Kane Cornes

Kane Cornes
Cornes in August 2011
Personal information
Full name	Kane Graham Cornes
Date of birth	(1983-01-05) 5 January 1983 (age 41)
Original team(s)	Glenelg (SANFL)/Brighton Bombers
Draft	No. 20, 2000 National Draft
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Playing career
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2001–2015	Port Adelaide	300 (93)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2008	Dream Team	1 (0)
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008.
Career highlights
AFL premiership player: 2004 4x John Cahill Medal (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012) 2x All-Australian Team (2005, 2007) Peter Badcoe VC Medal (Round 6, 2008) Port Adelaide Hall of Fame inductee (2019) 2x Merv Agars Medal: (2005, 2009)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Kane Graham Cornes (born 5 January 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

A product of Sacred Heart College and Glenelg in the SANFL, he made his AFL debut in 2001 after being selected with pick 20 in the 2000 AFL Draft. Before his professional football career he attended Sacred Heart College, which is one of the most prolific schools in Australia in terms of producing Australian footballers. His All Australian brother, Chad Cornes, also attended Sacred Heart College and played for Glenelg in the SANFL. They are the sons of South Australian football identity Graham Cornes, and stepsons of 2007 Federal Labor candidate Nicole Cornes. They have three younger half-sisters paternally.

AFL career

In 2001 and 2002, Cornes played in Port Adelaide's two victorious pre-season premiership teams.

Then in 2004, as the team went from strength to strength despite losing important finals games to infamously be deemed as 'chokers', Cornes was in the team that won Port Adelaide's first AFL Premiership at the 2004 AFL Grand Final, where he placed third in the voting for the Norm Smith Medal. 2004 saw Cornes' fourth season in the competition, cementing his position in the midfield while averaging 20 disposals a game.

Cornes continued his good form into 2005, becoming All-Australian, and in 2006 played his 100th game for the club in round 7. He also topped the AFL Dreamteam competition despite Port Adelaide having a bad year.

In 2007, Cornes again won All-Australian selection for the second time in a team otherwise dominated by Geelong players. He was also the leading possession winner in the AFL, received the most Brownlow votes for the year for Port Adelaide, and won their best and fairest, the John Cahill Medal, ahead of brother Chad. Despite playing in the Port Adelaide side in the 2007 AFL Grand Final that lost to Geelong by a record 119-point margin, Cornes kicked a goal and was deemed among Port Adelaide's best players.

In 2010, Cornes took out his third John Cahill Medal and confirmed his reputation as the club's most consistent player through a new attacking role that went beyond his previous role of merely tagging the opposition's best players. His 36-possession, 2-goal game against the Western Bulldogs in Round 16 of that year was a highlight, in addition to a 38-possession effort against West Coast late in the year. Instrumental in the Power's late season fortunes, his third best and fairest highlighted his durability as a mainstay of the Port Adelaide engine room.

In 2011, Cornes had a difficult season by his standards as he adjusted to a new role which took him further away from his traditional tagging duties. Before 2011, Cornes had not missed a single game since 2003. But round 4, 2011 saw his streak of 174 consecutive games come to an end when he was omitted from the side. ^[1] Playing more on the wing and across halfback, he was sent back to Glenelg in the SANFL with a view to adapting better to the coaching panel's new expectations. He still managed to play 17 games out of a possible 23, despite spending time back at the SANFL Tigers, and was serviceable in his ball-winning ability.

Cornes made an impressive return to form in 2012, playing every game, and playing an exceptional season as a setup midfielder. He won his fourth John Cahill medal. He once again topped the disposals count for the season. Cornes received high praise for returning to his acclaimed tagging football with top performances on midfield heavyweights Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) and Gary Ablett (Gold Coast).

Cornes reached his 250th game in Round 5 of 2013, where Port Adelaide came from 41-points down to win 12.12 (84) to 10.19 (79) at AAMI Stadium against the West Coast Eagles, taking the Power to a 5–0 start to the season. Shortly after, Cornes passed Warren Tredrea's record of 258 games to become the man who has played the most games for Port Adelaide in the AFL, in a match where Port thrashed Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium, 19.11 (125) to 6.14 (50). Cornes has played a vital role under Ken Hinkley in reinventing Port Adelaide and getting the team back into finals in 2013, and helping the Power to their best ever start to an AFL season in 2014, starting 10–1, before eventually losing the 2014 preliminary final to Hawthorn, the eventual premiers, by three points.

Cornes' 2015 season was short. He played the first two games of the season before being rested in round three. He then played a further three games to take his career tally to 298 before announcing that the round 8 game against Richmond would be his 300th and last to join the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service. ^[2] He finished his Port Adelaide career having played a total of 300 games, winning 4 best and fairest, two All Australian guernseys and a premiership.

Media career

Cornes took up a full-time media career in 2016 after a short tenure with the South Australia Metropolitan Fire Service, where he had been trying to do both, with appearances on The Sunday Footy Show and 1116 SEN, as well as writing for The Advertiser. ^{[3] [4]} He has been known for some provocative commentary on leading AFL figures such as Patrick Dangerfield ^[5] and Hawthorn Football Club ^{[6] [7]} in a challenging manner. Any club that has won a premiership such as Western Bulldogs, Richmond Tigers or the West Coast Eagles draw the ire of Kane and his media articles attack the head coaches of these clubs. He is particularly known for his critical views including an on-going battle of words with Adelaide Crows player Taylor Walker. ^[8]

In 2021, Cornes conducted a now-infamous interview with former Victorian Premier and then Hawthorn Football Club President, Jeff Kennett, where Kennett repeatedly mispronounced Cornes' name and referred to him as "Corn" throughout the interview. ^{[9] [ relevant? ]}

Personal life

On 31 December 2004, Kane married long-time girlfriend, who he met at Sacred Heart College, Lucy. They have three children together, Eddy Jack, Raphael William and Sonny.

Cornes was a member of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service for only six months after retiring from the AFL, ^[2] while also trying to balance working in the media before leaving to take up a solely media based position. He has also provided part-time coaching work at the Glenelg Football Club.

Cornes is an accomplished distance runner having finished in the top 30 of the Melbourne Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon. ^{[10] [11]}

Playing statistics

^[12]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2001	Port Adelaide	39	7	1	4	47	34	81	20	8	0.1	0.6	6.7	4.9	11.6	2.9	1.1
2002	Port Adelaide	18	15	3	4	136	54	190	40	39	0.2	0.3	9.1	3.6	12.7	2.7	2.6
2003	Port Adelaide	18	22	12	10	195	86	281	88	51	0.5	0.5	8.9	3.9	12.8	4.0	2.3
2004	Port Adelaide	18	25	12	10	302	197	499	131	57	0.5	0.4	12.1	7.9	20.0	5.2	2.3
2005	Port Adelaide	18	24	18	10	338	252	590	135	58	0.8	0.4	14.1	10.5	24.6	5.6	2.4
2006	Port Adelaide	18	22	7	11	344	253	597	145	73	0.3	0.5	15.6	11.5	27.1	6.6	3.3
2007	Port Adelaide	18	25	11	9	360	336	696	170	94	0.4	0.4	14.4	13.4	27.8	6.8	3.8
2008	Port Adelaide	18	22	5	4	268	345	613	128	79	0.2	0.2	12.2	15.7	27.9	5.8	3.6
2009	Port Adelaide	18	22	7	4	286	310	596	106	76	0.3	0.2	13.0	14.1	27.1	4.8	3.5
2010	Port Adelaide	18	22	4	4	271	335	606	103	103	0.2	0.2	12.3	15.2	27.5	4.7	4.7
2011	Port Adelaide	18	17	1	1	180	194	374	70	58	0.1	0.1	10.6	11.4	22.0	4.1	3.4
2012	Port Adelaide	18	22	5	6	282	278	560	124	64	0.2	0.3	12.8	12.6	25.5	5.6	2.9
2013	Port Adelaide	18	23	5	4	341	289	630	127	107	0.2	0.2	14.8	12.6	27.4	5.5	4.7
2014	Port Adelaide	18	25	1	5	328	279	607	132	111	0.0	0.2	13.1	11.2	24.3	5.3	4.4
2015	Port Adelaide	18	7	1	0	74	66	140	37	25	0.1	0.0	10.6	9.4	20.0	5.3	3.6
Career			300	93	86	3752	3308	7060	1556	1003	0.3	0.3	12.5	11.0	23.5	5.2	3.3

References

1. http://www.finalsiren.com/PlayerStats.asp?PlayerID=1184
2. Agius, Matthew (14 May 2015). "Kane Cornes to retire after becoming Power's first 300-gamer". portadelaide.com.au. Bigpond . Retrieved 14 May 2015.
3. "Kane Cornes news from SEN 1116". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
4. "AFL Opinion | The Advertiser" . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
5. "Patrick Dangerfield roasts Kane Cornes". 7News Sports. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
6. "Cornes: I was wrong about O'meara". SEN Sports. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
7. "'He's got a track record': AFL star blasts 'disrespectful' Kane Cornes". yahoo!sport. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
8. "AFL 2019: Taylor Walker v Kane Cornes feud, fireman career joke, history of feud between Adelaide captain, Power champion". Fox Sports. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
9. ""Your interpretation is incorrect": Kennett and Cornes go head to head over state of the Hawks". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
10. "(#13) Kane Cornes - MEDIBANK MELBOURNE MARATHON - Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival (2018)". MultiSport Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
11. "(#18) Kane CORNES - MEDIBANK MELBOURNE MARATHON - Melbourne Marathon (2017)". MultiSport Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
12. "Kane Cornes". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 September 2016.

External links

• Kane Cornes's profile on the official website of the Port Adelaide Football Club
• Kane Cornes's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Kane Cornes at AustralianFootball.com