“Absolute joke”: Cornes blasts AFL for kick-in loophole after Don equals all-time disposal record
Kane Cornes has again taken the AFL to task over kick-ins being counted as a disposal.
Cornes has long been an opponent of players earning a disposal for simply playing on outside of the goal square when kicking out after a behind, and that again came to the fore in Essendon’s 71-67 win over St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
In that clash, Bombers defender Nic Martin had 44 disposals, the equal-most of any Essendon player in a single game alongside Darcy Parish who reached the number against Collingwood in 2022 and Richmond in 2021.
While Martin was no doubt crucial in Essendon’s win, six of his disposals came from kick-ins where he played on and Cornes says it’s an “absolute joke” that players are rewarded for kicking the ball out after a behind.
Cornes called on the AFL and Champion Data to close the loophole and not give players a disposal for the footy act.
“There is a rule in the game since we changed to kick-outs where you can step over the line and you get a cheap stat that is distorting all the numbers,” Cornes said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“This is six times that Nic Martin from his 44 (disposals) does that (steps over the line during a kick-in).
“How that is a disposal in this game is an absolute joke.
“We’re sitting here this morning going, ‘Nic Martin, 44, he has equalled Essendon’s record disposal count (for one game)’.
“These are records that have lasted hundreds of years, and we are saying that is a possession.
“So, Champion Data and the AFL, that cannot be a touch. Six times he did it yesterday.”
While Martin still would have had a huge 38 touches without those kick-ins, Cornes thinks that would have reflected better in the history books instead of him having 44 disposals alongside other Bombers who picked up their touches around the ground.
Cornes believes that the loophole is distorting the history of the game.
“His 38 (other disposals) yesterday wouldn’t have even been in the top 15 disposal counts for the Bombers in a single game,” Cornes said.
“That has to change. It (38 disposals) is a good game, but it’s not a record, it’s not 44 and it’s not in the top 15 (of all-time).
“I know it will (go in as a record), but it shouldn’t, it annoys me.
“There are some things that are distorting the history of the game and that is one of them.”
Players used to have to kick the ball to themselves to be able to play on from the goal square, with the man on the mark just five metres away.
Since 2019, that man on the mark has been 10 metres away, while players can now simply walk out of the goal square to play on and receive a disposal once they get rid of the footy.
"How that is a disposal in this game, is an absolute joke!" 🌋@kanecornes says the change to count play ons from kick-ins is 'distorting' disposal numbers, after Nic Martin tied the Essendon record for most touches in a game. #9AFLSFS | Nine & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/MIpk4HVlBJ
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) March 30, 2024