Kane Cornes has highlighted a non-tackle from Stephen Coniglio after the GWS captain labelled his side “hopeless” during Thursday night’s 41-point loss to Sydney.
Coniglio delivered an honest assessment of the Giants’ one-goal first half performance when speaking to Fox Footy at the main break.
“Hopeless really,” the Giants star said.
“We’ve got to get in there and find an answer. We’ve been in this position twice in two weeks. (We’ve) got to find something now.
“They want it more than us. They’re carving us up going forward. It’s simply not good enough.”
Cornes says Coniglio would be “pretty embarrassed” by a missed tackle 15 seconds into the third quarter after his strong comments at half-time.
“So he called it hopeless, let’s look at his first effort straight after half-time,” the Port Adelaide champion told Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“15 seconds into the third quarter and that’s (Luke) Parker v Coniglio. He just has to be better and you might say it’s harsh but as the captain of the footy club you’ve got to stick that (tackle) and make a statement to start the second half if you call everyone else hopeless.
“We all like Stephen Coniglio but that effort he’d be pretty embarrassed about.
“I’m not critical of him being honest, I love it. But you’re the captain of the footy club you’ve got to stick that tackle, there’s no excuses for it.
“When you make comments like that you’ve got to back it up and just in that instance he didn’t.
“It wasnt one (tackle), the effort from the Giants – and it was their senior players … I could have shown 15 clips.
“(Lachie) Whitfield missed tackles, (Nick) Haynes missed tackles, the ball use was poor. I just think that comes as a result of a lack of leadership from the Giants.”
"He called it hopeless, so let's have a look at his first effort straight after half-time."@kanecornes has criticised Stephen Coniglio for his comments and performance on Thursday night, but TJ didn't agree.#9AFLSFS | Watch @channel9 pic.twitter.com/XpQ9yTtDjI
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) August 16, 2020