Footy pundit dishes out brutal dig at AFL club who banned him for allegedly ‘bullying’ 20-year-old star

Kane Cornes issued a veiled dig at North Melbourne on Thursday night after the Kangaroos were beaten by Essendon at the Marvel Stadium.

Prior to the match, Cornes had been involved in a spat with Kangaroos bosses over his comments on 20-year-old star Harry Sheezel this week on Channel 7.

The controversial pundit, who is known for voicing divisive opinions, had delivered a scathing assessment of Sheezel’s performance against Port Adelaide last weekend, slamming the young midfielder for his lack of efficiency with the footy.

Though this isn’t the first time Cornes has been banned by a club, with the former Power player previously being handed a ban by the Western Bulldogs, the 42-year-old locked horns with the club over the matter after Todd Viney claimed his comments were ‘bullying’ and a ‘personal and vindictive attack’ on Sheezel.

Cornes, though, wanted to have the last laugh, taking to his Instagram on Thursday night, publishing a photograph of himself inside the Essendon changing rooms, along with Hamish McLachlan presenting for Channel 7.

A group of Bombers players were seen in the background preparing to walk out to the footy pitch, with Cornes captioning the image: ‘Great to be in the winning rooms pre-game for Thursday night footy on 7.’

He added a ‘shush-face’ emoji after the caption.

In the second picture, he also published an image of Jy Simpkin shushing fans after he kicked a goal in the third quarter to bring North closer to the Bomber’s lead.

Prior to the match, Cornes had said to Channel 7: ‘We’re outside. We can’t get inside, which is disappointing.

‘I was looking forward to asking Alastair Clarkson some tough questions; I think the club needs to answer those.

‘But unfortunately, they’ve gone down this route.’

He was pressed on whether he had any regrets on his comments, adding: ‘Not really. I think that was all reasonably strong criticism, but I think it was fair.

‘It’s very easy to run away so I’m disappointed and I think they’ve been poorly advised in this.’

But the war of words between Cornes and the Kangaroos isn’t showing any signs of settling with Alastair Clarkson now hitting out against the former Port Adelaide star.

‘They say those that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, so I know a little bit about Kane’s history,’ Clarkson told Channel 7.

‘Some of the things he was saying about Jy (Simpkin) and ‘Sheez’, I just think – especially from the host broadcaster and who is covering this game tonight – this isn’t shared across the football world, but I’ve got a view there should be a relatively good balance.

‘Particularly when you’re talking about the players — they’re the product of the game — they’re the guys on the field and in the trenches with their mates trying to fight for their side.

‘When the line gets crossed, we know that there’s critique in the game, we’ve been copping it for 20 years.

‘You know, especially as a coach, when these things happen we just have to cop it on the chin.

‘I think it’s a good indication of our stability as a football club. This was a club decision from the board right through to the football department that we need to look after our people and we just think it was untoward.’

Pressed on whether he felt Cornes would be further motivated to continue blasting the club, he said: ‘That’ll be up to Kane to work out how he goes about it.’

Despite the loss, Sheezel enjoyed a standout performance for the Roos, amassing 32 disposals and nine marks to be his side’s best on the ground.