Cornes doubles down on North and Clarko amid bullying claims

• Cornes says bully claims from North are laughable
• North said his criticism of Harry Sheezel was unacceptable
• Sheezel said it went over the line

Kane Cornes has given an insight into how he was blacklisted by North Melbourne following comments that the club perceived as ‘bullying’.

Kangaroos GM of Football Todd Viney revealed the move at a press conference on Wednesday where he said Cornes’ commentary on Harry Sheezel and captain Jy Simpkin overstepped the line and was ‘targeted, vindictive, bullying behaviour’.

Following that statement, Viney said that Roos coach Alastair Clarkson wouldn’t be speaking to Cornes and Luke Hodge pre-Thursday’s game against Essendon, despite the interview already being arranged.

Viney added that the Roos will refuse to engage with Cornes on ‘any of his media channels’, but would still happily talk to Hodge or other Seven staffers.

Speaking on SEN Sportsday, Cornes described the move as a strange tactic, adding that he would have preferred for Clarkson to stand up and answer the tough questions instead of running away if he were a North fan.

On his Seven interview being cancelled

“I guess there's a lot going on. Your phone is ringing off the hook, I got the phone call at probably 9:30 this morning,” Cornes told SEN Sportsday.

“We had our Channel 7 production meeting, as we always do on Tuesday, and the plan was locked in place for myself and Luke Hodge to interview Alastair Clarkson for four minutes in the rooms before the game.

“You’re pretty keen to put some tough questions to Clarko, and, I would have thought he was up for answering those tough questions, and then the next day you get the call that it's off, which is a strange tactic I think from North.

“I think North Melbourne fans thought they were getting the Hawthorn version of Alastair Clarkson, where he was combative, and if he thought his club was harshly treated, he would be prepared to stand up to those that had given those harsh opinions of his club and fight back face to face.

“So, I think for him to run away from those questions, I think is a poor tactic.

“I think he's been poorly advised. I think North Melbourne fans would much rather him stand up to those and answer those tough questions face to face, because it's very easy to stand up when things are going well for your footy club, but the facts are they aren’t going well. It’s not going to be rosy.”

On why he won’t be changing his mind

“It’s hard to be positive of the most underperforming club in football, if they want pats on the back, they won’t get that from me and no media ban will change my mind,” Cornes said.

“Last year I said I thought North Melbourne had hit rock bottom and they could improve but in fact, they have got worse.

If they can’t see that and they’re not prepared to face that (then I don’t know what to say).

“Maybe this is a tactic, maybe Clarko hasn’t been able to get this where he wanted it to go and the players haven’t bought into it. This may be a genius tactic, ‘Us against them. We‘re going to find something to motivate our players’. Maybe this is something they have come up with.

“If that’s true, I’ll tip my hat and clap them for that.”

Any self-reflection on the Sheezel criticism

“You reflect and you speak to those whose opinions you respect,” Cornes said.

“You don’t just go on TV and talk about it. You have stats and vision to back it up.

“It’s a shared criticism of the way he’s playing. My biggest point was Clarkson has to challenge Sheezel.

“At the moment he is getting the ‘Sheezy-ball’. He won’t be the first player accused of stat-padding - I was when I was a player.

“This is not a personal attack on someone, this is a view of mine on a player.”

On the bullying claims and Sheezel’s response on SEN

“I thought he (Sheezel) spoke really well, I’ve said a lot of positive things about Sheezel. I had him 28th in my top 50.

“It is strange that as a footy club, they would never acknowledge the positive things you say about players.

“They have run away from an opportunity for Clarko to stand there, man-to-man and explain things like he would have done at his best.

“Is he still as hungry Clarko? Is he as combative? They’re more glaring than they were two weeks ago.

“It’s a missed opportunity, it doesn’t matter to me, it doesn’t hinder me from doing my job one bit.

“It was a chance for North to stand up to what they’re calling bullying which is laughable. It’s a weak strategy that they have gone with.

“The Bulldogs wouldn’t have me in their rooms, so this isn’t new, this isn’t a first.”

Listen to Cornes' full response HERE.