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"Dumbest era ever": Cornes slams AFL contract circus
SEN • June 20th, 2025 11:15 am
Kane Cornes says the AFL is in the “dumbest era of contracts” he has ever seen.
Referencing news Tim Kelly signed a two-year contract extension with the West Coast Eagles last month – news he admits he had missed at the time – Cornes was gobsmacked the deal had been done.
This year, Kelly has been linked with a move away from WA after a less than inspiring season to date and only last year was been linked with a cross-town defection to Freo having won just 10 games during his Eagles tenure.
Whatever the reason for the midfielder to remain in place, Cornes believes it’s the wrong decision.
“I don’t know how this slipped past me,” he said on SEN’s Fireball. “Tim Kelly's contract has been extended a few weeks ago – how?
“A two-year contract for Tim Kelly, that’s my dig. Whoever decided that was a good idea.
“It looked as though it was coming to an end, the way he had been speaking, his form, losing his place in a side that desperately needs any kind of experience in that line-up particularly in the midfield.
“I would have thought the ideal situation would have been for him and the club to part ways at the end of this year but somehow they’ve extended him.
“Honestly, it’s the dumbest era of contracts we have ever see. We will look back in 20 years and look back…it’s never been dumber.”
Six years after he joined the Eagles, Kelly is adamant he was never looking anywhere else.
"I'm absolutely stoked to be committing for another two years," he said when he signed the extension.
"I'm always really grateful for the opportunity that the club gave me. They got me and my family home at a time when we really needed it.
"There was no intentions of looking anywhere else, and I'm just pumped that we could get this done."
