Kane Cornes has doubled down on his criticism of Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore, after it was labelled “disrespectful” by a journalist.
The Pies went down to Gold Coast by 11 points on Saturday afternoon, keeping the Suns undefeated in 2024 at home.
It was Moore, who had just 11 touches and one intercept mark, who caught Cornes’ eye for all the wrong reasons, spurring him to question the defender’s leadership on Sunday.
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“I reckon he plays one good game in every six,” Cornes said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“I know that sounds harsh, but as a leader of this footy club… I just see it far too often.
“Darcy Moore disappoints me. I’ve got to be honest about Darcy Moore, the premiership skipper.”
Journalist Sam McClure called out Cornes’ analysis of Moore, unhappy with the pile on that the 2023 premiership captain copped on Sunday.
“I think that’s incredibly disrespectful to a premiership captain,” McClure said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night.
Cornes clapped back at that suggestion.
“Well, I’m just speaking facts here,” he said.
The Port Adelaide great moved to defend his words, noting that Moore has underperformed by his own standards so far in 2024.
“How many coaches votes do you think Darcy Moore has this year?” Cornes asked McClure.
“He’s had four (coaches votes).
“He’s had one vote in round seven, he had 45 (coaches votes) last year. He’s not the player that you think he was.”
Cornes doubled down again, showing vision of Moore’s poor output in the Pies’ loss to the Suns.
“I don’t just say things for the sake of it. His timing is off, as I said. He doesn’t impact offensively,” he said.
“What’s that press there? That’s not a player who is captain of a premiership team, who probably gets paid $900,000 for the year.
“These are the facts, Sam.”
McClure responded by slamming Cornes’ earlier take.
“I think he’s out of form, but he doesn’t play one good game in every six,” McClure said, before explaining why Moore isn’t supposed to be a shut-down defender.
“Darcy Moore is not supposed to play on Ben King.”
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Moore’s role has naturally become more restricted since the retirement of defender Nathan Murphy on the eve of their 2024 campaign, due to ongoing concussion issues.
It’s forced key forward Billy Frampton to move to the backline to fill a crucial shut down defender position left by Murphy.