North Melbourne champion David King has strongly defended his former club amid criticism from Kane Cornes.
Cornes questioned North’s decision to cull 11 players at the end of last season and labelled the Kangaroos “one of the worst teams of the AFL era”.
“I listened to the commentary over the weekend. I watched the game against Brisbane and ‘Kingy’ is very up and about about them, and the North supporters are really happy with how they’re going – it’s win-loss, isn’t it?” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“My criticism wasn’t necessarily directed at this regime … it’s more what has happened at North Melbourne to lead them into a position where they have won two games in the last 27.
“I just wonder if they had their time again, would they have culled 11 players. Would they have supported these young players with a bit more experience around them, so you don’t get the losing culture they’re having at the moment.
“You rock up every Monday and it’s a depressing place.”
King, a two-time premiership player at North Melbourne, responded to Cornes' comments on SEN Drive.
“I couldn’t disagree more on that. We’re allowed to disagree, they’re all opinions,” King said.
“To say it’s a depressing workplace to go to couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a club that’s about developing. They’re restarting, they’ve been clear with their messaging.
“I’m not sure where the criticism comes from.
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“OK, have a go at them about wins and loss, but not all your wins at the moment have four points attached. They’ve been more than competitive deep into third terms, particularly in Tasmania, their games in Tassie have been really good.
“I think they’ve made some big improvements over the last three to four weeks. I think that’s a little bit unfair, and that’s OK, that’s his criticism.
“But if they were just mid-table, you’d have the same criticism. I’ve heard Kane have a go at Essendon about not building towards winning finals, well, what do you want?
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“Do you want them to rebuild and regenerate, or do you want them to stay mid-table? The discussion around delisting players … (Shaun) Higgins was managed, (Ben) Brown can’t get a game, Mason Wood … how’s that going? And the rest didn’t get picked up.
“You can’t have the argument both ways. They’re refreshing, they’re rebuilding. If they’re still winning two games every 20 in two years’ time, well, that’s a disaster.
“I don’t think you can have a go at David Noble and the football club right now with a fresh administration and a fresh list management building team. You can’t have a go at them about three years ago, just keep your discussion to the current group. That’s where we’ll judge them.”
North Melbourne is next in action against Gold Coast in Hobart on Saturday.