Kane Cornes admits he regrets retiring half-way through final AFL season
Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes admits he regrets retiring half-way through an AFL season to become a fireman.
Cornes played his 300th and final game for the Power in Round 8 of 2015, after which he left the club to a pursue a career in the fire brigade.
At the time, the decision was branded 'selfish' by a host of footy commentators, who said Cornes should have either played out the season or retired the year before.
Back then, there was no mid-season draft for AFL clubs to fill list spots with, in the same way that Richmond could replace Shaun Grigg in 2019 when he retired. The Tigers used the mid-season draft that year to recruit Marlion Pickett, who famously debuted in the grand final against GWS.
Speaking on The Agenda Setters on Tuesday night, Cornes admitted he wishes he held off on becoming a fireman until after the season.
'I really regretted quitting to be a fireman, and if I had my time again, I certainly would've played out the season,' he said.
'I feel like I let a few people down, mostly my teammates, in doing that.
'So, if I had my time again, I would have addressed life after football at the end of the season, not in the middle of it.'
Making the decision worse in retrospect is that Cornes left the fire brigade shortly after joining it, instead pursuing his current career in the media, which began in radio.
Caroline Wilson remembered the backlash Cornes copped for the early retirement.
'It was Round 8 when you quit, and a lot of people smashed you,' she said.
'Matthew Lloyd, Tony Shaw labelled you selfish.'
She even recalled standing up for Cornes at the time, which she laughed at on Tuesday night.
'I tell you what, I stuffed up, because Mark Ricciuto had a crack at you, and I wrote this heartfelt column sticking up for you,' Wilson said.
'And I knew you, but I didn't know you that well — 'as close to romantic as life after football can get' (she wrote at the time).
'I had a go at Ricciuto for being conflicted because he was an Adelaide board member.'
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