Two-time All-Australian midfielder Kane Cornes has whacked the AFL for their attempts to revamp AFLX.
According to the Herald Sun, the controversial short-form footy format will return in 2019 with four teams, a superhero theming and big paydays to convince players to get involved.
Over $300,000 will be spent in player payments after they were not paid at all in 2018.
The four captains are expected to hand-pick their players from a draft, with two team names already revealed: Team Speed and Team Skill.
“We haven’t spoken about AFLX because I don’t know if anyone cares,” Cornes told SEN SA Breakfast.
“On the back of the disappointment last year, a revamped format for the AFLX with four teams only, I’m actually a little bit embarrassed by this.
“There’s going to be four captains of it with a superhero theme – there’s been two teams named so far, team speed and team and the other is team skill.
“The AFL is chucking cash at the players as well because they know no one wants to play.
“They are offering some players $20,000 to play, somewhere between $5,000 and $20,000 to play.
“What an embarrassment it is. The league wants to deliver a fast and exciting Big Bash style of game.”
SEN SA Breakfast co-host Andrew Hayes thought Cornes was pulling his leg with the new details about the tournament.
“Is this a joke? I’m not across this. Is this actually going to happen?” he asked.
“Give it a rest. T20 cricket worked. To all the other sports, stop trying to copy it. It was basically a fluke.”
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