Kane Cornes has called out St Kilda for backing down over a recent tweet that lit the fuse for Thursday’s clash with Collingwood, saying the Saints turned themselves into a laughing stock.
When the two sides meet at the MCG on Thursday night, there’s plenty on the line. The Magpies are at risk of going 0-3 in what is young superstar Nick Daicos’ 50th game, while St Kilda hosts Spud’s Game to honour club legend Danny Frawley and raise money and awareness to fight mental health challenges.
An AFL Media article earlier this week ranked Daicos’ first 49 AFL games ahead of the Brownlow Medal favourite reaching his first games milestone. It was this post that the Saints poked fun at on X (formerly Twitter).
“Here's our list of things we’d rather do ahead of Spud’s Game on Thursday night…” St Kilda’s post began, citing “watch the 'G grass grow for 49 minutes” and “be excluded from Opening Round for the next 49 years” as more interesting than the Daicos article.
Nice list @CalTwomey 👍
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) March 19, 2024
Here's our list of things we’d rather do ahead of Spud’s Game on Thursday night…
👉 Watch the 'G grass grow for 49 minutes
👉 Be excluded from Opening Round for the next 49 years
👉 Get cleaned up by G-Train 49 times
👉 Listen to 49 @kanecornes opinions https://t.co/hrk4AD94Aa
The initial post was largely well received and has since been viewed over 400,000 times. But the Saints responded to their own tweet a little over three hours later.
“After seeing a few replies we thought it’d be good to clarify: this is a joke at how long it would take to get through that article, not at Nick (who is a star on and off the field),” it read.
“See you all at the ‘G on Thursday night!”
After seeing a few replies we thought it’d be good to clarify: this is a joke at how long it would take to get through that article, not at Nick (who is a star on and off the field).
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) March 19, 2024
See you all at the ‘G on Thursday night!
It was this aspect Cornes took umbrage with. The Port Adelaide champion, who was referenced in the original Tweet, criticised the club for a mild back down.
“I thought that was quite fine and funny and I had a bit of a chuckle at it,” Cornes began on SEN’s Sportsday.
“But when they’ve got to clarify their own tweet because they’re sensitive that they’ve offended someone, you know they’ve stuffed it up.
“The Giants don’t care, their whole point is they’re happy to offend someone or a fan base and cop the backlash that comes with it, that’s the beauty of it and you reap the rewards of the engagement from it.
“The Saints get sensitive by it because there’s a few Collingwood fans that think it’s a criticism over Nick Daicos and they have to clarify, ‘we didn’t mean to offend anyone’.
“The moment you do that, you’re a laughing stock.”
St Kilda’s first Tweet was appreciated by the Brisbane Lions, who replied: “How do we like this 49 times.”
As Cornes notes, GWS has quickly established a strong social media profile by attracting engagement from rival fans and haven’t been afraid to mock other clubs.
The Saints and Pies meet from 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday night, with all the action LIVE on SEN and AFL Nation from 7:00pm.
