‘Absolute disgrace’: Wayne Carey slams trolls, Kane Cornes amid Cotchin, Selwood furore

Wayne Carey has thrown himself into the fray after Channel 9 personality Kane Cornes kicked off a war of words with Channel 7.

Aussie footy legend Wayne Carey has blasted trolls slamming the likes of Joel Selwood and Trent Cotchin after the premiership captains’ move into the Channel 7 commentary box.

But it’s also delivered a backhand to Channel 9 personality Kane Cornes, who poured petrol on the fire when he savagely mocked the performance of the ex-Tigers skipper in a segment on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show recently.

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Cornes kicked off the war of words when he roasted Cotchin’s occasional dry moments in front of the camera in a brutal parody of a 7Sport TikTok video which saw the Tigers great talking over vision from Collingwood’s loss to Sydney in Round 1.

The segment had Cornes’ fellow panellists in stitches, with Tony Jones even saying: “You’ve just character assassinated Trent Cotchin.”

The vision went viral and was slammed by Seven personality and Tigers great Matthew Richardson, who tweeted: “Taking the piss out of 2 AFL premiership captains. Bar getting lower and lower.”

Cornes sparked a firestorm with his shot at Cotchin. Photo: TikTok and Channel 9

The Footy Show had previously poked fun at Geelong champion-turned Channel 7 analyst Selwood.

The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson then accused Cornes of “bullying” after he called Richardson “too sensitive” for his response.

But Carey, a former Channel 7 commentator and controversial footy legend, has joined the fray, hitting out at the critics of the former superstars as they shift into the media.

“There’s been a lot of talk — I’m following on these social platforms — the negative feedback that people like Joel Selwood and legends like Luke Hodge (get), these guys are absolute legends, Trent Cotchin,” Carey said on his The Truth Hurtspodcast.

Co-host Tony Sheahan added Carey into the conversation, saying he’d copped heat on social media as well.

“Heat for me, when you’ve been on the front page and in the media as often as I have, a dingbat on social media, it is literally water off a duck’s back,” Carey said.

“But when you’re talking about guys like Trent Cotchin and Joel Selwood, who are pillars and absolute legends of the game — premiership captains, premiership players, unbelievable human beings — the comments about their media performing is horrendous. It’s an absolute disgrace.”

Wayne Carey has taken an aim at the trolls. Photo: YouTube

While Carey didn’t mention Cornes directly, it’s hard to separate him from the situation as it went from background noise to the spotlight with his Footy Show segment.

But Cornes also doubled down the next day, saying: “If you watch the Front Bar on Channel 7, their whole show is taking the mickey out of people. So I was hoping it would be taken in the right way and 98 per cent of people I think thought it was okay.”

He also said he’d be “fine” if Cotchin too a shot back, calling it “a bit of lighthearted fun”.

Carey continued, taking aim at the critics of Brian Taylor on social media as well.

While he admitted BT “divides opinion”, it didn’t stop him defending his former Channel 7 colleague.

“BT, he gets a lot of negative feedback too. I love BT,” Carey said.

“People don’t understand what a following he has so I hate the negativity around him and the job that he does because I think he’s terrific.”

Brian Taylor has been the leader of the Channel 7 commentary team. Picture: Channel 7/Supplied

Sheahan added that “BT is probably the best commentator in Australia”.

Carey also praised the Roaming Brian segment, saying getting names wrong in the rooms was “part of the theatre”.

Taylor, who played 140-games after starting at Richmond but playing 97 games for the Pies including winning the 1986 Coleman Medal, has been criticised in recent times, accused of bias when commentating Collingwood matches.