Kane Cornes has been called out by Kangaroos legend Wayne Carey after his suggestion that Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield should drop weight to extend his career.
Cornes tabled his belief that Dangerfield would benefit from dropping five to six kilograms over the off-season after the 32-year-old was subbed out of Geelong’s 35-point win over Port Adelaide with a calf issue.
“I would really try and trim down and fine tune his body. He’s not carrying (excess) weight, but he looks heavy,” he told Nine’s Footy Classified.
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“At that stage of your career when you get over 30, it’s a good idea to really strip your body down and get really hardened and I think he’ll benefit from that.
“I would be looking to lose five or six kilos. He would want to play for another two to three seasons and I think he’ll benefit from that.”
However, Cornes’ suggestion did not sit well with Carey, who took to his Twitter account to voice his frustrations.
https://twitter.com/waynecarey27/status/1528187451683917825
Cornes wasted little time before offering a retort to the former Kangaroos skipper.
“It wasn’t in any way a criticism, just an observation,” he tweeted.
“Some athletes in world sport benefit from becoming leaner as they age, particularly if injuries become a factor.”
Cornes’ theory does carry some weight, with Dangerfield’s missed games tally of eight over the last two seasons doubling his amount of games missed between 2012 and 2020.
Outside of the 2020 season where quarters were shortened, Dangerfield’s 21.5 disposals per game through eight appearances this year is his lowest average since 2011.