Kane Cornes turns blowtorch on teen star over ‘concerning’ act

Eagles star Harley Reid has been widely slammed for acts of taking a dive. Kane Cornes has now exposed another “concerning” sight.

Kane Cornes has turned a blowtorch on Eagles rising star Harley Reid after his nightmare season-opening performance.

The West Coast talent was widely criticised for his underwhelming impact on the game as his side was thrashed by the Gold Coast by 87 points on home soil in Perth.

The bigger issue highlighted by footy commentators were notable acts of taking dives in clear attempts to play for a free kick. Vision of the Reid falling to the ground after a glancing tap from Charlie Ballard has particularly raised eyebrows.

FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every AFL match this Saturday LIVE. Catch all the action in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

Harley Reid has been called out for a flop after contact from Charlie Ballard. Image: Fox Footy/Getty

After rolling tape of cases where the 19-year-old was burned on and off the ball by Suns players, Cornes said footage at full time of Reid laughing with opposition players was just as troubling.

“This is almost as concerning as the lot. The smiling and laughing after (the game),” Cornes said on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters.

“I keep hearing $2 million a season. There is no way you could responsibly pay Harley Reid $2 million a season — you couldn’t do it.

“You’d be nervous about paying him $800,000 a season.

“His ceiling is Dustin Martin — that’s how good he can be — but his floor is Jake Stringer.

“You’re going to give up probably three first-round draft picks (to get him in a trade). It’d be the biggest risk a club’s ever taken.

“Right now, you couldn’t pay him any more than $800,000. He had four touches in the first half. Four touches.”

Harley Reid was all smiles. Photo: Channel 7.

Nick Holman of the Suns chats with Harley Reid after the final siren. Photo by Janelle St Pierre/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Cornes referenced stories from last week where it emerged that Essendon is the club best positioned to try and lure Reid back to Victoria with a monster contract offer worth up to $20 million.

The former Port Adelaide premiership winner also took another crack at Reid over his staging acts and said he was surprised the AFL had not taken action to issue Reid a monetary fine.

The former Footy Show panellist also criticised Reid for moments in the game where he fell behind play compared to Gold Coast star Noah Anderson. Vision of Reid flopping to the ground after a push from Touk Miller was also shown.

Harley Reid and Noah Anderson had been side by side. Photo: 7Plus.

Harley Reid got burned. Photo: 7Plus.

“What we are seeing now is a concern,” Cornes said.

“It is a repeat of what we have seen for probably 12 months. The staging, the playing, the flopping for free kicks. This one has been shown, and I can’t believe he hasn’t been fined by the MRO for that.

“Then they come after him. He doesn’t know how to handle that when they come after him. The ball is away 30m. He is still wrestling and distracted and off his game.

“But this is the biggest problem. Anderson v Reid. Anderson had nine clearances I think it was. Harley is not even in the picture.

“This is what teams are going to do to him. They start on him at stoppage and expose him the other way.”

Leading Fox Footy analyst David King also advised Reid to focus on his football rather than get distracted by what his Suns opponents dished out to him on Sunday.

“He’s not focused on just his football game day. He’s a brute and we’ve seen him do some things already in this early stage that just shift games and rip momentum. We need to see more of that,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“He just seems to get distracted so easily in conversations with players, he’s keener on a fight than he is to play footy.”

The 2023 No. 1 draft pick did slot one beautiful goal from 50m out in the third term, but was otherwise uncharacteristically quiet with just 12 touches for the game.

Struggling to make any impact on the game and with just four disposals in a modest first half, Reid’s frustrations got the best of him as he got into a verbal spat with several Suns players at the halftime break.

As he was ushered away by Eagles captain Oscar Allen, Reid was seen pointing to the dressing rooms despite his side being 45 points down at the halftime break.

Cornes earlier summed it up on Sunday, saying: “The sooner this stuff gets out of his game the better.

“That’s unacceptable. That’s an embarrassing effort and he’s better than that.”

Originally published as Kane Cornes turns blowtorch on teen star over ‘concerning’ act