‘Could not believe it’: Kane Cornes scorches Kangaroos’ act of sportsmanship

Footy commentator Kane Cornes has taken a swipe at North Melbourne for an act of sportsmanship he says was “ridiculous”.

North Melbourne cheers Mitch Duncan. Photo: Fox Footy.

Footy commentator Kane Cornes has taken a swipe at North Melbourne for an act of sportsmanship he says was “ridiculous”.

The Kangaroos are at their lowest ebb after they suffered the club’s worst loss to Geelong in 41 years during a 112-point mauling on Saturday night.

As revealed by stats guru @sirswampthing on Twitter, it was the club’s 11th consecutive loss by 47 points or more. No other club in the history of the league has lost more than seven matches in-a-row by 47 or more points — even the pathetic GWS Giants team when the club first entered the competition.

Their loss in Geelong comes after a week when reports suggested the club is at breaking point with coach David Noble expected to be sacked following the club’s snap football department review.

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Rumours continue to swirl that West Coast coach Adam Simpson has been approached by the Kangaroos and has been offered the job as head coach.

It got worse again for the club on Sunday with Cornes giving a scathing assessment of the moment they made a classy guard of honour for Cats star Mitch Duncan —who was playing his 250th game — was chaired off the ground by teammates Tom Hawkins and Joel Selwood and cheered by the rest of the squad.

While Geelong players stood back behind Duncan to let him be carried off the ground first, North Melbourne players stood in a line and applauded the 31-year-old.

“Why would North Melbourne line up for 250? They’ve just suffered one of the worst losses in club history, they’ve had 25 inside 50s, it’s 250,” he said on the Sunday Footy Show.

“He’s not retiring, it’s not 300, it’s 250 and they’ve stayed out on the ground to line up for a player they’ve just been smashed by.

North Melbourne cheers Mitch Duncan. Photo: Fox Footy.

Kangaroos players form an honour guard. Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images.

“That is ridiculous. Get off the ground and start working out how you’re going to get better.

“I couldn’t believe that.”

Former Tigers star Nathan Brown said the defeat was an “indictment” on the club.

Carlton champion Marc Murphy called Kangaroos players “witches hats”.

Football journalist Damian Barrett re-iterated earlier reports that Noble is set to be sacked.

“They’re a horribly broken footy club,” he said.

“Historically, inept. It can’t get worse, but it keeps getting worse.”

The club has just one win this season and rumours surround a fracture in the dressing room, while there’s also mystery over the future of No. 1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis.

Long-time AFL administrator Geoff Walsh has been brought in to review the club’s operations — the same man responsible for the review that led to Carlton sacking David Teague in 2021.

Veteran reporter Caroline Wilson on Monday night suggested the review is in fact a “hit job” on Noble.

“I don’t think David Noble will survive the season,” Wilson told Channel 9’s Footy Classified.

“I don’t think he was aware Geoff Walsh was coming in until shortly before (the decision was made).

North Melbourne does not have answers. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“They’re not calling it a review, but it’s completely a review. It’s a hit job and it’s not just aimed at the coach, clearly.”

Wilson said Walsh will only be involved with the club in a part-time position for one month.

The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph told Fox Footy’s On The Couch on Monday night Walsh’s review could be the “evidence” North needed to “move your coach on”.

“It’s been described as a top-to-bottom review of the footy department,” Ralph told On the Couch.

“The expectation is clearly that David Noble is very unlikely to survive.

“There is so many issues there, but they are basically hiding in plain sight – game plan, morale, development.

“Carlton will tell you they brought in Geoff Walsh last year for their review and anyone who knows anything about it knows that decision was made a long time before to remove David Teague. Probably something similar here.”