“He was arguing against me”: How Kane Cornes overcame draft reluctance of Mark Williams

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has one of the most unique draft stories going around.

Cornes was taken with pick No.20 in the 2000 Draft and while it appeared on the surface that the Power would simply pick the local boy from Glenelg to join his brother Chad at the club - who was taken at pick No. 9 in 1997 - the former 300-gamer says it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Cornes revealed that it was he who got on the front foot with the club as he called then coach Mark Williams during his draft year pleading to be selected by the Power.

Port Adelaide were armed with four picks in that draft - 12, 20, 35 and 50 - and Williams was blunt with Cornes that he wouldn’t be taken at their first selection, a pick they’d use to eventually take the great Shaun Burgoyne.

“Prior to the draft I had rung Mark Williams, he didn’t know me but he coached my brother … all he knew of me was that I did a week of training with them through the AIS Academy in the lead-up to the draft,” Cornes told the Howie Games Podcast.

“So I got on the phone, can you imagine that? At age 17, the boldness and desperation to do that. 

“I said, ‘Mark, you have to draft me, you won’t regret it. Chad is at the club, I love the club, I want to stay in Adelaide and I want to come to Port Adelaide. You have to draft me’.

“They had picks 12, 20, 40 and 50-odd … he said, ‘Kane, I’m not drafting you with pick 12’. He was honest and I said, ‘Okay’. But he said, ‘We’ve got pick 20, there’ll be a discussion if you’re still there’. So I said thank you.

“It came around to draft night and I had all of my family over … Channel Seven broadcasted the draft, I had friends from school, (now wife) Lucy was sitting there, Mum was sitting there, Chad’s there…

“It came around to pick 12 and Port Adelaide selected Shaun Burgoyne … they probably made the right call with that one, they went with the 400-gamer and four-time premiership player. But at the time I was upset and a little bit angry.”

After being passed on with pick No. 12, Cornes had his fingers and toes crossed once he was still available at pick No. 20.

After meeting with then Hawks coach Peter Schwab during the year, Cornes felt that if he wasn’t taken by the Power at that selection he’d be off to Hawthorn at No. 21 (a pick they used on Nick Ries).

When the Power were on the clock at pick 20, Cornes was watching the draft live praying for his name to be read out when he noticed Williams arguing with recruiting manager Alan Stewart.

While the Power asked for extra time twice as the arguments ensued, Cornes was relieved once his name was finally read out.

“Then it came around (to pick 20) and my name was still there,” Cornes said.

“Hawthorn had pick 21 and I’d spoken to (Peter) Schwab he’d come to my house and he was coach of the Hawks and he was brilliant. I was pretty confident I was off to Hawthorn at pick 21 but I wanted to stay home…

“So the pick came around and they (Port Adelaide) were arguing, I could see it. Alan Stewart was the recruiter and Mark Williams were arguing on draft night … I’m watching at home and there are Channel Seven cameras … I’m flat they haven’t taken me with pick 12 and Mark Williams and Alan Stewart are visibly arguing.

“They go, ‘Port Adelaide has requested extra time’… I was just hoping they’d call my name out… Choco (Williams) can’t hide his body language and he’s off in the corner, his back is turned, you can tell he was angry and he’s not engaging with the rest of the recruiting panel. He’s upset.

“They asked for extra time again and eventually after 10 minutes they’ve gone, ‘With pick No. 20 … from Glenelg, Kane Cornes’. My house just erupted, Lucy was hugging me realising she didn’t have to move interstate, everyone was going bananas and Chad was there trying to keep a straight face.”

After the high of having his dream realised, Cornes says he was quickly brought back down to earth by Williams who revealed that he didn’t want to take him at pick No. 20.

His reluctance was the reason for the arguments Cornes witnessed.

“An hour or so later Mark Williams rings me, ‘Kane, congratulations, we’ve clearly selected you, but you weren’t the player I wanted’. He was arguing against me,” Cornes explained.

“In the moment he said, ‘I wanted Allan Murray’, who they then were able to get with their next pick … so it worked out because it was, ‘I wanted Allan Murray and we got him (with pick 35) … but I’m going to be brutally honest with you, I don’t know where I’m going to play you. I don’t know if you’re a half-back, a midfielder or a forward. I’m worried about your speed and your kick … so really, the ball is in your court and it’s over to you’.

“You go from overjoyed being on an AFL list to now the hard work starts, I had a coach who didn’t want to pick me and has serious questions about my game. How am I going to fix this?”

With some motivation to prove his coach wrong, Cornes set out immediately at Alberton to prove his work ethic, one that he’d become renowned for across the rest of his lengthy and successful career.

“The next day schoolies was on at the time, but there was no way I was going to go to schoolies so I turned up at training the next day,” Cornes said.

“I was there the very next day so I got a head start on some who waited another couple of weeks to join their club and I think that was a sign that, ‘This guy is serious and he’s going to train hard’.

“That was the start of it … I knew in the back of my mind it was going to take some work to convince this coach.”

Cornes ended up proving himself and Port’s recruiters right after retiring in 2015 with 300 games, a premiership in 2004 under Williams, four best and fairests, two All-Australian blazers and a spot in the club’s Hall of Fame on his impressive CV.

Listen to Cornes on the Howie Games with Mark Howard below: