Kane Cornes has labelled new Richmond coach Adem Yze “delusional”, after his club’s 119-point loss at the hands of Brisbane in round 10.
In his post-match press conference, Yze denied the Tigers were undergoing a rebuild, despite their dismal 1-9 start, which also includes a 91-point loss to the Bulldogs the week before.
The Tigers are also suffering an injury crisis, with the latest casualty Sam Naismith going down with a suspected ACL injury, the fourth of his career.
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“A lot of teams do go through this when they have had success, or when they’re just starting out and rebuilding,” Yze said on Saturday.
Yze is so confident that his side are not at the rebuild stage yet, that he blamed their poor win-loss ratio on their new game plan, which he said hadn’t been executed properly yet.
“But we don’t feel like we’re at that point (of rebuilding). We feel like when we have everyone available, we can be competitive. We’ll just keep working on our game,” he said.
Richmond defender Daniel Rioli echoed Yze’s sentiment on Monday.
“I think we’ve just been a bit off. Our intensity is there, our effort is there, but we just can’t nail our game plan,” Rioli said ahead of Dreamtime at the ‘G against the Bombers.
Cornes slammed Yze’s take on the poor start.
“I’m really surprised to hear them say that they think if everyone is available, they can be competitive,” he said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night.
“To hear them say that ‘we believe this group can challenge for the top eight and top four if the availability is there’, I just don’t agree with it.
“He’s delusional. They think they’re in the mix when everyone is available. I think there’s some delusion in that.”
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Cornes urged Yze to embrace the rebuild, giving as many young players a chance at the highest level as possible in the next few years.
“I think it’s the wrong strategy for Adem Yze (denying the rebuild),” he said.
“It’s a great opportunity to get five years (out of this group).”
So where to from here for the luckless Tigers?
“I think they’ve got to be honest with themselves. The worst position for a club to be in, is not knowing where you’re at,” Cornes said.
“I think it’s pretty obvious and has been for the last two years, that this is where it is going (a rebuild).
“You’ve got to hit the draft hard.”
The Tigers will also need to make a call on ageing champion Dustin Martin, whose nine-year mega deal comes to an end in 2024.
They sit 17th on the ladder, ahead of the winless Kangaroos.