Cornes calls out Freo spin as star ruckman heads to Qatar to address lingering knee issues

Kane Cornes remains convinced that Fremantle made a mistake signing Sean Darcy to a long-term contract extension, as the ruckman heads to Qatar for further rehabilitation from the knee surgery he underwent in August.

Darcy only played 12 games in 2024, dealing with ongoing issues with both of his knees.

Cornes was adamant that the Dockers did not need to commit to him long-term, given the injury concerns and how heavily they’ve invested in Luke Jackson.

Freo says Darcy is tracking well and that he is heading to Doha to compliment his re-integration into football.

Cornes however isn’t buying it, saying a team would never punt on a player’s January pre-season training block if things were going well.

“I would think that’s spin. They can spin it any way that they want. It’s rare to see a player with under a month until pre-season games take off to Doha in the middle of the most important training period of the year,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.

“Players who complete 80 per cent of January training are set up for a great year. To take off to Doha on January 21 says to me that this is panic stations and alarm bells.

“He had arthroscopic surgery on the other knee in the pre-season last year. Now he’s had surgery in August. If things are not tracking well from August to January, I would be really concerned.

“The funniest part about this whole thing is Justin Longmuir getting his back up after Darcy played one good game last year. He said it was a message to those being critical of his contract. One good game and the coach bites back.

“This deal, from the moment it was signed, I hate going back to the past, but this is exactly what I said this time last year – a seven-year deal for a 115kg ruckman who is injury prone and can’t play forward, they’ve spent $1.9 million of their salary cap on two ruckmen – there’s no way Darcy finishes his career as a Docker. This is Brodie Grundy mark two.

“I hope he can get himself right, but it’s hard to when you’ve got significant issues with both knees and you’re that size and you play a brutal position. It’s hard to imagine him lasting until the end of 2030.”

Darcy has played 110 career games for the Dockers since being selected with pick 38 in the 2016 National Draft.

Freo moved on from now-Hawthorn starting ruckman Lloyd Meek as part of their recommitment to the Darcy-Jackson combination.