“He sooked”: Cornes calls out Horne-Francis

Kane Cornes was disappointed with Port Adelaide star Jason Horne-Francis’ body language in Friday night’s loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium.

While the 21-year-old kicked a goal to go with 22 disposals and six clearances, he was nowhere near his best as he struggled to cover the ground and fumbled at some key moments.

With things not going all his way under the roof, Cornes saw a big drop off in Horne-Francis’ body language and attitude, accusing the Power star of moping which then cast a dark shadow over his teammates.

As Horne-Francis is a competitive beast, Cornes pondered what things would look like if he again was playing in a losing side much as he did in his first season at North Melbourne.

“It's probably the first time I'm starting to think with the Horne-Francis stuff, what's it going to look like in a couple of years if he's in a poor side,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“It’s the body language for me because he’s a competitive winner, but he doesn’t cope well when things aren’t going his way.

“He sooked last night, there’s no sugar-coating that. Then he seduces you into thinking he’s going to be that match-winner again with that one-handed grab and finish.

“But consistently, he's got to be better with the body language stuff and infects the whole of the group.

“When he's moping around, when he's giving free kicks against, when he's fumbling and when he's dropping easy marks, the influence his poor body language has on the whole of the group is a dark shadow over the rest of his teammates.

“That's not good enough.”

Cornes compared Horne-Francis’ attitude to that of Harley Reid who has also struggled in that aspect to start 2025.

The only thing is, Cornes expects better from the Power star who is two years the senior of the young Eagle who is beginning to make his way at the top level.

“It's similar to the Harley Reid stuff that I've been talking about and him giving away seven free kicks,” Cornes said.

“This is a much younger player in Reid than it is Horne-Francis, so he should be more advanced.

“But it's the same discussion. It's not good enough. You're letting your team down, and when your individual performance and body language and effort and effort starts to affect your teammates, then we've got a major issue.”

Horne-Francis will hope to bounce back when Port Adelaide host St Kilda at the Adelaide Oval next Sunday.