Kane Cornes says he will never forget one sledge in particular that made him contemplate his football career.
Cornes and Port Adelaide were playing Fremantle in the 2014 season when Nat Fyfe unleashed some devastating words.
It was Cornes’ 276th game in his second last season while Fyfe was playing in game 78 in just his fifth campaign when the budding midfield star verbally whacked the veteran.
“The message from Ken Hinkley was pretty simple, do not let Fyfe touch the ball,” Cornes recalled on AFL.com.au’s What Really Happened? series.
“So at the next stoppage, I went over and stood next to Nat Fyfe. He looked at me in amusement almost.
“I’ll never forget the look on his face. He said to me with the ball only about five metres away, he forgot the ball, and he just looked at me and said, ‘Bring your old skinny frail bones with me, we’re going straight to goal square’.
“I thought ‘Oh, here we go’.”
Fyfe would quickly kick a goal on Port’s four-time best and fairest before delivering another calculated barb.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Told you old man, it’s going to be a pretty rough day for you’,” Cornes added.
“That was it and that was the moment that had me questioning my football future.
“It took me another 12 months before I actually did retire but I never ever forgot that sledge from Nat Fyfe.”
For the record, the Power won by 18 points and Cornes had 29 touches while Fyfe had 34, kicked two goals and picked up two Brownlow votes.
