It’s fair to say Jason Horne-Francis’ departure from North Melbourne for Port Adelaide after his rookie season has left Kane Cornes and David King sitting on opposite sides of the fence.
The pair went head to head on SEN Breakfast over his trade to the Power, the reported unprofessionalism throughout the year, the instability at the Kangaroos and more.
See the transcript of their conversation below:
Cornes: “Do you think North Melbourne should have taken some ownership of the situation they put him in, rather than blame him for why he left?”
King: “There’s no doubt North Melbourne has said that it has been an unstable environment for him to operate in, but to say it’s been about missing an ice bath is ridiculous.”
Cornes: “The drama over (the ice bath), there was a suspension, there was an argument with some senior players…”
King: “Nah it was more than that mate. Have you spoken to anyone at the Kangaroos about that?”
Cornes: “No.”
King: “Maybe make three phone calls and I think you’ll change your mind.”
Cornes: “That would be their version.”
King: “But that would be the facts.”
Cornes: “But you listen to Jason Horne-Francis’ version and he might say ‘I’m about to have my fourth coach in 11 months of football, we won two games for the year, I don’t feel like I was fully supported, I had teammates who didn’t want to go back onto the ground, we saw Tarryn Thomas, we had Jaidyn Stephenson not competing, I don’t think we’ve been led. And he admitted, he said he could have done things differently…”
King: “He’s a first-year player that spent a lot of time whinging and sooking. I’ve never seen it before. I’ve never seen a first-year player not engage in the fight like that.”
Cornes: “Gary Ablett Jnr was sat down by his teammates.”
King: “Not for this.”
Cornes: “Bailey Smith was on film snorting drugs and we’re talking about an ice bath.”
King: “We’re not talking about an ice bath, that’s my point. We’re talking about strapping the game’s record holder in Brent Harvey to his hip for 18 months and still having issues with basic professionalism and basic standards. That’s not common for a first-year player.”
Cornes: “It’s not common, but I think if you looked at Dustin Martin and others, I think there’s been more significant issues for younger players and the clubs that would then wrap their arms around the potential stars and support them.”
King: “You can lead a horse to water…”
Cornes: “Well he doesn’t have a coach yet. We can agree and disagree and I agree that some of his actions this year weren’t ideal by his own admission, but I think North Melbourne could have taken some ownership of the situation they put him in as well.”
King: “I think they have. I think you’re being a bit short with what they’ve said. At the end of the day, he moves on. I don’t think it was going to be a marriage that was going to go forward. After they made their decision I think both parties were happy to move on.”
HAS MISSING AN ICE BATH BECOME THE GREATEST CRIME A PLAYER CAN COMMIT?