Cornes v Kangaroos: Channel 7 pundit’s war with North Melbourne comes to a head on Thursday night footy

Kane Cornes’ stoush with North Melbourne peaked on Thursday night, and they may have had the last laugh, if not for an error from the newest Kangaroo against the Bombers.

North Melbourne’s week exploded with words and ended with seconds.

For all the talk and all the off-field discussion around a growing beef with Kane Cornes, the Roos’ week ended with debutant Finnbar Maley losing track of time.

The first-gamer took a cracking pack mark and then got lost in time as his 30 seconds expired, and with it the game.

All eyes were on Cornes and his two mid-week targets, Harry Sheezel and Jy Simpkin, and both stood up for North Melbourne.

Only the unstoppable Zach Merrett (35) had more disposals than Sheezel’s 32, and it may have not been as damaging as Cornes would want, it was certainly a strong performance from the young star.

Cornes’ criticism of Harry Sheezel enraged the Kangaroos. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

And Simpkin bagged two goals with 21 touches, driving his team in a second-half comeback that just fell short.

Before the game, North Melbourne footy boss Todd Viney was adamant Alastair Clarkson was not behind the club’s ban on media pundit Cornes.

Instead of the Channel 7 pundit interviewing Clarkson in the rooms pre-match, it was Clarkson’s three-time premiership skipper Luke Hodge.

The words carried on with Viney clear that the penny dropped for him when footy’s shock jock had a crack at Simpkin and Sheezel.

In his Channel 7 chat with Hodge, Clarkson, who refused to answer questions about the ban at a press conference on Wednesday, said: “This is a club decision from the board right through to the football department with Todd heading it up, we need to look after our people”.

As Viney said pre-match, the pair were “going alright and both Harry and Jy wish there wasn’t as much attention on it as there is to be fair”.

That attention didn’t go away.

But the one thing that could have made Cornes and the circus around him go away would have been a win.

As Viney said, “we understand we might be under a bit of heat but we are under heat anyway, we need to win games, we need to perform”.

If Maley’s shot went through, the talk would have stopped.

Cornes said he wanted to ask “hard questions” of Clarkson pre-match.

“I would have loved the opportunity to go in there and I think it is unfortunate the North fans don’t get to hear the responses to those questions,” he said pre-match.

“I think they (North) have been poorly advised on this.”

Those questions would have been even harder at half-time, but the fightback from Clarkson’s men was admirable.

An admirable fightback is not enough for a team that has found wins harder to find than a One Nation voter in inner-city Melbourne.

In the end though, it was for nothing, as the Roos just ran out of time.

FEARS ‘PISSED OFF’ ROOS COULD GET PHYSICAL WITH CORNES AFTER BAN

Former Melbourne and Sydney coach Paul Roos says the decision to ban Kane Cornes from the North Melbourne rooms was for the shock jock’s protection against a potential altercation due to “pissed off” players.

Roos said on Thursday the wider media could not downplay North Melbourne’s ban if it wanted to continue to have access to clubs and players.

Roos, who worked closely with Kangaroos football boss Todd Viney during his time at the Demons, said the club’s actions were “personal”.

Cornes will be part of Channel 7’s commentary team for Thursday night’s match between North Melbourne and Essendon, but was told to stay away from the Kangaroos’ rooms after his criticism of young gun Harry Sheezel during the week which some labelled as “bullying”.

Kane Cornes will cover the Roos’ clash with Essendon on Thursday night.

“This is probably the message a bit to the media – don’t dismiss this, because if we want to have relationships with footy clubs and bring out personalities and interview and great stuff, we can’t dismiss what Todd is saying,” Roos said on his ABC Sport podcast.

“His (Viney’s) players are pissed off. They’re really pissed off. So there’s a danger that if Kane walks in those rooms, that something physical may happen. That’s the way I’m reading it.

“This is not just about the North Melbourne footy club. This is potentially protecting Kane Cornes.

“Kane’s clearly studied the overseas media landscape, so Kane has chosen to become a media personality, like Stephen A. Smith and guys like that. So that’s his choice. That has repercussions. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s irrelevant because he’s chosen to take that path.”

The comments come after it was revealed that Cornes had also recently been banned from the Western Bulldogs’ rooms while covering a match for the host broadcaster.

Cornes hit out at North Melbourne’s ban on Wednesday night, labelling it “weak strategy”.

“These things come in ebbs and flows, don’t they?” Cornes said on SEN’s Sportsday show.

“The Western Bulldogs wouldn’t have me in their change rooms the other night so this isn’t new.

“It doesn’t really matter to me. It doesn’t really hinder me doing my job one little bit. It doesn’t hinder Channel 7 covering the games one little bit.”

Originally published as Cornes v Kangaroos: Channel 7 pundit’s war with North Melbourne comes to a head on Thursday night footy