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In-stadium commentary at Mt SmartCornes reveals what was said in Beveridge incident
SEN • May 23rd, 2025 9:00 am
Kane Cornes has addressed the pre-game confrontation with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night.
Cornes is certainly not the No.1 ticket holder at the Bulldogs having constantly criticised the club for underachieving with what he describes as the best list in the AFL.
He has often questioned Beveridge’s position as senior coach, suggesting on occasion that perhaps his time is up.
As a result he has been banned from the Bulldogs rooms for any media commitments and it came to a head prior to the clash with Geelong.
While Cornes was down on the GMHBA Stadium turf preparing for Channel 7’s broadcast, he and Beveridge had a verbal altercation as the Dogs coach walked past.
So, what happened? What was said?
“I was standing close to the boundary line just in front of where we had our LED pod getting ready to go on TV,” Cornes said on SEN’s Fireball.
“I was staring out blankly into space to the players warming up and just out of the corner of my eye Luke Beveridge and the crew started walking towards me. I thought, ‘Oh ok, this is going to be interesting, how do I play this?’
“So I just stood there and looked out and as he came closer to me he was staring at me strongly with a strong look on his face. That was from 10 or so metres away and as he got a little bit closer I looked back and I just said, ‘Bevo’, and nodded my head.
“The reaction (from Beveridge) was the reaction that you saw. I don’t know if it’s for me to share what he said. I’m happy to tell you exactly my part in this - other than to say ‘Bevo’, and nodded my head - it wasn’t received well.
“It was something along the lines of, ‘You’ve got the nerve to say that’, and I just said, ‘What, I can’t say hello?’. Then he turned around again and started to go again and that’s when he was dragged away.
“But it’s ok, it’s fine. He’s combative, he protects his club, I’ve got no issue with it. We can have a bit of a laugh about it, I think.”
Why did Cornes walk after Beveridge following the initial exchange?
“It was never going to become physical, he had his own security guards, he had a couple of club officials pulling him way,” he added.
“It was more just a flinch reaction or a shock reaction when you’re not expecting something. Your initial instinct is to walk over and say, ‘Did I hear that correctly?’, type of thing.
“It was over pretty quickly.”
The moment was posted on social media fairly swiftly thereafter and Cornes felt the need to address it during the live broadcast.
“It’s amazing how quickly it goes around,” he said further.
“Then you’ve got the decision of how you do it during the broadcast and I think you’ve got to lean in to these things and go to places that perhaps are slightly uncomfortable.
“He played it down after the game. I’m not the first person he’s had a run-in with, there’s been many. ‘Caro’ (Caroline Wilson), ‘Damo’ (Damian Barrett), Mark Robinson, Tom Morris, and myself.
“He’s a combative character, I’m sure I won’t be the last and we move on.”
Listen to Cornes explain the incident below:
