In Defence of Chad Cornes

[ptw]

Young Chad cops a bit of flak on this site (not looking at anyone in particular Macca). I was looking through Afl.com and thought I would highlight:

Chad Cornes

Kicks 113 13th at Port - this is bad
Marks 67 - 7th - players ahead of Chad....Tredrea, CCC, James, Monty, Stevens, Kingsley.....as a marking player this is also not flash.
Goals 7 11th....again as a goal kicker this is not good enough.

On a positive note:

behinds 17....kicking points is not good but 7.17 could easily become 17.7. Had he kicked 17.7 (about 2 a game) no-one would be complaining, so improving his accuracy would improve his place in the team without doing anything else. Overall he is 7th on the list of total shots at goal (goals + behinds).

Contested marks...27 : 3rd behind Tredrea and Wanganeen both on 29. He is 9th in the AFL for contested marks.

So, the guy can take a contested grab, which is not something you can really learn IMHO.

My summary:

he has had a bad year. He has not got enough of the ball, no doubt about it. He does however have a good grab and this is quite rare. He has had plently of shots on goal but his kicking has let him down.

I would persist. He is 21 y.o. and has taken more contested marks than Mckernan, Whitnall and Loewe. We would be mad to get rid of him, unless we got a good deal on a trade. Ultimately if this is the worst he can play then it is not bad. Now is not the time to get rid of him as we would not get value for money.

Keep going Chad.

ptw

[Macca19]

Yeah you are right. He has had a bad year, especially after such a fruitful ansett cup campaign. What shiits me the most about Cornes is the fact that he doesnt do the 1% things. Yes he has a very strong mark...when he makes hte effect to contest the ball. He could have had easily twice the amount of marks he has if he made an effect to lead or get to the ball when it is up field. So often at footy park on the members wing, someone will take a mark, go back and players are just standing around. Chad in particular. He will not get to where the ball is contested, he instead stands around and scratches his head wondering what to do.
7.17 for a forward is disgraceful. In most of our games this year he has had our first shot on goal. And EVERY time it has been a point. His first shot on goal EVERY time is always a point. That is something that should be worked on. The fact that he has only scored goals in 4 or 5 games this year makes it worse seeing as he has played every game and had PLENTY of game time.
My main problem with chad is his ethic. He refuses to chase, tackle, put his body in the line of a contest, smother, sheperd. He did all of those in the Ansett CUp then suddenly the real stuff started and hee stops doing it. Lockwood got dropped very quickly for the same thing, yet Chad continously gets away with being slack. He drops his head too often. Its a confidence thing.
We need him kicking goals not behinds, and its all good and well saying if he had of kicked those goals noone would be complaining. If we had of beaten carlton and collingwood here we would be second on the ladder, but thats not the point is it...we lost those games, and chad missed those goals. If Cummings kicked les behinds in 97 he could of had 100 goals. Why concentrate on hypotheticals and saying "if he had of done...", he isnt kicking enough goals for someone who starts at full forward and plays 98% of their footy on the forward line. If he hadnt of kicked 1.5 against Collingwood we would of won. Its the same thing.

He has great marking ability. He has a very ordinary kick...and he always had. This is the one thing that he has had thru his junior years and his Glenelg years. He has a shocking kick. I wont forget in the 98 ansett cup when he missed a goal from 1.5 metres out straight in front. Even last year he didnt kick enough goals (altho nobody did last year).

But what shiits me the most and why i bag him so much is he is a clueless footballer. He doesnt know what to do and is only ever good on a lead really. So many times he just stands around thinking about what to do or where to stand or whatever instead of getting to a marking contest. He doesnt chase etc etc...thats why i dont like him much.