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Live sport on SN this weekendCornes and King’s one burning question for all 18 AFL clubs
SEN • March 3rd, 2025 2:50 pm
Kane Cornes and David King prepare for the 2025 season by asking one BURNING question of every AFL club.
Read the thoughts of SEN Breakfast’s Fireball duo below:
Can you get 50 from ‘Filthy’? Is it ‘Riley Time’ and can he change the fortunes of this footy club?
Riley Thilthorpe only played seven games last year.
He’s a different beast this year. He looks enormous. I feel like if he can kick 55 or more goals, they can finish top four.
They just need one more contributor forward of the ball.
David King
Who steps up to fill the massive void left by Joe Daniher?
Can Brisbane’s forward line and second ruck division fire without the unique star?
I think they can do it in different ways. I like Logan Morris. I’m confident in Callum Ah Chee, Kai Lohmann, Cam Rayner and Zac Bailey, Linc McCarthy can play, they’ve got options everywhere.
Not for one second am I worried about Brisbane’s ability to do it, but I till think that is the biggest question facing them this year.
Kane Cornes
Can you compete with a defence built with straw?
David King
Will the biggest risk by any team, by pushing all of their chips in on experienced players, pay off? Or will it leave them busted and ruined for years to come?
The oldest and most experienced team by a mile. They’ve got 20 players who have played 100-plus games. It looked great against Richmond, who is the worst team we’ve seen since 2011.
But when it comes to winter when you’ve got this experience, when there are sore bodies, when there’s a couple of injuries to key players, when you’re still relying on Pendlebury on ball, and the likes of Howe, Sidebottom - I don’t know which way is it going to go.
It’s the biggest risk any team has taken. Will it pay off or will it ruin them for years to come and will they find themselves sin a Richmond-like position in a few years’ time?
Kane Cornes
Why do I have more confidence in Caddy and Kako than I have in McKay and Shiel?
Why forward of the ball am I more excited with these young kids, when I look behind the footy and I’ve got the big-dollar recruits in McKay and Shiel in his new role across half-back. Why am I like that?
Why aren’t we just banking on the senior core talent at Essendon getting the job done?
How many 19-year-olds really shift the course of your footy club? Not many. And you’re asking two of them to do it straight away.
I’m just concerned with that.
David King
Will Justin Longmuir let them play? And is he the right man for the job?
There are a couple of teams where the question just solely revolves around the coach. This is one of them.
We’re going to find that out this year. Otherwise there will be significant ramifications.
They’ve got all the tools there, they’ve added to that, they’re all in. When you’ve got a list as good as theirs, you’ve got to let them play.
Top four is on the cards if things go well.
Kane Cornes
Now that it’s Max Holmes’ midfield, is it premiership calibre?
They’re another good look for the premiership.
With Patrick Dangerfield spending more time forward and Bailey Smith coming in, do you have to revisit your thoughts on their whole stoppage game?
They’ve got very few holes in their profile. It’s a terrific set up. It gives Chris Scott another asset to work with in that midfield.
I think they’re evolving right before our very eyes. They’re still in that window, third for experience and fifth for age.
David King
Is it the start of a dynasty?
In five years’ time are we going to go, ‘be careful what you wished for’, because they’re absolutely ready to go.
2-9 away from home last year. How big is Round 2 West Coast away and Round 3 Melbourne at the MCG?
We’re going to get a really good look at Gold Coast early in the first month of the season.
They want for nothing, they’ve got an easy draw, they get a top-five player in every year through the draft. Surely now with Damien Hardwick this is the start of something special.
Kane Cornes
What if Jesse Hogan is just Jesse Hogan, and not Jesse Carey?
Last year was an unbelievable year, one out of the box. What if it’s an outlier?
77 goals, best and fairest, All-Australian, Coleman. 49, 35 and 20 were the three previous years.
What if you lose 30 goals? What if he’s just a good player, not an absolute A-plus player?
David King
Can they handle the heat that comes with being the AFL’s new darlings? Or will their swagger turn against them under the prime time spotlight?
The Hawks feature under lights nine times in the first 15 weeks this season. They play massive games against Essendon, Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Can they handle it? Will the swagger be there? The opposition will scout them hard and they know it.
Let’s see if they can handle it.
Kane Cornes
Is falling in love again as simple as Simon says?
There’s a lot of love. If they have (fallen back in love) they still have great elite talent with Max Gawn, the defence and the contest work of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca.
If they haven’t, if they can’t meaningfully fall in love again, it it goes wrong, where to then? They’ve got to purge, they’ve go to virtually start this list all over again. And we’ll be talking about the fact that this group only won the one flag.
Let’s see if they’re in love or not.
David King
Can Clarko get the team to buy in defensively?
18th for defence last season, they conceded 100-plus points in the first 11 games and 18 times for the year.
They neglected trying to stop the opposition from scoring.
Can he do it? If he can’t, serious questions about the impact the genius coach has had on the club.
Kane Cornes
Are Josh Carr’s mechanics, his ideas, his motivational tools better than Hinkley’s?
We just have to assume that Carr’s the man. With half a handover you’d think that he’s setting things up.
I want to see what’s new. If you’re going to do this handover, you cannot waste the year living in Ken’s methods, they have to be Carr’s. You can have the assistance and the support of Ken.
What are they? What does it look like? Has Josh Carr got something totally different than what they’ve always been to give them a different result to what they’ve always got.
David King
How much pain and carnage will the full-scale rebuild inflict on the proud club?
How long can Adem Yze survive if the losses keep piling up? That’s as simple as it gets.
We all think it’s a great idea on paper but is the reality far more severe than what it looks like.
Kane Cornes
Is the follow-me, A-grader from the last four drafts on this list?
Is he there yet? We’ll get more evidence in 2025. I’m not absolutely sold that it’s Mattaes Phillipou.
They’ve had that middle first-round selection at all times, they can’t continue to get that selection.
Pressure for me is to find who is the absolute follow-me guy. If you haven’t got him, do something with your selections or your talent.
You’ve got to get picks in the top five. If you can’t get those your club is failing.
David King
Will Sydney’s bold coaching change be justified?
Can Dean Cox rebuild the Swans’ reputation and take them to the final step after their Grand Final humiliation?
He wants to change the way the Swans defend and he wants to be more resilient, he wants the hard edge back and he wants them to be better in the contest.
Will the coaching change be justified?
Kane Cornes
Are they at the bottom yet?
We will find out in 2025. They had some improvements last year.
Do they have the guy? I have my doubts. I think they’ve made some errors at the draft table.
Everyone can see Harley Reid, he’s a given. But where is his support?
Maybe they need to have a down year almost by design.
David King
How do they respectfully transition to a new voice and send Luke Beveridge off in the right way?
There’s a respectful way to do it. My thoughts on the Western Bulldog don’t need anymore information.
Kane Cornes
