Chad Cornes opens up on joining Kane in the media, his Port Adelaide axing and falling in love with coaching again
Graham was first, then Kane well and truly made his mark. So, what can the footy world expect from Chad Cornes in the media? The Power great opens up on the next chapter.
Chad Cornes was frank and honest, as he always is.
He’d just been informed his contract wouldn’t be renewed as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide, fronted the media and said he’d lost his passion for coaching.
“I’m not as driven as ever (to coach) right now,” he said in August of this year.
“This time last year I was loving it and thought I was improving every year.
“Whether this year’s taken a toll and maybe the last six weeks … so I’ll try some other things and see if that passion comes back.”
Nearly two months later, we are sitting in the Goodwood Saints’ changerooms after Cornes accepted the role as the new coach of the Adelaide Footy League giants as they look to get back into Division 1.
“That feels like it was six months ago,” he tells The Advertiser when reminded of those comments.
“Like I haven’t done a lot since then, a lot of time at home with the girls.
“I think I said in that press conference I was really loving coaching, this year was a real struggle.
“I lost a bit of love for it for a variety of reasons but you sit back, you watch finals and footy is all I’ve ever known so it would have been really strange to not be involved.
“And the thing about local footy clubs is that people do it for the love of the game and the footy club, which excites me.
“You step back from the high pressure environment of the AFL, not saying there is no pressure here, but people are here because they really want to be here and love their club so that is really exciting for me.”
It was during the first half of the grand final between Brisbane and Geelong that it dawned on Cornes that his love of coaching had been rekindled.
“I felt lucky to be watching that,” he says.
“And (almost missing) that feeling of being involved in a game like that.”
‘IF I WAS REALLY FLYING I WOULD STILL BE THERE’
The last two months out of the game has also eased the disappointment of not having his contract renewed at the club where he is so loved.
He played 239 games from 1999 to 2011.
After a stint at GWS, he returned to Alberton and was Port’s SANFL coach, its backline coach and lastly its forward coach.
The latter often attracted criticism from fans online, and the Power’s inaccurate kicking at times certainly didn’t help.
Cornes says he accepted the decision was the best for the club and for him.
“I’ve always done a lot of self reflection and been big on things that happen to you are because of you,” he says.
“So if I was really flying and doing a great job at the footy club I’m sure I would still be there.
“So you look deeper into what more could I have done? What more could I have given?
“But deep down I know that I’ve always given everything I can to the footy club, I have worked really hard to improve myself as a coach and as a person so that is something I am proud of.
“I’m really happy with the decision, it wasn’t my call to not be there but it is definitely the right call for me and the footy club.
“I think they have made some great appointments in their coaching group, which I am sure will do great things for those in that young group coming in as players.
“As a leader I have learnt that the blame always falls back on you and that is what you look back on.
“I have always been really honest with myself and I’m probably my biggest and harshest critic in a way, probably too much.
“It was just another experience that you learn from and it will help me improve here (at Goodwood) but more importantly as a person.”
The decision to not renew Cornes’ contract came ahead of 2004 premiership teammate Josh Carr’s elevation to senior coach at Alberton.
Cornes says the relationship between him and Carr will be fine going forward.
“Yeah, we had some good chats after the last game (against Gold Coast),” he says.
“That was a really special night, we had a good chat and we will be fine.
“He is obviously quite busy at the moment, there is a fair bit going on there at the moment.
“But we will be fine going forward.”
‘A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK I GAVE KANE INSIDE INFORMATION’
Carr and Cornes’ paths might cross in 2026.
After saying he could be set to enter the media post-coaching – and doing special comments for Triple M for the SANFL grand final – Cornes will be in the media space next year, with the specific roles he‘ll undertake yet to be announced.
It means there will be another Cornes in the caper as he joins brother Kane, dad Graham and nephew Eddy in the space.
"It will be interesting to see what happens next year, that’s for sure."
— Eddy Cornes (@CornesEddy) October 8, 2025
â°Former Port Adelaide assistant coach Chad Cornes gives his thoughts on Zak Butters’ potential move home.
Listen to the full episode via the link in bio. pic.twitter.com/dDywLZP1j4
“I’m not sure how much we will have to do with each other myself and Kane,” he says.
“I’ll be a lot different to what he is. I love the way he goes about it and I think he is doing an amazing job.
“Dad does bits and pieces now so he is not in it that much and Eddy is doing a great job with his podcast and the stuff he is doing over in Melbourne.
“So there’s a lot of Cornes’ out there so there will be a few people that will hate the news that I’m going in there.
“They probably hate me anyway, but hopefully I can offer something different from the rest of the family.”
Like him, love him or loath him, Kane has become one of the biggest voices in footy media across his many platforms.
His no-prisoner and big-call approach certainly made things difficult for his brother when he was a coach at the Power.
“It was tricky early especially when he had some opinions about some players that I was coaching there at Port,” he says.
“I just made sure I let those players know that it was Kane’s opinion, I don’t agree with that and what he was saying about the boys at the time.
“A lot of people thought I was giving Kane inside info and told him everything that was happening at Port and that was completely the opposite.
“He found out a lot more from other people that work at the footy club than me, I never gave him anything so just making sure that the players understood that some of the things Kane said I didn’t agree with and they weren’t coming from me.”
‘I’M MORE MELLOW NOW’
You have to go back to the 2010s for the last time Cornes had the reins of a team, rather than assisting.
Then he was the coach of Port Adelaide in the SANFL.
There was a grand final appearance in 2017, in which the Magpies lost to Sturt.
He has conceded that he did not take the loss well.
There are plenty of lessons he has taken from then for taking charge of the Saints.
So will Cornes the Goodwood Saints coach be different from Cornes the Magpies coach?
“The Maggies I was probably a bit aggressive still, very passionate. I loved those two years and I learnt a lot,” he says.
“I think I’ve mellowed a lot since then.
“I’ve become a better coach in the way I present, deliver game plans. I think the biggest thing will be the relationships with the players and everyone who works here which I have always been pretty strong at.
“I’ll be a bit more mellow, just drive high standards, the culture is already great here and try and learn as much as I can about this football club over the next couple of months.”
But there won’t be as big a name coaching in the Adelaide Footy League in 2026.
So Cornes is well aware he might cop a barb or two from the local footy crowd.
“Especially (at) this oval (Goodwood Saints’ home ground in Millswood), you are right on top of the crowd, which I love,” he said.
“So I might have to bite my tongue every now and then.
“Which I have become better at.”
Originally published as Chad Cornes opens up on joining Kane in the media, his Port Adelaide axing and falling in love with coaching again
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