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Cornes: “Heads should roll” at Saints if Wilson leaves
Andrew Slevison • June 25th, 2026 1:05 pm
Heads should roll at St Kilda if Darcy Wilson departs the club at season’s end, says Kane Cornes.
The talented 20-year-old, who is out of contract this year, is the subject of interest from rival clubs including North Melbourne.
SEN’s Sam Edmund believes there are some clubs who are prepared to pay as much as $1.2 million a year for Wilson who has so far held out from signing a Saints extension.
“This is how rival clubs view this player,” Edmund said on Locked In.
“They have indicated what they are prepared to pay him, and for some of those clubs, those offers at the moment are $1.2 million a season and above. That's where we're at with this guy.”
Cornes is not surprised by the interest.
“That doesn’t shock me at all,” Cornes said.
“So well played, Darcy, well played. Because you probably would have got $700,000 to stay at the start of the year and now you're going to get $500,000 to $600,000 more, and that's only going to keep going up.
“Well done, perfectly handled.”
But given the Saints spent so much money to extend Mattaes Phillipou last year and could now possibly lose Wilson, it presents as a potential list disaster in the eyes of Cornes.
“It would be the biggest balls-up of a club if St Kilda fumbled this one. Heads should roll on this one,” he said of the prospect of Wilson exiting.
“This is almost ‘cost you your job’ type of stuff if Darcy Wilson leaves considering the investment you've made in others and that's been your priority.”
Cornes is an unabashed Wilson fan and believes he’ll eventually become a high quality forward-half midfielder who does serious damage in attack.
“What do I think of him? I love him. He’s just so well-suited to the way that the game is played,” he added.
“Ross Lyon has coached him beautifully, mind you. He's playing in the right position (on the wing). Eventually he becomes an inside mid.
“He is exceptional and he's maximum damage per possession.”
Are there any real concerns at St Kilda regarding Wilson?
Cornes has heard that the Saints are fairly confident they'll keep him from being lured away.
“Is it becoming a real concern? Because I've spoken to someone at the Saints six weeks ago and they were super confident. They said, ‘No, we'll just pay him the money. It's going to cost us more, but we're not losing him’, and there was no thought that they were going to lose him.
“Is there any thought now that they're getting a bit nervous?”
Edmund replied: “I think there’d have to be some thought.
“I’m not saying he's definitely leaving, all I'm saying is when you have this amount of interest from rival clubs, clearly they think there's a chance to get him out of there and they'll hope that they can turn his head.”
Cornes asked: “Can you tell me which club is at the $1.2 million level?”
Edmund answered: “We hear a lot about North Melbourne. I think North would be prepared to pay that, without knowing for sure. I’m not going to pretend that I know that North are offering that because I don’t, but it would make a lot of sense that North would be prepared to part with that sort of money
“But to be honest, I think most of the competition should and would have picked up the phone and inquired about that player because he's really caught the eye this year.”
Wilson is averaging 21 disposals and almost four inside 50s across 14 games in 2026.
