‘Absolutely stupid’: Kane Cornes torched as feud erupts

Kane Cornes has been torched over comments that “crossed the line” as a war of words erupted on Tuesday morning.

Kane Cornes has been torched over comments that “crossed the line” surrounding Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters.

The outspoken commentator on Sunday said he was surprised Butters “wanted to be subbed or they subbed him out” during the Power’s disastrous qualifying loss to Geelong on Friday night.

Butters was subbed out at half time with a rib concern. The football club later confirmed Butters had gone for scans which showed bone bruising in his ribs.

Watch the best coverage of the 2024 AFL finals, with expert analysis and every game until the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh whacked Cornes publicly on Monday, suggesting Cornes effectively called Butters “soft”.

Marsh told News Corp Cornes’ commentary was “irresponsible”.

Cornes gave Marsh a backhand during a segment on Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Monday night.

“He (Marsh) thought they (comments) were irresponsible, he thought I questioned Zak Butters’ courage,” Cornes said.

Kane Cornes fired up on Monday night. Photo: Channel 9.

“I just said it’s a real challenge for him. A lot of players are playing sore at this time of year and I think he had to push through.

“Paul’s gone and said that I’ve called him (Butters) soft. Paul’s got to be really careful about putting words into my mouth I didn’t say.

“Paul, I never questioned Zak Butters’ courage. I said it has been a real challenge for him and he needed to grit his teeth.”

Cornes said he is not sorry he made the comments.

The 41-year-old accused Marsh of “running to the Herald Sun” where leading footy reporter Mark Robinson first reported the comments.

“I wonder if he’s picked up the phone to Nathan Buckley or Luke Hodge or is he just coming to me and then running to the Herald Sun and then letting Mark Robinson write that column which shouldn’t have even gone to print really, let’s be real,” Cornes said.

Robinson on Tuesday morning rubbished Cornes’ comment.

“What a stupid thing to say,” Robinson said on RSN Breakfast.

“Absolutely stupid. Cornes is a good commentator, but now he thinks he’s a newspaper editor.

“He thought he was a doctor on Friday night. Now he thinks he’s a newspaper editor.”

Marsh was also scathing of Cornes’ commentary.

The players’ representative also highlighted Cornes’ commentary surrounding Essendon’s Nik Cox last month.

“Zak was voted the AFLPA’s most courageous player – by the players – and he (Cornes) went on TV on Sunday and said basically he was soft and he shouldn’t have gone off (the field),’’ Marsh said.

Zak Butters was subbed out. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“That crossed the line in my view. My issue is the game takes too many chances with player health and safety.”

We have to take a step back and consider: Are we just going to continually put players back on the field in the hope that they might be OK, or are we going to take a more conservative approach?” Marsh asked.

“One of the barriers to that is that when there’s commentary like this – that a player is soft for not going back on the field, and this is a player who any right-minded person would not think is soft … I think it’s irresponsible.

“It makes it a harder for players to make decisions that are in their own health and safety interest when they are getting whacked for this, and he (Cornes) did the same thing to (Essendon’s) Nik Cox a couple of weeks ago, when Cox was ruled out by the doctors.”

Robinson said on RSN the AFLPA had “had enough” of Cornes’ comments.

“Cornes was critical of Butters and the AFL, they weren’t happy with Cornes talking about Nick Cox a couple of weeks ago,” Robinson said.

“He’s gone again and they’ve just said, ‘Well we’ve had enough of this’. It’s very rare that the AFLPA boss talks to a broadcaster about their commentary.”

“I can’t remember too many other commentators sitting in the box having a medical opinion on whether a player should go back on the ground or not. And in light of the Christian Petracca incident this year which we all know blew up the club, or helped blow up the club, the AFLPA Paul Marsh boss was urging conservatism from clubs or commentators to be more aware of their commentary.”

Originally published as ‘Absolutely stupid’: Kane Cornes torched as feud erupts