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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Kane game: Cornes opens up on confrontation, conflict and the time he ‘maybe' went too far
Cornes, a former columnist for this masthead, is ubiquitous in football media. Flick the radio on first thing Monday morning and he's on SEN discussing the weekend's action with fellow 'Fireballer' David King. On Sunday night, he's on Seven for Kane's Call, giving the early take from the round that has been. In between, he'll be on the small screen with Seven's Agenda Setters two nights a week, providing analysis for the network's coverage of Thursday night footy, back on radio for Friday breakfast and occasionally on SEN's Crunch Time show on Saturday morning. Media jobs are as hotly contested as a stoppage inside 50. As a former footballer turned pundit once told this masthead, there are few people more paranoid in football than the ex-player in the media at the end of each season waiting to see the final list of retirees to gauge who could be coming after their gig. Though Cornes' career with Port was decorated – winning four best and fairests, a premiership and twice an All-Australian – he knew his was not a CV that guaranteed a lengthy media career. 'When I started 10 years ago I just wanted to be good,' Cornes said. 'To be good, you've got to have an opinion. There's always going to be the next retired gun footballer who wants to do media. 'Yes, it's about creating what you're good at and what differentiates your style from the next player that's going to retire and got a better resume than yours. 'There's the opinionated side to me – that's the type of media I like to consume. There's nothing more boring than someone who doesn't have an opinion and shields themselves from what they really think.' Cornes' interest in sports media goes back to his childhood when his father, Adelaide's inaugural coach Graham Cornes, was one half of 5AA's top-rating weekday drive time KG and Cornesy's Sports Show in the 1990s and 2000s. The show's ability to mix news with hard-hitting, outrageous views, while always remaining engaging, left a mark on him. A major consumer of US sports media, he is a big fan of media personalities Bill Simmons, Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd, who have all made millions from their combative commentary. He has based his style on them. 'I just think they're the best at it,' Cornes said. 'When I started playing football, [Warren] Tredrea is the best player at the club, what does he do? I'll go and shadow him for three weeks, that's what I did. 'Getting into media, what do the best, highest paid, most famous people do? They're all opinionists. They all have strong opinions. There's no one really over there that does the similar role to me without an opinion. 'It's about being as good as you possibly can be and taking bits and pieces from everyone, be that here, overseas or anywhere.' Loading Robust opinions inevitably bring blowback and create enemies. Cornes is not welcomed in the Bulldogs and North Melbourne rooms, due in-part to his stinging critique of the clubs, who play this Thursday night in a game broadcast by Seven. Cornes is a critic of Dogs coach Beveridge, having called for his sacking due to what he says is the coach's inability to maximise the talent on the club's list. His critique of North young gun Harry Sheezel for not being damaging with the ball prompted the Kangaroos to ban him from interviewing their players and staff. Two months on, Cornes, not known for admitting error, says he 'maybe' went too far for his excessive use of the terms 'Sheezy Ball', 'Sheezy Street' and 'Sheezy'. 'I just want to put on the record how highly I do rate him and the basis behind it was he wasn't being used effectively,' Cornes said. 'Did I say Sheezy Ball too many times? Maybe. There's clearly theatre involved in TV and entertainment. 'I didn't think in that instance I crossed the line at all. It wasn't personal – it was related to the way he was being used and the way he's playing the game.' Cornes' numerous takes distract from his astute analysis, formed from poring over hours and hours of football. In a full round, Cornes watches, he figures, about 7½ of the nine games. If there's a talking point from a game he has not seen, he will catch up before forming an opinion. Seven's director of sport Chris Jones, who poached him from Nine, the owner of this masthead, is a massive fan of the man who has added a cutting edge to AFL's free-to-air broadcast partner. Media veteran Caroline Wilson, a former chief football writer of The Age and current columnist, rates Cornes alongside Essendon great Matthew Lloyd as being the hardest workers she has seen in the football media. 'They both work so hard and put so much into their craft,' Wilson, who Cornes sees as a media mentor, said. For two seasons, before leaving Nine, Cornes attracted plenty of eyeballs with his hard-hitting columns for The Age. One of his most-read rated all 18 senior coaches on their performances at post-match media conferences. Even in the Sheezel episode, those who critiqued his delivery could not disagree with his analysis. 'Fundamentally, he's saying he's got to get more aggressive forward-half footy,' North Melbourne great and SEN colleague King said. 'He's probably right in that, and that's his opinion, but at the time the way it was worded, we had our differences in opinion on that. 'But that's his style. It's 'grab your attention, bring you now, this is a discussion'. I don't mind it. 'Kane's style in the media, I think, has been ahead of the pack. I think he leaves you in no uncertain terms where he sits, and he's happy to ride that out until he's prepared to concede the odd error, but he doesn't make too many blues. 'I marvel at his work ethic and his preparedness to put himself on the line when all those that tend to pot him from the cheap seats don't.' Cornes accepts he will upset viewers, listeners and industry insiders with his forthright views. Beveridge, Alastair Clarkson (who coached him as an assistant at Port Adelaide) and Taylor Walker are among those whom he has angered. He's not fazed. He takes calls weekly from those in the game asking for clarification about something he has said. 'You have to put the work in – have a reason why you're saying that – and you have to believe what you're saying,' Cornes said. 'If you tick all those boxes the blowback is part of doing the job. 'If I didn't want blowback, I wouldn't be doing the job properly because everything would be, 'Nice, great kick, great handball, great umpiring decision, great coaching performance'. I'd be out of a job by now if that was my style. Loading 'To do the job successfully I accept that is part of it and know that I've put the work in as to why I've said what I've said, and have a reason. Some of your opinions will be wrong, you don't get everything right. When that happens, I try my best to put my hand up and own that.' Cornes loves on-air confrontation. When Bulldogs great Luke Darcy accused him of being 'more mean-spirited and nasty to people than anyone in the history of our industry', Cornes said his immediate thought was how compelling this must have been for listeners. 'I marvel at his work ethic and his preparedness to put himself on the line when all those that tend to pot him from the cheap seats don't.' Kane Cornes' SEN colleague, David King As a player, Cornes did not take criticism well – a point he admits. When former Crows captain Chris McDermott wrote in 2009 that Cornes was no longer in Port's best 22, he refused to speak to McDermott for two years. He laughs when asked how Kane Cornes the footballer would handle criticism from Kane Cornes the analyst. Loading 'As I got into my mid-20s, if I thought the criticism was out of line I would have picked up the phone and had that discussion,' Cornes said. 'That's what I think I'd have done now.' Cornes was 26 when McDermott, a childhood hero of his from seeing him close-up in the Crows rooms, penned the column. He sees criticism of today's players as coming with the territory of a job that pays on average $460,000 a year. 'There's 16-20 weeks off a year, you get to play sport for a living, keep fit and there's not that many downsides,' Cornes said. 'If one of the downsides every now and then, once every two or three years, you're subject to some really strong criticism, as my career went on you understand that's part and parcel of it.' The personal and professional have collided this year for Cornes. At the height of the Sheezel storm, premiership teammate and wedding party member Domenic Cassisi said Cornes, as a player who struggled with media criticism, should be more sympathetic with his critique of current players. Cornes believed Cassisi had exaggerated in saying he struggled to come to training because of the criticism he received. Known widely for the meticulous manner in which he prepared, Cornes said the only times he missed training were when his oldest son Eddy was fighting health issues from being born with heart defects. 'I was a bit flat that Dom went with I wouldn't turn up to training, because that's one thing I prided myself on,' Cornes said. 'I don't think I took a sick day in my career. The only thing I missed was a pre-season camp one year because Eddy was in for surgery. 'I think he overstepped the mark on that one, but he and I can have that discussion. At some point I'll catch up and have a chat to him.'
The Age
a day ago
- Sport
- The Age
The Kane game: Cornes opens up on confrontation, conflict and the time he ‘maybe' went too far
Cornes, a former columnist for this masthead, is ubiquitous in football media. Flick the radio on first thing Monday morning and he's on SEN discussing the weekend's action with fellow 'Fireballer' David King. On Sunday night, he's on Seven for Kane's Call, giving the early take from the round that has been. In between, he'll be on the small screen with Seven's Agenda Setters two nights a week, providing analysis for the network's coverage of Thursday night footy, back on radio for Friday breakfast and occasionally on SEN's Crunch Time show on Saturday morning. Media jobs are as hotly contested as a stoppage inside 50. As a former footballer turned pundit once told this masthead, there are few people more paranoid in football than the ex-player in the media at the end of each season waiting to see the final list of retirees to gauge who could be coming after their gig. Though Cornes' career with Port was decorated – winning four best and fairests, a premiership and twice an All-Australian – he knew his was not a CV that guaranteed a lengthy media career. 'When I started 10 years ago I just wanted to be good,' Cornes said. 'To be good, you've got to have an opinion. There's always going to be the next retired gun footballer who wants to do media. 'Yes, it's about creating what you're good at and what differentiates your style from the next player that's going to retire and got a better resume than yours. 'There's the opinionated side to me – that's the type of media I like to consume. There's nothing more boring than someone who doesn't have an opinion and shields themselves from what they really think.' Cornes' interest in sports media goes back to his childhood when his father, Adelaide's inaugural coach Graham Cornes, was one half of 5AA's top-rating weekday drive time KG and Cornesy's Sports Show in the 1990s and 2000s. The show's ability to mix news with hard-hitting, outrageous views, while always remaining engaging, left a mark on him. A major consumer of US sports media, he is a big fan of media personalities Bill Simmons, Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd, who have all made millions from their combative commentary. He has based his style on them. 'I just think they're the best at it,' Cornes said. 'When I started playing football, [Warren] Tredrea is the best player at the club, what does he do? I'll go and shadow him for three weeks, that's what I did. 'Getting into media, what do the best, highest paid, most famous people do? They're all opinionists. They all have strong opinions. There's no one really over there that does the similar role to me without an opinion. 'It's about being as good as you possibly can be and taking bits and pieces from everyone, be that here, overseas or anywhere.' Loading Robust opinions inevitably bring blowback and create enemies. Cornes is not welcomed in the Bulldogs and North Melbourne rooms, due in-part to his stinging critique of the clubs, who play this Thursday night in a game broadcast by Seven. Cornes is a critic of Dogs coach Beveridge, having called for his sacking due to what he says is the coach's inability to maximise the talent on the club's list. His critique of North young gun Harry Sheezel for not being damaging with the ball prompted the Kangaroos to ban him from interviewing their players and staff. Two months on, Cornes, not known for admitting error, says he 'maybe' went too far for his excessive use of the terms 'Sheezy Ball', 'Sheezy Street' and 'Sheezy'. 'I just want to put on the record how highly I do rate him and the basis behind it was he wasn't being used effectively,' Cornes said. 'Did I say Sheezy Ball too many times? Maybe. There's clearly theatre involved in TV and entertainment. 'I didn't think in that instance I crossed the line at all. It wasn't personal – it was related to the way he was being used and the way he's playing the game.' Cornes' numerous takes distract from his astute analysis, formed from poring over hours and hours of football. In a full round, Cornes watches, he figures, about 7½ of the nine games. If there's a talking point from a game he has not seen, he will catch up before forming an opinion. Seven's director of sport Chris Jones, who poached him from Nine, the owner of this masthead, is a massive fan of the man who has added a cutting edge to AFL's free-to-air broadcast partner. Media veteran Caroline Wilson, a former chief football writer of The Age and current columnist, rates Cornes alongside Essendon great Matthew Lloyd as being the hardest workers she has seen in the football media. 'They both work so hard and put so much into their craft,' Wilson, who Cornes sees as a media mentor, said. For two seasons, before leaving Nine, Cornes attracted plenty of eyeballs with his hard-hitting columns for The Age. One of his most-read rated all 18 senior coaches on their performances at post-match media conferences. Even in the Sheezel episode, those who critiqued his delivery could not disagree with his analysis. 'Fundamentally, he's saying he's got to get more aggressive forward-half footy,' North Melbourne great and SEN colleague King said. 'He's probably right in that, and that's his opinion, but at the time the way it was worded, we had our differences in opinion on that. 'But that's his style. It's 'grab your attention, bring you now, this is a discussion'. I don't mind it. 'Kane's style in the media, I think, has been ahead of the pack. I think he leaves you in no uncertain terms where he sits, and he's happy to ride that out until he's prepared to concede the odd error, but he doesn't make too many blues. 'I marvel at his work ethic and his preparedness to put himself on the line when all those that tend to pot him from the cheap seats don't.' Cornes accepts he will upset viewers, listeners and industry insiders with his forthright views. Beveridge, Alastair Clarkson (who coached him as an assistant at Port Adelaide) and Taylor Walker are among those whom he has angered. He's not fazed. He takes calls weekly from those in the game asking for clarification about something he has said. 'You have to put the work in – have a reason why you're saying that – and you have to believe what you're saying,' Cornes said. 'If you tick all those boxes the blowback is part of doing the job. 'If I didn't want blowback, I wouldn't be doing the job properly because everything would be, 'Nice, great kick, great handball, great umpiring decision, great coaching performance'. I'd be out of a job by now if that was my style. Loading 'To do the job successfully I accept that is part of it and know that I've put the work in as to why I've said what I've said, and have a reason. Some of your opinions will be wrong, you don't get everything right. When that happens, I try my best to put my hand up and own that.' Cornes loves on-air confrontation. When Bulldogs great Luke Darcy accused him of being 'more mean-spirited and nasty to people than anyone in the history of our industry', Cornes said his immediate thought was how compelling this must have been for listeners. 'I marvel at his work ethic and his preparedness to put himself on the line when all those that tend to pot him from the cheap seats don't.' Kane Cornes' SEN colleague, David King As a player, Cornes did not take criticism well – a point he admits. When former Crows captain Chris McDermott wrote in 2009 that Cornes was no longer in Port's best 22, he refused to speak to McDermott for two years. He laughs when asked how Kane Cornes the footballer would handle criticism from Kane Cornes the analyst. Loading 'As I got into my mid-20s, if I thought the criticism was out of line I would have picked up the phone and had that discussion,' Cornes said. 'That's what I think I'd have done now.' Cornes was 26 when McDermott, a childhood hero of his from seeing him close-up in the Crows rooms, penned the column. He sees criticism of today's players as coming with the territory of a job that pays on average $460,000 a year. 'There's 16-20 weeks off a year, you get to play sport for a living, keep fit and there's not that many downsides,' Cornes said. 'If one of the downsides every now and then, once every two or three years, you're subject to some really strong criticism, as my career went on you understand that's part and parcel of it.' The personal and professional have collided this year for Cornes. At the height of the Sheezel storm, premiership teammate and wedding party member Domenic Cassisi said Cornes, as a player who struggled with media criticism, should be more sympathetic with his critique of current players. Cornes believed Cassisi had exaggerated in saying he struggled to come to training because of the criticism he received. Known widely for the meticulous manner in which he prepared, Cornes said the only times he missed training were when his oldest son Eddy was fighting health issues from being born with heart defects. 'I was a bit flat that Dom went with I wouldn't turn up to training, because that's one thing I prided myself on,' Cornes said. 'I don't think I took a sick day in my career. The only thing I missed was a pre-season camp one year because Eddy was in for surgery. 'I think he overstepped the mark on that one, but he and I can have that discussion. At some point I'll catch up and have a chat to him.'
News.com.au
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Shots fired as Footy TV war erupts over ‘rookie error'
Matthew Lloyd couldn't help himself. The Essendon legend and his Channel 9 crew couldn't resist taking a shot at veteran football reporter Caroline Wilson after an embarrassing moment on Monday night. Channel 7's Agenda Setters has become a popular addition to the network's beefed up footy coverage this year after raiding Nine for some of its most notable on-air talent, including Kane Cornes. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. The Agenda Setters and Nine's established Footy Classified have gone up against each other on Monday and Tuesday night timeslots this year. It's why Lloyd's light-hearted dig at his former Channel 9 colleague has caught the eye. The Bombers goalkicker was happy to highlight two awkward moments on The Agenda Setters, which went to air before Footy Classified. The Agenda Setters began in bizarre scenes with the Monday night panel — Wilson, Nick Riewoldt, host Sam McClure and veteran commentator Craig Hutchison — unable to be seen with the broadcast beginning with a lighting failure. It got worse for Seven's new show when Wilson had the mortifying moment of having her phone ring live on air. The veteran commentator was in the middle of a discussion about the future of Cats coach Chris Scott when her mobile started chirping. 'I'm sorry that's my telephone,' she said reaching into a bag. 'What a terrible time for that to happen.' Hutchison, Riewoldt, McClure saw the funny side of it. So did Lloyd and the team at Footy Classified. 'I'm a little bit nervous because they're all good friends of mine, but (I'm giving) a cook tonight for The Agenda Setters because when they went to air tonight, I honestly thought Hutchy had failed to pay his electricity bills,' he said with a grin. 'I think there was a little bit of trickery with their new set. I honestly thought he hadn't paid his bills. 'Ten minutes later, Caro... made a major rookie error.' Hutchison's production company Rainmaker is responsible for managing the show. Nine and many other commentators in the industry have been taking shots at Wilson this month since she first reported Saints gun Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was not considering the Crows as a future destination because of racist comments made by Taylor Walker in 2021. Wanganeen-Milera was drafted by St Kilda later that year and the South Australian, who has emerged as a young superstar halfback, is now weighing up whether to return to his home state or remain at the Saints with lucrative offers looming either way. Football journalist Tom Morris last week went against Wilson's report, saying Wanganeen-Milera had spoken to Walker over the phone to clarify with the Crows veteran that he had no 'lingering issues' with him. Lloyd's jab was far from the only eyebrow-raising segment across Monday night's footy shows. The Agenda Setters played footage captured by Fox Footy showing the bizarre sight of Fremantle having photos of AFL umpires hanging up in their Optus Stadium dressing room. The mugshots of the four whistleblowers on the wall caught the eye of Saints legend Riewoldt. 'I saw this from the weekend, found it interesting,' Riewoldt said on Seven. 'They're clearly trying to arm the players with the umpires' names. 'They look like mug shots, those pics. 'But I reckon the players have got enough to worry about, don't they? Without trying to memorise umpires' names.'
Herald Sun
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Herald Sun
AFL TV Wrap: Sam Darcy the first ‘unicorn', Harley Reid worth a 10-year commitment
Another 10-year deal on the horizon? How about the unicorn that is back and taking the AFL by storm again? There was plenty of discussion points across Tuesday night's TV watching - here's the best bits of what you missed. SAM DARCY TO 'CHANGE THE GAME' Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy will 'change the game' of Australian Rules Football, according to Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps. Darcy made his return from a knee injury against St Kilda at the weekend and picked up where he left off when he went down, booting 3.2 from 19 disposals. But despite the obvious physical attributes of Darcy, who is clean below his knees despite standing at 208cm tall, Cripps said his mentality separated him from other stars of the competition. 'What I think is underrated with him is how aggressive he is,' he said on AFL 360. 'Sometimes you can get these tall guys that have all the attributes but what's underrated is the aggression. 'He's got some serious craft, as you get older you love seeing these guys come in. 'He'll change the game and he's going to be special.' Fellow key forward Jesse Hogan said no player had come before the Bulldog that was ever the complete package - but he might be the first one to be in the conversation. 'He is an absolute unicorn, an alien of a player.' 'The way he moves and how good his hands are, I don't think there's a player you can compare him to at the moment. 'His ceiling is higher than any player in the competition. 'He's going to be a nightmare for key backs over the next 10-15 years. 'I don't know how you stop him. 'No player has ever had what he's had, so it's a pretty scary proposition.' HARLEY REID CONTRACT Caroline Wilson says rival clubs looking to poach Harley Reid should not 'bother having the conversation' if they're not coming to the table with a mammoth $15 million deal. Wilson revealed on Agenda Setters she had spoken with two rival clubs about the young West Coast star, with a reported price tag of $1.5million per season if he was to leave the Eagles. 'This is just extraordinary to me,' she said. 'Two different clubs confirmed to me that they've been told unless you're talking 10 years at around $1.5 million at an absolute minimum, don't even bother having the conversation.' Wilson compared Reid to Gold Coast's Matt Rowell; both former No.1 picks reportedly interested in a move back to Victoria. She said clubs would feel more comfortable offering Rowell a long-term deal as he is a more-known commodity. 'No one quite knows yet what he's (Reid) capable of,' she said. 'Obviously there are massive numbers being talked about with Matt Rowell ... but we sort of know a bit more about what Matt Rowell is capable of in a way of justifying (the money). The discussion comes off the back of Kysaiah Pickett's contract extension at Melbourne, with the electric midfielder-forward signing until the end of 2034. Wilson said the AFL was worried about the growing lengths of contract extensions. 'This is a crazy deal the more you think about it, particularly when you look at what Melbourne went through with Angus Brayshaw,' she said. 'I don't want to deathride anyone, I hope Kozzie Pickett remains the champion he is today, but the AFL is very worried about this.' DON'T PLAY JUST THE KIDS, ST KILDA Gerard Whately has urged Ross Lyon to continue playing the veterans as St Kilda's finals hopes slip away. And he fears it could cost the Saints Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, and cause them to miss out on Tom De Koning, if they blindly blood the kids. St Kilda has lost four of its last five games and has fallen to 14th on the ladder, just percentage out of the bottom four. Whateley said on AFL 360 that Lyon needed to continue to reward form, or it could cost the side the chance to sign some of the AFL's biggest fish. 'It's impossible to say how and when they might be contending for a top four with what they have,' he said on AFL 360. 'Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is inside the environment, he knows intimately, he knows what the ambition and the dream is, is he going to stay? 'And then Tom De Koning on the outside... he's taking meetings around what it might look like to stay at Carlton where for weeks it had been assumed that he was going to take the money. 'You can't toss all of these players out, we've seen what that looks like and it's ghastly. 'They don't have the luxury of going 0-10 in the back half of the season, getting by 60-70 points. 'I like what Ross said about the integrity of selection, if these players' form demands to play then they must play so that they can then integrate the young players. 'When is the right time to play them, that it won't stifle them, that it will educate them, and they will come into a system that has some semblance of order about it? 'Rather than just being tossed in to play games. We've seen what that looks like, we've seen it at Melbourne, it set them back drastically, we saw it with the expansion teams. 'Don't be too young and ruin what you're doing now. 'They've got to come up with some sort of identifiable brand over the back-end of the season so that prospects look and go 'I can see myself in it, and I can see where it will end up'.' Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has refused to be drawn into commentary about his club's chase for St Kilda's Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. The dashing Saint is out of contract and is contemplating a move to South Australia at the end of the season, with both the Power and Crows interested in his signature. It's a deal that could easily make him a million-dollar player, with Channel 9 reporter Tom Morris saying the decision is coming down to the prospect of success at St Kilda. But Nicks said on Footy Classified the club was focused on bringing in quality people. 'He's an outstanding young footballer,' he said on Footy Classified. 'We've always gone down the path of we don't talk about players from other footy clubs. 'We're really strong in our belief in what we're doing at the moment. 'We're going through something very deliberate, and part of that is the culture we're building, we're bringing in a lot of good people and we're making ground.' COLEMAN MEDALIST PROVIDES JUH ADVICE Reigning Coleman Medalist Jesse Hogan has offered Jamarra Ugle-Hagan some advice after the Bulldog returned to training this week. Hogan has endured his own personal struggles during his glittering AFL career that saw him move from Melbourne to Fremantle before finding a home in Western Sydney. He said on AFL 360 that Ugle-Hagan needed to find his 'passion for the game'. 'The biggest thing for me when I was going through a rough patch was I just lost passion for the game, I didn't enjoy the grind,' he said. 'It became really tough and that's when my mind kind of wandered. 'I didn't really enjoy going to work, I didn't enjoy getting to the club, I wasn't enjoying the small things that when you were 16 or 17 you did enjoy. 'Until you figure out the smaller things and you can really strip it all back and start to enjoy those things and put really good people around you... it can get really hard. 'He can make it work, absolutely he can.' INJURY LIST: (FACE) Even Hall of Famers aren't immune from a rogue elbow during social basketball competitions. Luke Hodge made an appearance on the Agenda Setters program on Tuesday night, sporting a large cut just above his right eyebrow. The Hawthorn legend explained how he received the blow, having copped contact during a Monday night scrimmage. 'It's old man basketball,' he said. 'I went up for a layup... it's a little bit of a gash, got a nice little elbow right in the forehead and spent the night in emergency. '(I'm) just passionate... the first thing (my wife said) was 'do you reckon you should give up on sport?'' It's not the first time Hodge has copped a rogue basketball injury, suffering a hamstring strain earlier this year.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Footy great Luke Hodge lifts the lid on why he was forced to take a trip to the emergency room this week after suffering a nasty cut to his head
Footy great Luke Hodge has revealed that he was left needing a trip to the Emergency Room this week after he sustained a large gash on his right eyebrow that required stitches. During Tuesday night's episode of The Agenda Setters, Hodge showed off the painful-looking scar as his co-hosts jovially taunted him about the injury. Hodge, who was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame last week, revealed during the show that he had sustained the injury during a game of basketball. The 6ft 1in former midfielder said another player's elbow had accidentally caught him on the eye during the match, which left a nasty gash on his forehead. It is not the first time in recent months that the Hawthorn legend has suffered an injury while playing basketball, with the 41-year-old also revealing five weeks ago that he had suffered a hamstring injury while playing basketball. On Tuesday night's episode of The Agenda Setters, Hodge was asked for an explanation of the injury by Kane Cornes, showing off his war wound to the camera. A torn hamstring and now stitches in the forehead... Hodgey's social basketball career ain't it. — 7AFL (@7AFL) June 17, 2025 Footy great Luke Hodge has opened up on how he got the painful-looking scratch on his forehead that left him needing a trip to the ER 'Uh, it's old man basketball, Kane,' he joked. 'I went up for a lay up, if you can see it in there it's a little bit of a gash, and got a nice little elbow and spent the night in emergency.' Despite the nasty cut, Hodge appeared in great spirits during the show, laughing as his co-hosts affectionately teased him, while also bringing up his recent hamstring injury. 'Daisy have we not had this conversation about him,' Cornes said. 'We have,' Dale Thomas replied. 'He did a hamstring with similar results... Cornes said: 'I think we need to hold an intervention tonight.' Hodge then joked about the conversation he had with his family who he said had asked him: 'Do you reckon you should give up on sport?' The footy great had previously opened up on his hamstring injury in April, revealing he had taken to reformer pilates to help aid his recovery and preparations for a marathon. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luke Hodge (@hodgey015) 'After hurting my hamstring in old man basketball, I've realized I have to dedicate more time to my preparation and recovery for my upcoming marathon,' he wrote on Instagram. 'Thank you @Yourreformer. Let's hope the old body holds up through the training.' His eye injury comes a week after Hodge was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. The Hawthorn star was one of several individuals honoured for his glittering career in footy last week at Melbourne's Crown Palladium. The former midfielder amassed 346 appearances during his 17-year career in footy's top-flight, notably winning four premierships, three of which came while he was captain of the Hawks.
