Kane Cornes apologises to umpires involved in Lachie Schultz concussion saga

Kane Cornes has issued an apology to the umpires involved in the Lachie Schultz concussion saga over comments he made on Channel 7.

Kane Cornes has apologised to the four AFL umpires at the centre of the Lachie Schultz concussion saga for his criticism of the whistle blowers.

The football commentator made comments on Channel 7’s program The Agenda Setters, alongside colleagues Luke Hodge and Dale Thomas.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon also apologised to the umpires on a phone hook up on Wednesday.

The league boss offered the apology for the league’s handling of the situation, which led to the criticism made by Cornes, Hodge and Thomas.

Both Hodge and Thomas are expected to apologise in the coming days, however Cornes appeared on SEN on Thursday night to say he levelled “false allegations” at the umpires.

“I accused field umpires who were officiating that round 9 match between Fremantle and Collingwood of misleading the AFL and that they had not seen the incident in which Collingwood’s Lachie Schultz suffered a concussion,” he said.

“I made some of those comments having seen two initial statements made by the AFL with regards to the matter on Friday May the 9th, and then also on Tuesday May the 13th.

“And further comments after seeing the additional statement made by the AFL readdressing their initial statements.

“Now in light of the additional statement which made it clear the umpires had not misled the AFL, I acknowledge that the allegations made by me on this show were false and I withdraw them.

“I understand the umpires truthfully told the AFL they saw the incident and they did not mislead the AFL and so I unreservedly apologise to Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Justin Power and Martin Rodger for making these false allegations.”

The AFL wants an apology from Kane Cornes. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

On Channel 7’s ‘Agenda Setters’ program, Cornes said the umpires should be stood down for a month for overlooking Schultz’s concussion.

“If four umpires have all forgotten the same biggest incident of the weekend, I would be absolutely shocked at that,” Cornes said.

“In an era where we suspend players for tackles for three weeks … if this isn’t the biggest sanction to an umpire that’s been handed down in recent memory, I think these guys shouldn’t be umpiring for a month.

“Collingwood should be ropeable, Lachie Schultz should be ropeable, his family should be ropeable and I would be absolutely staggered if those four umpires umpire again in the next month.”

Hodge said the umpires “lied” about what they saw, going off broadcast vision.

The episode from May 13 had been removed from Channel 7’s app.

It was also removed from Channel 7’s social media platforms.

The AFL Umpires Association released a statement to Channel 9, calling for a recall of the comments made on the Agenda Setters.

“The umpires involved in the Fremantle vs Collingwood game have been advised as to their legal rights in relation to some of the commentary that followed the Lachlan Schultz concussion issue,” AFLUA chief executive Rob Kerr said.

Lachie Schultz after the hit against Fremantle. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

“Being falsely accused of lying and misleading the AFL goes beyond simply questioning the management of the actual incident.

“Public commentary that casts aspersions on an individual’s integrity and professional competence, particularly when that is core to the role they perform, harms their personal and professional standing and it is reasonable to consider how that can be rectified.”

The comments came in response to a statement from former AFL football operations boss Laura Kane that the umpires said they did not see Schultz on the ground with concussion symptoms.

The AFL later clarified that umpires did see Schultz but there was a communication between umpires’ coach Steven McBurney and Kane, saying “our process failed”.

Cornes has taken a few days off this week as he prepares to return to SEN and Channel 7 for Thursday night’s game between Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs.

Asked if it was a pre-planned break, Channel 7 identity Craig Hutchison said “not sure” on his The Sounding Board podcast.

Originally published as Kane Cornes apologises to umpires involved in Lachie Schultz concussion saga