- Kane Cornes doubles down on criticism of rugby league
- Footy great described the rival code as a ‘shocking sport’
- Says those sticking up for the NRL have ‘sooked it up’
AFL great Kane Cornes has doubled down on his criticism of rugby league after his controversial comments were met with a wave of anger from fans of the rival code.
The outspoken media personality took a stunning swipe at rugby league after the NRL decider on Sunday, calling it a ‘shocking sport’.
Cornes’ comments got the backlash he was after, with several journalists hitting out at the Sunday Footy Show co-host.
‘How can you compare and criticise when the AFL GF was decided in 40mins,’ posted former Panthers star and pundit Josh Mansour.
Andrew Webster described the Port Adelaide great as a ‘blowhard barely respected in his own code’ in The Sydney Morning Herald.
‘I must’ve been watching a different AFL grand final last week because the one on my TV involving the Sydney Swans was done and dusted against Brisbane well before halftime,’ Webster wrote.
‘Something similar happened when GWS Giants played Richmond in 2019. I attended that one and found myself necking Bloody Marys with then Victorian Premier Dan Andrews at the bar well before the long break.’
NRL journalist Tony Adams asked on Twitter: ‘Who are these f***ing idiots?’.
AFL great Kane Cornes has doubled down on his criticism of rugby league
Cornes said the NRL final was a disaster, insisting the sport itself was ‘shocking’
On Tuesday morning, Cornes acknowledged that he had stirred up the hornet’s nest.
‘They’ve completely sooked it up,’ said Cornes.
‘What about them saying “at least our grand final was a close contest”. Hang on, 14 to 6, one team has more than doubled the other team’s score. That’s like having 35 to 80 in an AFL grand final and saying it was a close contest.
‘It wasn’t a close contest! Melbourne Storm didn’t look like scoring in the second half. They doubled the score and you’re telling me that the thing you’ve got to hang your hat on in that grand final is that it was close…
‘I’m doubling down. It’s only solidified my opinion with the reaction that they have had.
‘No-one has told me what the highlight was. I’m just after one answer as to what was the one highlight out of the grand final.’
Predictably, rugby league fans have slammed Cornes’ most recent remarks.
Cornes says the reaction to his comments has only reinforced his initial opinion
‘God I hope you run into some NRL players or supporters,’ posted an X user.
‘Once he said the NRL GF wasn’t a close contest, that’s when I knew he knows absolutely nothing about the sport,’ replied another.
‘Kane trying to boost his national awareness footprint, in this way, is new levels of pathetic,’ wrote a third.
Cornes’ swipe comes after former NRL star Willie Mason slammed the AFL final as ‘boring’.
‘It was probably the worst major event I’ve ever been to,’ Mason said.
‘It was just boring. There were 100,000 people there and 25 minutes in I’m thinking this is boring.
‘Maybe it was what the Swans dished up. Very underwhelming. If I speak to most people that were down there it was very underwhelming.
‘If I was going off just as an event. Terrible.’
