Kane Cornes launches withering attack on Ross Lyon

Kane Cornes has launched a fierce spray at Ross Lyon, using a two-word insult against the flagging St Kilda coach.

Port Adelaide premiership winner Kane Cornes has turned a blowtorch onto St Kilda coach Ross Lyon.

After starting the season with wins over Collingwood and Richmond, along with narrow defeats to Geelong, Essendon and the Giants, the Saints’ form has nosedived.

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St Kilda has lost three of its past four games to slump to 14th on the ladder, including an 80-point hammering against the 11th-ranked Bulldogs and Saturday’s upset 8.10 (58) to 7.11 (53) loss to battlers Hawthorn.

Coming off a sixth-place finish in his first season back at the Saints, Lyon’s team has a 3-6 record so far in 2024 and Cornes has zeroed in on a trait he has noticed from the coach’s post-game press conferences.

“I just think he’s turned into an excuse machine,” Cornes said on Channel 9’s Sunday Footy Show.

“After every loss I’m sitting there going which excuse will Ross come up with after a loss.”

The show then replayed a series of press conferences following St Kilda’s defeats to the Hawks, Bulldogs and Port Adelaide.

Ross Lyon and Kane Cornes. Photos: Getty Images/News Corp

“It’s not an excuse, but we’ve had a lot of tight games,” Lyon said after the Hawks game on Saturday.

“We get four messages a quarter and with three minutes to go you can’t send the runner (out).

“In my previous iterations you could use the runner almost at will. You see things you want to fix and things you want to do and people say kick more goals and you get those opportunities but it’s still limited.

“It’s not an excuse but if you think about the pressure (on coaches) that goes on, you can pick up the phone, shift some stuff and maybe score better.

“It’s interesting. We’re like neutered dogs right, we can sit there and see stuff and you can’t fix it. It’s very difficult, but it’s not an excuse.”

The following videos then showed Lyon complaining about a free kick count against his side in the loss to the Power and then the short break the Saints faced before taking on the Dogs.

“So kicked 53 points yesterday and the runners was the excuse, the inability to use the runners,” Cornes said.

Saints players look dejected after the loss to Hawthorn in Launceston. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

“Against Port Adelaide it was the free kick count.

“And against the Western Bulldogs it was a short break.”

Cornes then stated what he would prefer to see from Lyon in his messages to fans and the media.

“I think the problem for Ross is he’s got to explain what the game plan is and how they’re going to score more,” he said.

“So they average 74 points for the season, yesterday they took 117 marks and kicked seven goals.

“Hawthorn had kicked eight goals to three-quarter time, didn’t kick a goal in the last quarter, yet the Saints weren’t able to run over a bottom-four side and get it done.

“They‘ve got to come up with a game plan and he has to describe that.

“Don’t worry about the excuses, just tell us how you’re going to adjust your game plan to try and score and challenge the best sides.”

Next up St Kilda host Fremantle on Saturday night, before clashes with the Demons, Eagles and Suns.

Originally published as Kane Cornes launches withering attack on Ross Lyon