AFL 2020: Kane Cornes slams Crows’ ‘disgraceful’ Max Gawn tactics in fiery TV debate

A heated on-air debate has unfolded after damning vision showed one club’s “premeditated attacks” targeting a vulnerable AFL star.

Browny and Kane got stuck into it over Max Gawn footage.

Damning behind-the-goals footage has been unveiled by former Port Adelaide premiership star Kane Cornes showing Adelaide Crows players repeatedly targeting Melbourne skipper Max Gawn.

Gawn entered last round’s contest between the two sides under an injury cloud and was doubtful for the game before putting his hand up to play.

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As the match unfolded, Crows players were seeing routinely going after the superstar ruckman, with Cornes slamming the “disgraceful” tactics by former skipper Taylor Walker and second-year player Ned McHenry.

Gawn suffered a shoulder muscle tear and despite helping lead his side to a 51-point victory over Adelaide, he’ll now miss Sunday night’s contest against North Melbourne.

Cornes who said on SEN several players were more intent on “physically attacking Gawn than winning the footy themselves” and uncovered the footage on AFL.com.au’s The Round so Far.

“I thought it was disgraceful,” Cornes said. “When we highlight Jake Carlisle for targeting an injured player, he gets a fine and everyone’s outraged by it — this is far worse.

“This is premeditated, this is repetitive, this is a team attack.

“Ned’s got to pull his head in.

“He’s a second-year player who’s achieved nothing in the game — and Max Gawn probably doesn’t know who he is. But he went out of his way to target Max Gawn off the ball — and there is nothing that Max can do about it.”

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Footage shows Gawn being targeted off the ball

Cornes raised the issue again on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show and gave the Crows both barrels. Fellow panellists Nathan Brown and Matthew Lloyd said they didn’t see it as an issue, sparking a heated debate between the trio.

Kane Cornes: “I haven’t seen anything like this for a long time. Players come from 30 metres and go after Max Gawn, tell me how this is any different than Dane Rampe coming into a game with a broken hand and Jake Carlisle targeting it.”

Matthew Lloyd: “Cornesy, remember Round One last year when Port Adelaide in Butters and Rozee were giving it to Max Gawn and he didn’t handle it very well, how is that different what they did to what this is?”

Cornes: “Because he wasn’t injured.”

Lloyd: “But he declared himself fit to play. Have times changed have they?”

Cornes: “Absolutely times have changed. So why is it OK for Jake Carlisle to get fined and why is it not even being highlighted that this is a premeditated, repetitive, targeted attack?”

Nathan Brown: “But you’re only assuming that they knew, Kane.”

Cornes: “Of course they knew. I’ve never seen them do this tactic before. Max Gawn is not playing today Browny, he is out. One of the game’s best players is out, maybe because of that treatment.”

The ball is nowhere near where Gawn is being hit.

Brown: “All year you’ve been asking Adelaide to stand for something.”

Cornes: “Well get the footy.”

Brown: “Max Gawn is their best player, if you can quell his influence on the game then you come very close to winning that game as they were for a fair half of that game. If Max Gawn is out there I don’t see anything they did that was wrong.”

Cornes: “So did you think anything Jake Carlisle did to Dane Rampe was wrong because he was out there?”

Brown: “They’re different incidents. I think they’re different”

Cornes: “How could they be different?”

Lloyd: “So I’ll ask you the question, I agree it was a bad look what Carlisle did with Rampe, but people feel that Max Gawn can have his game put off by that, when can they go after him. Do they have to wait until his shoulder is feeling a bit better? What do you do about it?”

Cornes: “We’ve got three umpires out there Lloydo, how is that fair 100 metres off the ball?”

Brown: “You’re allowed to bump.”

Cornes: “You can’t bump 100 metres off the ball, Browny. You can’t block a ruckman’s run.”

Brown: “They’ve been doing it for 100 years, Kane. It’s happened for 100 years.”

Cornes: “You’ve got three umpires out there you’ve got to blow the whistle and pay a free kick. I can’t understand the difference in the two incidents I’ve just brought up.”

"Tell me how this is any different to Dane Rampe coming into a game with a broken hand and Jake Carlisle targeting it."@kanecornes has highlighted the off-the-ball tactics Adelaide used to target the injured shoulder of Max Gawn.#9AFLSFS | Watch @channel9 pic.twitter.com/IUkCzccmYZ

— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) August 9, 2020