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"Arse-kissing": Cornes calls out the persistent pandering of Demons stars

SEN  •  August 11th, 2025 3:00 pm
"Arse-kissing": Cornes calls out the persistent pandering of Demons stars
Have the Demons gone too soft on their stars?
Following the sacking of long-term premiership coach Simon Goodwin, interim coach Troy Chaplin was handed an almighty challenge, facing a Western Bulldogs side that needed to win to keep their finals hopes afloat.
In what was an incredibly difficult week for the club, the Dees put up an incredible fight, leading as late as the 21-minute mark of the final term before falling a goal short at the final siren.
With the effort and intent clearly a level above what Melbourne had presented across the season gone, Chaplin ensured to give credit to the club’s senior leaders, stepping up across the week and putting in solid shifts within their nail-biting Round 22 contest.

“It’s been a tough week for everyone, but for the guys to play out the way that they did, and to be so close – I think it says a lot about this group and the path they’re on,” Chaplin said post-game.
“I thought our leaders were fantastic all week, led by ‘Gawny’ (Max Gawn) and ‘Vines’ (Jack Viney). Ed (Langdon) in his 200th, ‘Trac’ (Christian Petracca), they’ve had to deal with a fair bit, but to go down against a team who are in really good form and are pushing for finals by a goal, right in the last minute - couldn’t be prouder of the group.”
While the leaders certainly deserve their flowers for their efforts given the circumstances, Kane Cornes believes that the persistent commending of the senior leaders may be over the top, and although Chaplin did superbly well both in the coach’s box and facing the media, the Demons have made a habit of pandering their top-liners.
“(Chaplin) did a very good job,” Cornes told SEN Fireball.
“Very impressive, and I think it was a smart move for him to say straight away, ‘I don’t want the job’, and he spoke about that after the game.
“But the arse-kissing of the Melbourne players just goes to extreme levels. It really does. This has been treading on eggshells with these players, and once again even a new coach is just pandering to the senior players.
“Of course you want them to lead well, that’s what they’re paid to do! It feels to me, completely outside, that the Melbourne hierarchy are petrified of offending any of the Melbourne senior players.
“You just wouldn’t hear that from Chis Scott. You just wouldn’t! Let’s bow down to Petracca and (Clayton) Oliver, they’ve been bowing down to these guys for two years!
“Let’s bow down to Viney. Of course he should play well, of course he should lead well, you just gave him a three-year contract extension at the age of 30!”
Melbourne’s clash with the Bulldogs was arguably lost within the midfield, with the Dees going down 31-46 in the total clearance count, with a staggering 10-19 centre clearance count despite captain Max Gawn dominating the hit-out count.
Clayton Oliver, Jai Culley and Max Gawn were the only players to amount five or more clearances, while Ed Richards (14), Marcus Bontempelli (seven) and Matt Kennedy (seven) all exceeded the mark.
“They were smacked in the midfield yesterday,” Cornes continued.
“Gawn, Petracca, Viney, (Kysaiah) Pickett… smashed in the midfield from centre bounce. That’s the difference in the game.
“I don’t know if they did get it done on-field when they needed to, as good as the team performance was.
“I hope the new coach is willing to challenge and challenge hard the behaviours of the senior players at Melbourne, because for too long, they’ve been kissing the feet of those players.
“That’s what hurt Simon Goodwin and Troy Chaplin has just done the exact same thing.”
With two games remaining, Melbourne sits in 13th place, having won seven of their 21 games in 2025.
The search for their next senior coach continues, with premiership coaches John Longmire and Adam Simpson withdrawing any interest in succeeding Goodwin at the helm of the Melbourne Demons.
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