Ahead of the 2023 AFL season, Kane Cornes had 18 burning questions that were going to dictate the storylines of the year.
Now we have some answers, while the jury is still out on others.
Speaking with co-host Gerard Healy on SEN’s Sportsday, Port Adelaide great Cornes reflected on his list of questions to find out what we learnt in 2023.
See Cornes and Healy’s thoughts below.
Q: Who replaces Gil? If not Brendon Gale, why not?
Cornes: “We’ve got the answer to it, but do we have the full answer?”
Healy: “We’ve got the answer… Brendon Gale, I think almost everybody thought he would be 1IC or 2IC in an upgraded role but in the end he decided not to and Andrew Dillon has got the job.”
Q: Will there ever be a timely resolution to the Clarkson and Fagan allegations?
Cornes: “I think we’ve got an answer to that.”
Healy: “The resolution was there’s no resolution.”
Cornes: “At least it’s an answer and a full stop on it, I think.”
Q: Will Ken Hinkley survive the year? Will his supposed successor Josh Carr be handed the keys to the Port Adelaide car by season’s end?
Healy: “My gut feeling is you thought the answer to that would be yes.”
Cornes: “Yes I did and I think that was well and truly on the cards until Port Adelaide went on a 13-game winning streak and Kochie (president David Koch) put the August deadline and they had no choice but to extend Ken Hinkley in the lead-up to finals to not have that distraction.
“I think Josh Carr will be the next head coach of Port Adelaide so that question is still pending, but we’ve got the immediate answer for next year.”
Q: Can Carlton come from outside the 8 to win the premiership?
Healy: “The answer to that is no, but it was no, no, no for a long time and then it was yes, yes, yes for a lot.”
Q: Will Gawn and Grundy be able to coexist?
Healy: “The answer to that clearly is yes. It’s just at different clubs.”
Q: Will Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson be able to coexist?
Healy: “I think the answer to that is absolutely yes.”
Cornes: “I’m not sure, I’m not convinced. They’re both ruckmen, neither of them is a forward and one of them is going to have to be a forward if they can coexist for the next seven years.”
Q: Does Dustin Martin want to play in the AFL in 2023?
Cornes: “I was questioning Dustin Martn’s motivation… he certainly did (want to play) and had an excellent season and looks like he wants to play far beyond 2024.”
Q: Will 2023 be the year Nathan Fyfe realises unfortunately his body is broken beyond repair?
Cornes: “I don’t think he has realised it yet but I feel like we’re getting close to the answer that his body just can’t cope with the rigours of footy like it used to.”
Healy: “I’ll be interested to see what sort of shape he is when he returns because it seems to me he lost a lot of weight to take the pressure off his body.
“And yet playing the position up forward they tried to play him in, he needed the weight. It should have been the reverse, it should have been losing weight if he was going to run around the ground.”
Q: Will Geelong be exposed by the leadership void left by Joel Selwood?
Cornes: “That’s a question I think we got the answer to. Who stepped up from a leadership point of view?
Healy: “It’s very difficult to replace him as a player full stop, whether it was leadership or just Joel Selwood as a player I’m not sure… I think you’ll get your answer to that more so next year.”
Cornes: “Dangerfield is a great player but certainly didn’t have the leadership presence that Joel Selwood did, it was a disappointing year for the Cats and we’ll see if they can rebound next year.”
Q: Will Jason Horne-Francis living at home equate to improved happiness and therefore performance?
Healy: “There’s no question… he was terrific this year but he couldn’t have come off a lower (fitness) base.
“He’s a no.1 pick, we’re expecting him to be an All-Australian, he’s got to get fitter but he’s high impact for low possessions. If he can get another 10 possessions per game then he can certainly push All-Australian.”
Q: Adelaide made Izak Rankine its highest ever paid player – can he play in the midfield and return the investment?
Cornes: “Well he didn’t play much in the midfield. At stages he definitely did return the investment.
“Some would say he had a really good year and if you look at his numbers… but he wasn’t All-Australian and he wasn’t All-Australian squad. He needs to get to that level.”
Q: Will four umpires increase the inconsistency in decision making and therefore fan confusion or will it work?
Healy: “I think we had a lot of younger umpires, it’s great to have the older umpires staying around. I think they’ve been given a list of rules that are difficult to umpire and I’d like to see that improve… I think the jury is out.”
Cornes: “I don’t know if it had much impact at all. I don’t think it helped the game, I didn’t think we had better decision making, I didn’t think the game was less confusing, in fact at times I think it was more confusing.”
Q: Will Hawthorn’s savage list cull leave wounds that will last for years?
Cornes: “No it won’t.”
Healy: “They were one of the better sides this year in outperforming expectations, they did a terrific job.
“So that was a real win to the Hawks and there are exciting times ahead.”
Q: Can Aaron Naughton become the game’s best key forward?
Cornes: “The answer to that was no.”
Q: Can Luke Beveridge get the most out of the extraordinary talent on his list?
Cornes: “The answer to that was also no.”
Q: Will the post-game press conferences of Ross Lyon version 3 be as entertaining as previously?
Cornes: “I think the answer to that was probably yes.”
Q: Will Gold Coast ever play a final? Is this the year for Stuart Dew?
Cornes: “No.”
Q: Richmond sold the farm for Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper. Will that be a good investment?
Cornes: “I think the jury is out because there’s still six years left on the two of those contracts.”