Kane Cornes has listed the five players in the AFL who he believes must make a leap in season 2024.
The Port Adelaide champion believes the players he has listed can step right up and become bona fide stars of the competition next year.
Cornes went through each of his five players, explaining what he wants to see from them in order to take that giant leap.
“Sometimes you get to a level and you stay there,” Cornes said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“That’s who you are and you never make that leap.
“I’ve written down some names of players that I think desperately need to take the next step next year.”
See his list below:
1 - Max King (St Kilda)
“Is this just what he is?
“Is Max King a player capable of kicking four or five (goals) three times a year and then for the rest he’s a reasonably inconsistent forward who has his moments, but can let you down in front of goal.
“Of course he needs a good run of it with his body, he needs to work on his kicking.
“But is he good enough to make the leap into an All-Australian team? To be in contention to win a Coleman Medal?
“In Tom Hawkins’ sixth season he made a giant leap. Hawkins kicked 62 goals, he took 54 contested marks, he had 19 goal assists and made the first of his five All-Australian teams in 2012.
“They’re not the same player, I get that, but they play the same position. They are the sort of numbers that I think King is capable of. He has all the talent.
“This is King’s sixth season (in 2024). He needs to make that leap next year.”
2 - Cam Rayner (Brisbane)
“Cam Rayner is coming into his seventh year and he was a Pick 1.
“24 years of age and he is entering his absolute prime. To be fair to him, I think he took a step forward this year, highlighted by his devastating Qualifying Final against Port Adelaide.
“He finished top five in Brisbane’s best and fairest in a Grand Final team, that’s a good effort.
“But I didn’t call it a leap, I called it a step. It’s time for a leap now.
“He’s as close as anyone to Jordan De Goey, Dustin Martin, Christian Petracca, and at times he’s touched that level, but he hasn’t been able to maintain that.
“I want to know if he’s fit enough, I want to know if he works hard enough, but he’s definitely got the talent to make that leap.
“I think his ceiling is a top 10 player in the game. That’s where I see him but he hasn’t done that yet.”
3 - Matt Rowell (Gold Coast)
“He’s always a divisive one. Whenever I speak about Matt Rowell I get heavily criticised.
“Because he plays at a high level every week, but my interest is in whether that’s his ceiling.
“Is Matt Rowell 21 touches, eight tackles and six clearances a game for the rest of his career? Or is he Lachie Neale? Can he do it, can he get to 28 touches, and can he kick more than seven goals in a season? Can he break away and actually really hurt the opposition with his legs and with his disposals?
“Or is he Ben Cunnington? Which is a nice level, it’s a good level to play at and he’ll play 300 games, but…”
4 - Aaron Naughton (Western Bulldogs)
“He’s got to improve significantly, the Bulldogs are paying him superstar money for average to good performances.
“In 11 games this year he kicked one goal or less. If Cody Weightman hadn’t have missed four games, he would have beaten him for the Bulldogs’ goal kicking award, and this guy is 177cm.
“If you sat down and did your Top 50 players in the game, Naughton wouldn’t be there.
“For him to take the leap, he’s got to be in the squad of 44 for the All-Australian team. That’s what he’s capable of.
“His goal return has got be in the 60s, particularly with the supply he’s going to get.”
5 - Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
“I’ve got ‘Kozzie’ Pickett written down because I think his last three seasons have been good, but they’ve been at the same level.
“Pickett is at the same level he was in year two. He’s closing in on 100 games.
“I sat in on the All-Australian meetings and we are crying out for someone to put their hand up and say, ‘I am the best small forward in the competition’. Because right now I couldn’t tell you who that is.
“There’s got to be someone who says, ‘Here I am, I’m (the next) Eddie Betts, I’m the best small forward in the game’. It’s got to be this guy.
“He finished seventh in Melbourne’s best and fairest, which isn’t a disaster by any means, he kicked 37 goals, which also isn’t a disaster, but he’s got to be All-Australian.
“He’s good enough to do that.”