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Full Noise by SN
Important update on 1476AMCornes: The AFL's uneven nature has reached crisis level
Jaiden Sciberras • April 6th, 2026 4:40 pm
The AFL has found itself in a dire space, and Kane Cornes believes it’s time to take action.
A common theme across the football world this season surrounds the game’s uneven nature. From compromised draft systems to fixture issues, the AFL remains far from balanced in its entirety.
With clubs seemingly taking longer and longer to rebuild, the on-field product continues to suffer, and with a 19th team just years away and possibly a 20th on the horizon, the talent pool may be stretching itself beyond its means.
But what can be done to help return the game to an even playing field?
As Cornes argues, it’s a fix that won’t happen overnight, but it’s certainly one that those at AFL HQ should begin mending as soon as possible.
“This isn’t a new thought, so spare me the reheating of soup,” Cornes told SEN Fireball.
“Every decision the AFL make from here on in has to be with the end goal in mind to make the competition as even as possible.
“This is almost a crisis level situation where we have poor teams, great teams, and then a couple in the middle, and it’s no good.
“Saturday night, I don’t even know the show with Michelle Pfeiffer on streaming, but I switched off the footy and I watched Michelle Pfeiffer on Prime, because I was sick of it.
“Last night was a tough watch. The Saturday game between Port Adelaide and Richmond was about as bad a game of football as you can see.
“We get great games, no worries. Friday night with Adelaide and Fremantle was really interesting. I thought the North Melbourne versus Carlton game was interesting because it was close.
“There needs to be a royal commission in how we make the competition more even.
“If you are going to change the rules, and you’re going to make it so much faster for everyone, you have to understand that that’s going to favour the Western Bulldogs significantly at Marvel Stadium, and it’s going to hurt the poorer teams like Essendon, and we saw it last night.
“Same goes for Richmond, same goes for Port Adelaide, same goes for West Coast when they get smacked by 128 (against Sydney). 128!
“Every single move you make AFL, has to be ‘does this make the competition more even’. If you just went by that in future for every single thing that you did, then I think we’re going to be in a much better spot that we are in right now.”
While long-term changes require significant attention, Cornes suggested that minor changes such as fixture mismanagement and travel compensation should be areas that are fixed from as early as next season.
“The Giants have a terrible draw, and it’s really hard to go and get people to go and work at the Giants, or players to go and play there. So, give them a leg up somewhere,” he suggested.
“Fremantle and West Coast’s travel is such a disadvantage, that they should be getting something on the back of that.
“Every single thing, every decision that you make… Collingwood play 14 at the ‘G. Take something away from them! If they need to have a short break.
“If they need to play three games in a short window like Adelaide have done – make that Collingwood and give Fremantle an extra few days’ break.
“Whatever it is, every single thing that you do needs to be, in the back of whoever’s making the decision, ‘does this make the competition more even’.
“Right now, the last thing we need is people not turning up to games, and even worse, switching off at half time like we did on Saturday.
“I can’t imagine there are that many ballers out there that watched – that usually would – all of Saturday’s Port versus Richmond, and all of Saturday night. They were the only two games we had on all of Saturday.
“It’s a mess, and it needs to be sorted out. It’s going to take time, but if that’s all you think about, I think the game is going to be in a better spot.”
