"We've got a government that sleeps with band-aids on": Cornes laments missed Dreamtime opportunity
Kane Cornes says South Australia has missed an opportunity to bring the Dreamtime game to Adelaide.
The Marshall government shut the border to Victorians on Wednesday night, ruling the city of churches out as a potential hub.
With Essendon already having travelled Perth to face West Coast, and Richmond to host Adelaide interstate, Optus Stadium looms as the likely venue.
“Why are they getting it? They’re more conservative than any of us,” Cornes asked SEN SA Breakfast on Friday morning.
“We’re pretty bad in terms of being paranoid about letting it into the state, and being overly cautious. Perth are on a different level.”
With Melbourne in lockdown while contact tracers race to contain a surge of cases, believed to have originated from an Adelaide medi-hotel, marquee fixtures could be up for grabs.
“Dreamtime is up there with Anzac Day,” Cornes enthused.
“The scenes before the game, the celebration, the recognition under lights has been extraordinary. It’s one of the feelgood moments on the footy fixture.
“Why wouldn’t we be putting our hand up for that? I don’t get it.”
Cornes was yesterday critical of the South Australian government for not being proactive as it became clear Victoria was headed for a second ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown.
“Players are getting tested regularly, they’re in a secure hub where they can’t leave their house,” he explained.
“The risk of an AFL player passing on coronavirus is next to none, yet we continually not help out in situations like this.
“Footy fans in Adelaide are once again going to miss out because we’ve got a government that sleeps with band-aids on."
He doubled down on Friday as Melbourne woke to four locally acquired cases from 47,462 tests, and the faint hope that football could return even with crowds in Round 12.
“You would hope behind the scenes (Premier Steven) Marshall is pushing for Adelaide to be a hub. We saw them be semi-accommodating at times last year,” Cornes continued.
“Get these players in, test them, isolate them until their tests are back… and then play a whole host of games at the Adelaide Oval.
“(It’s) magnificent for the economy, great for the hotels, brings people in, eyeballs on Adelaide Oval, great for tourism.
“Unfortunately they’re so dictated by (chief public health officer) Nicola Spurrier and (Police Commissioner) Grant Stevens that they’ve just got no power to even lobby for something like this.”
The Port Adelaide champion believes it has damaged the state’s relationship with the administrators of the competition.
“The AFL won’t deal with Adelaide because we’re just useless in trying to help and make things better,” he added.
“We shut the borders first, we lock everyone out, we’re not accommodating to big sporting events."
South Australia will host just one match this weekend, with Port Adelaide and Fremantle scheduled for Sunday evening.