Kane Cornes has examined five popular myths around the AFL through the lens of the Making Their Mark documentary.
The series is out today on Amazon Prime, and takes viewers inside a turbulent 2020 season that saw players spend months on the road, breach COVID-19 restrictions and more.
“After watching this documentary, it is clear we are now capable, able and have the evidence to bust some of the AFL myths that have been around for years and years,” Cornes explained.
1. “Players don’t listen to or take any notice of what the media are saying”
In 2020, the GWS Giants became the first club to drop their captain in over two decades, with Stephen Coniglio axed for Round 17 amid public pressure.
“When they question the ----ing leader of your football club, everyone has got to ----ing stand up, and everyone has got to take a piece of that,” Cameron told his players.
“They’ve ----ing questioned him all ----ing week. I’ll ----ing stand here as the coach of this footy club and back the captain up every ----ing day until I’m out of this club.”
VERDICT: “Well, that’s a myth,” Cornes said.
“Whenever you hear from now on a coach, a player, anyone at a footy club say they don’t take any notice of what the media are saying, it’s a myth.
“Leon Cameron has based his whole pre-match address, his whole motivation for the team on what the media have been saying about his club and the captain Stephen Coniglio.”
2. “The clubs will never tell the media the full story.”
West Coast struggled to adjust to hub life in the early rounds of 2020, slipping to a 1-3 record after decamping to Queensland.
Making Their Mark reveals how the Eagles’ coaching panel perceived their form at the time.
"We’ll always go in to bat for you guys publicly, we’ll never, ever go against that. But internally, you need to understand the ----ing reality about how we’re playing,” Simpson told his players.
“It’s hard because you’re at home and at the footy club at the same time, and we try to give you a bit of autonomy, but you’re taking the ----ing piss, some of you blokes.”
VERDICT: “That’s true!” Cornes laughed.
“Adam Simpson publicly is defending his players, (and) behind closed doors he’s absolutely giving it to them between the eyes.”
3. “This generation of AFL players can’t handle hard feedback.”
It wasn’t only Coniglio among Giants who dropped off last year, as the 2019 runners-up plummeted out of the top eight.
The agitation is palpable when the coach addresses the group.
“We played a bruise free game and throughout, I said to the coaches, we’re not ----ing working hard enough. Right now, we are a soft, ‘poor me’ footy club,” Cameron roars after one loss.
“I’ve got mids that don’t want to work hard. Over the entire summer period, young Tom Green, Jye Caldwell and Jackson Hately smashed our ----ing mids all ----ing summer.
“This is not a ----ing glitch boys. This is set into the walls since the Grand Final.”
VERDICT: “It’s a myth. It doesn’t get any harder than that,” Cornes declared.
“Can you imagine the average person going to work in the office, sitting down with their boss and being on the end of that?
“Absolutely the modern day player can handle hard feedback.”
4. Being on media street affects a player’s performance
“You’ve got Nic Naitanui who has cameras following him around for six months 24/7,” Cornes cited.
“Into his hotel room, into his home, into his place of worship, everywhere. (When he’s) getting coronavirus tested with a swab stuck up his nose.
“It did not affect his performance one bit, in fact I would argue it helped. He had one of the most remarkable seasons individually.”
Naitanui last year earned his second All-Australian blazer and his first club best-and-fairest, and has been ranked the No. 1 player in the game by Champion Data ahead of the 2021 season.
VERDICT: “Doing extra media has no impact on a player’s performance. That is an absolute myth,” Cornes asserted.
5. The captain always says something magical in the huddle
It’s a familiar setting: the music swells up in the arena, the players gather around the captain and he delivers the rousing address that will get the team over the line.
After watching Crows captain Rory Sloane call his players in on Making Their Mark, Cornes isn’t buying it.
“Plenty of love for each other today. ‘Young side, inexperienced side’ but who gives a ----?” Sloane asked his players.
“Play free, that’s all I want to see. Enjoy each other’s company out here, do it for each other and have some ----ing fun.”
VERDICT: “That’s what the captain is saying to the players before they break for their positions.
“It’s a myth. Nothing magical.”