'Might get overlooked': Nick Riewoldt's actions come to light after Cornes incident
Nick Riewoldt has been praised for de-escalating a situation between Kane Cornes and Luke Beveridge on Thursday night, after the pair had a verbal exchange before Geelong's win over the Western Bulldogs. And some are calling for the AFL to sanction Cornes after the incident threatened to boil over into something much worse.
Cornes was preparing for his commentary duties with Channel 7 on Thursday night when Bulldogs coach Beveridge walked past him on ground level at GMHBA Stadium. Cornes and Beveridge then exchanged words, and Cornes could be seen moving towards the coach before Beveridge walked away.
Cornes is currently banned from the Bulldogs' dressing rooms over constant criticism he's levelled at Beveridge, which the club believes has become personal. He also blasted the Dogs for their handling or Marcus Bontempelli's recent injury, accusing them of not being honest with when the skipper would return.
Beveridge clearly isn't a fan of the former Port Adelaide player-turned-media member, and Cornes moved to explain what happened before first bounce. Cornes said Beveridge was "staring at me quite strongly", so he said "G'day Bevo".
He added: "There was a confrontation, there were some words spoken. But he's combative, and they do like to protect their club and their players. I don't have an issue with it, it's a big game of footy. Clearly the relationship between myself and the Western Bulldogs isn't a strong one."
"I didn't really know what to say, so I just said, 'G'day, Bevo' and it wasn't received that well as you can see in the vision. I would have liked to go on with the conversation and have it respectfully, but it wasn't the time or the place."
Beveridge refused to elaborate after the game, which the Cats won 20.7 (127) to 16.17 (113). "Ultimately, we come in here and we talk about the game," the coach said in his presser. "That's all we're after, isn't it? If you're trying to drum up any controversy, I don't think there was any. I've really got nothing to say."
Some have suggested the AFL should hit Cornes with some sort of sanction. The fact he started walking towards Beveridge during the incident meant it could have escalated into something even uglier, while Cornes' Channel 7 colleague Riewoldt has been praised for his attempts to calm Cornes down.
Riewoldt could be seen saying "Kane" on numerous occasions, and started walking towards his colleague in case he needed to pull him back. One person wrote on social media about the St Kilda champion: "What might get overlooked here is Riewoldt showing once a leader, always a leader. He straight away called Cornes back away from the situation. Good man."
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The incident with Beveridge comes after North Melbourne placed a ban on Cornes and now refuse to deal with him over constant attacks on some of their players. Speaking on Fox Footy, leading reporter Jon Ralph suggested the AFL needs to step in and remind Cornes of his responsibilities.
'Cornes was already banned from the Dogs' rooms after a series of negative articles and comments in regards to Beveridge," he said. "The club believes it's personal – called him a 'poor ambassador for his football club', called for his sacking repeatedly.
'People around the situation felt like Cornes stepped into his space and they're thankful that Beveridge walked on. The question here is whether this is deliberately disrespectful and antagonistic, whether it was the time and the space for Cornes to talk to Beveridge."
David King, who works with Cornes on SEN radio, said: 'This is what Kane does. This is his schtick, this is what he does – and I think there are no winners. Tonight there are no winners. It makes two intelligent people look really foolish.' While Leigh Montagna added: 'It's not a good look when you've got two people who don't like each other and these sorts of things can happen.'
If ken and Clarkson got fined cornes should face the heat
— cynical66 (@sinecal77) May 22, 2025
You started it, Kane. You squared up as he walked past and Roo had to reel you back in.
— The Inside Mids (@SC_InsideMids) May 22, 2025
Cornes is turning the AFL media landscape into a negative nasty place. He has been the worse thing that has happened to our game.
— Mitchell 🌸 (@LionTells) May 22, 2025
What might get overlooked here is Riewoldt showing once a leader, always a leader. He straight away called Cornes back away from the situation. Good man. https://t.co/uF9lMQeDzL
— Dave Lloyd (@AlbertonPower) May 22, 2025
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