Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes has taken aim at North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson over his post-game comments on Saturday night.
Clarkson’s troops were comprehensively blown off the park at the MCG on Saturday night, but in his post-game press conference the coach was quick to praise his troops.
“There were things about our game – I thought we played better tonight than we’ve played in the last two weeks,” Clarkson said.
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“Usually when you lose a game by 15 goals, you haven’t been able to get the ball inside 50 and you have been smashed in clearances. We competed in different areas of the game really, really well.”
But Cornes didn’t pull any punches as he blasted the mastermind coach.
The former Power star couldn’t believe what he’d heard from the four-time premiership winning coach.
Speaking on Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show, Cornes blasted the remarks with damning footage supporting his argument.
“He was watching a different game to me, Alastair Clarkson,” Cornes said. “The first five minutes in this game was as bad a football as you are ever going to see.
“I want to highlight the lack of effort and the fact that they are witches hats.
“This is Cam Zurhaar, who did a lot of talking in the off season. How is this for a chase, three minutes into the game and goes with the one hand?
“This is disgraceful vision here. (Nick) Larkey … easily outmarked from Steven May. They then get the switch and they’re all guarding space. Watch (Bayley) Fritsch here who has come up and watch (Max) Gawn here and the amount of players they both run past. We’re three minutes into the game, give me some effort, North Melbourne. It’s not talent, it’s all effort.
“Fritsch, who was in the backline, has run past six North Melbourne opponents bobs up and kicks the goal.
“The ease of how this comes through the front of the stoppage, this is training stuff – first day back of pre-season. Watch (Christian) Petracca exploding through the stoppage, (Kysaiah) Pickett is doing the same. (Griffin) Logue is sitting way off his opponent and there is an easy uncontested mark inside 50 — all within the first four minutes of this game.
“ (Jaidyn) Stephenson here, what sort of tackle is that? That is embarrassing.
“We’ll watch (Aidan) Corr, who signed a five-year contract, and he just falls over. This is uncompetitive stuff.
“There’s the Norm Smith Medallist (Petracca), top of the goalsquare and nobody goes anywhere near him.
“The victory lap was long when they signed Alastair Clarkson. It’s quickly finished.
“Honestly, it’s embarrassing and they need to be better than that. That is not talent. That is effort in the first five minutes of the game.”
North were dealt a cruel blow in the opening quarter as the Demons ran riot when forward Charlie Comben suffered a horrific broken leg.
The injury, which was so graphic that broadcasters opted against showing replays, could reportedly be heard around the ground according to spectators on social media.
Play stopped for several minutes with players from both teams running over to offer their support, with Melbourne’s Jake Lever and Steven May visibly disturbed by what they had just witnessed.
Melbourne secured a comfortable 90-point victory to launch themselves to the top of the AFL ladder for the time being.
Fritsch led the way in front of goal with four majors. Clayton Oliver and Petracca ran riot all night long, combining for 72 disposals and 10 clearances. Petracca added three goals in his best outing so far this season.
