win over Glenelg, then Tigers coach Graham Cornes told Magpies players and coaches to enjoy the moment because "the good times will not happen again"
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) September 16, 2019
This Sunday, with no love lost between the two sides, we meet again...#weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/2UVJIpVW4n
Seven-times Port premiership rover Tim Ginever, who won his third consecutive flag in 1990, sat right in front of Cornes when he made his infamous speech.
“... he started with, ‘there’s people in this room’ and all that and I thought, ‘gee, what are you doing?’ It was unbelievable,” he said.
Cornes was jeered out of the changerooms, with controversial Magpies runner David Arnfield particularly angered by his comments.
Ginever said non-Magpie supporters were all barracking for Glenelg to win the last SANFL grand final before an SA team entered the AFL because of Port’s stance. “It was like, ‘you buggers, treachery, we’re going to have you’ and all that,’’ he said. “So it was even more important for us to make sure that we took the last Cup, in Graham’s eyes.’’