“Blows my mind”: Cornes questions West Coast’s Yeo contract call after pre-season injury

Kane Cornes has questioned West Coast’s call to re-sign Elliot Yeo for three years after the 31-year-old went down with a medial ligament and syndesmosis injury at pre-season training last Friday.

While Yeo enjoyed a strong 2024 campaign where he played 20 games, that was the first time he’d played more than 12 games in a season since 2019 due to persistent injuries.

Although Cornes loves watching Yeo when he’s up and firing, he couldn’t wrap his head around West Coast giving him a deal until the end of the 2028 season given his injury history, even if rival clubs were showing interest in his services.

“It’s got to be said that I just loved his season last year, I thought he was a real bright spot for them,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“But then West Coast get tipped in because he had two-thirds of a good season last year before he got injured late and they reward him with a three-year contract for a guy who turned 31 in October.

“This is games played since 2020 for Elliot Yeo – 10, 12, 5, 10, 20 – and because there's a story that's probably been leaked by the Yeo camp that there's interest from a Victorian club … West Coast go, ‘We’re going to give him three years at 31’.

“Honestly, it just blows my mind, the stupidity of clubs.”

Cornes thinks that the Eagles simply ignored father time when making the contract decision, adding that he feels that Yeo played better in 2024 partly because he was coming out of contract.

“He was a player that needed to be on the edge as well. He's not dissimilar to Jake Stringer. I don't think his standards have been that good for a fair amount of time,” Cornes said.

“He finally got himself right because he was playing for a contract and you get awesome footy, no doubt about it.

“But you're not going to deny time. If he’s 22, it’s, ‘Great, no worries, have whatever you want’. But he doesn't play, and he's 31, his body's not going to get better.

“This is an unfortunate injury, and probably unavoidable … it’s not a soft tissue, I get all of that, but it’s just unnecessary.”

The Eagles look set to be without Yeo when they open their 2025 season against Gold Coast at Optus Stadium on March 16.