“Fire sale”: Cornes’ brutal call on Essendon’s “pathetic” senior group

Kane Cornes has called for a fire sale at Essendon.

Upon reviewing the disastrous 2026 season which ended the tenure of Brad Scott as senior coach and saw the Bombers claim the wooden spoon, Cornes reckons it’s time for a cleanout.

He was ruthless in his assessment of the Dons, firmly believing that they must offload some of their senior players like Darcy Parish, Ben McKay and Jordan Ridley and finalise a trade for Zach Merrett if they are serious about getting better.

“I think they’ve got the most pathetic group of senior players we’ve seen in some time,” Cornes said on SEN’s Fireball.

“I’d be cutting wood left, right and centre. I’d get the chainsaw out and I’d be cutting it up all the dead wood.

“I’m talking Parish, I’m talking McKay, I’m talking Ridley. And I don’t care if you have to pay some of that salary.

“A genuine fire sale at Essendon to refresh the state psychologically of that club. Merrett will go and thank goodness that saga is going to end. What a dent on his career this whole sorry 12 months has been.

“So Merrett goes, Parish goes, Ridley is threatening (to leave). They’d give you free to a good home, Jordan Ridley, go. McKay, go.”

Cornes did not miss key defender McKay either after he was spied in the crowd at Marvel Stadium during the Port Adelaide loss.

“Did you see him eating hot chips in the crowd yesterday? What a professional athlete just chowing down on chips,” he added.

“He just didn’t have three, this is a professional athlete diving deep into the bottom of the chips and having every last little one of them when you’re on a million bucks and haven’t had a kick for three years.

“What a disgraceful group of players they’ve been. That’s my hottest take.”

Cornes wants to see the embattled Bombers focus on committed players like Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham and the emerging Nate Caddy rather than persisting with the aforementioned senior trio.

“Get rid of it all, start afresh and build around the great characters of Caldwell, Durham, Caddy and a couple of other youngsters coming through,” he continued.

“Let’s just clean this joint up because that is what it desperately needs.

“Anyone want Parish? Adelaide, you need a midfielder? Have him.

“Brisbane, you want Ridley? Have him.

“Anyone need a key defender? North? Have McKay back, take him for free.”

The Dons, who have had caretaker Dean Solomon in charge since Scott was sacked in May, are expected to announce Mark McVeigh as the new senior coach on Tuesday.

Will there be a refresh under 'Spike'? Cornes hopes so.

Listen to the Fireball Files season review of the Bombers below: