Graham Cornes ....all class. Ripper bloke. Surely among the most intelligent and dignified guests Mike's had on the show. Huge respect from a West Aussie.
Before Port entered the AFL a bunch of SA football celebs were asked to suggest names and a logo for the team and their responses were published in The Advertiser. Graham was one of those asked. His suggestion for a name was: ‘The Port Tuggers’. And for a logo a sinking tug-boat. When pressed he said his somewhat derogatory suggestion had nothing to do with his hatred for Port but for Port’s long association with the maritime industry. It was very amusing.
Fantastic interview,albeit Mike as always trying to put words in others mouths.Graham Cornes unknowingly was a father figure to me throughout my teenage years.It started when in 1974 he started picking me up and taking me to games,i was in awe of him,such an iconic figure,too a 13yr old its was surreal.He was my absolute idol,the memories i have of him still very special to me.I still see him out and about in Glenelg and we always have a chat.I'm not one to be star struck but Graham always has that affect on me,he has this incredible charisma and aura about him.A true Champion footballer,inspirational coach and a humble man.I recall the 1982 Grand Final 3 quarter time huddle,Grahams last game for Glenelg,i'd never seen Graham so animated,he sounded like a coach and i remember thinking he's going to be a coach.My intuition was right.I also recall a game where he had his shorts ripped off,being a trainer and on the ground i souvinered those torn shorts,still have them ! I once played a game of football for the cheerrsquad,i was a ring in and arrived late,we were playing Ports cheers squad,everyone had on their gurnsey's and there was one left,no one wanted to wear it,it was number 12,i wore it with pride.One more,its 1979 last minor round game against Port,Glenelg were out of contention to play finals,Graham was on fire taking spekies all day,so much so that even the Port supporters were applauding him,i found i knew respect for them after that.Cheers :)
I remember seeing a game at The Bay when I was a kid. Graham was almost horizontal at shoulder height in the middle of the pack as he took a mark late in the 4th quarter. He went back and kicked the goal that put The Bays ahead and they won by a couple of points.
It’s taken me all this time to actually see this but I’m glad I did. Think Graham handled himself rather well, though I would’ve liked to see him asked about his post 1990 grand final speech to the Port players.
Barassi left him in the lurch regarding team selection, basically ignoring him. He played 5 games for North Melbourne in the first half of 1979, but played the other games in the Reserves. In Cornes last senior game for North Melbourne, he was actually one of the Best on Ground, but Barassi allegedly told Malcolm Blight this "I'm sending your mate back home, because he's not cutting the mustard". To tell you the truth, Ron Barassi was a vicious coach sometimes. I don't think Barassi had a high opinion of South Australian players for many years when he was a coach.
Graham Cornes is right the amount lack of respect that Victorians Show South Australian in Footy is so true its the same in Rugby league with New South Welshman showing lack of respect towards Queenslanders, PS I have massive amount of respect for Graham Cornes a real good bloke
I remember as if it was yesterday seeing Grave Danger come off the bench, wondering why the hell he was being sent to a half back flank (usually played centre half forward), and then realising it was so he could clobber Cornes. Grave Danger at his very best was Wayne Carey-ish ... but didn't often play at his very best.
I once was coached by Barry Robran and wore the state Guernsey. Pitman is left of screen on the thumbnail, was in that team too. Yes it is a sacred feeling to wear the guenrnsey, i wore number 10. Barry dragged me halfway through the last quarter, i was devastated, shattered, untill he said, it was because i was allready best on ground. He always said dont handball too hard, just lob it to the team mate. I often see players in the afl drop a quick handball with too much heat on it, when a slow one would have been fine. Dont belt it if you can get away with it.
Yes, I think we were under the hammer at this time Graham. No doubt! But okay, the Crows got there in the end. For the record, I am happy to see the Crows and the Power do well. That is it! Chad & Kane did you proud mate! oh, I am just listening... and then there is Ebert...
Scraping the bottom of the barrel. Met him down in Hobart in 2015 at the Salamanca markets at a local cafe. Tried to cut the line in front of me. Total flog.
They must have held a who's who of VFL/AFL down at the markets that day in 2015, because everyone cut in front of you at some stage. What drugs are you on, dude?
scraping the bottom of the barrel. met him up in queensland in 1994 when i was a 12 year old during summer at a local swimming pool. he was there with barry stoneham, justin madden, john rantall, greg williams, tony shaw, leigh matthews, mark ricciuto, jason akermanis, nick maxwell, david rhys-jones, neil balme, andrew mcleod, simon black, david schwarz, anthony koutoufides, mal michael, andrew demetriou, sam newman, matthew richardson, nathan buckley, rene kink, damian monkhorst, tony liberatore, keith greig, royce hart, bob murphy, stewart loewe, wayne schwass, kevin bartlett, alastair lynch, gavin wanganeen, corey mckernan, robert walls, peter sumich, denis pagan, jason dunstall, john kennedy jr, bob skilton, neil kerley, wayne johnston and phil carman. they were all acting like total flogs.
Cornes's inferiority complex towards Victoria is nothing compared to his inferiority complex towards Port Adelaide, why ? Because he failed in 4 attempts as a player and coach to beat them in a Grand Final. Of course he will never admit this. Seeing both his sons become stars for Port is 'KARMA' at its best !
