“Six out of 10 of these players are going to fail”: Cornes concerned with attitude of draft prospects
Kane Cornes is concerned some potential draftees are getting ahead of themselves, with numerous youngsters recently spruiking their ability.
The National Draft is less than a month away and players have to make themselves noticeable to recruiters in a pool of hundreds of hoping to get drafted.
However, Cornes is concerned some have gone too far, especially considering draftees traditionally play themselves down in the leadup to joining their new clubs.
“A couple of quotes from a few of the players who may get drafted sort of blew me away with how confident they are, and how things have shifted in a few years with players putting themselves out there,” he told SEN SA Breakfast.
“I was fascinated by some of the quotes from the players and how confident they are.
“This isn’t criticism, but this is just how it’s shifted.
“Back in the day, you talked yourself down. In Australia, we are humble, we don’t talk ourselves up.”
The Port Adelaide great cited examples of comments from Josh Goater, Zac Taylor and Josh Rachele dissecting their attributes, all of which are highly-rated draft prospects.
While reaffirming that he wasn’t taking a shot at the draftees, Cornes is realistic about their propositions to forge a successful AFL career.
“I went through these programs as a youngster, and they do set you up very well … but I hope they don’t pump them up too much,” he said.
“Six out of 10 of these players are going to fail, probably only four out of 10 are going to play 100 games.
“About 2 per cent of them are going to go on to play 200 games.
“Life’s going to get pretty tough for them, if they think they’re going to use their athletic ability to come in and change a game straight away … it’s not going to happen.
“Very few of them are going to make an impact in their first year.
“So, I hope they are realising that, and I hope they don’t think they’re just going to walk into an AFL side.”
The draft has again been split into two days for 2021, with only the first round to be selected on the night one.
The rookie and pre-season drafts will be held a day later on November 26.