Adelaide Crows under fire over 'pathetic' post-match gesture after AFL loss to Hawthorn

Kane Cornes has torn the Adelaide Crows to shreds over their decision to form a post-match guard of honour for Hawthorn player Jack Gunstan. The Crows slumped to an embarrassing low on Saturday, going down to the Hawks by 25 points in a disappointing display.

And if their performance wasn't bad enough, they're also copping heat for their actions after the full-time siren. The Crows formed a guard of honour alongside Hawthorn players as Gunstan was chaired off the ground following his 250th game.

It seemed a nice gesture to some considering Gunstan started his career at the Crows before moving to Victoria. But former Port Adelaide player Cornes didn't see it that way.

“For Adelaide, their worst performance of the season yesterday, it signalled the end of any chance of them playing finals this year,” Cornes said on the Sunday Footy Show. “It was to be honest a pathetic performance. So what do you do after the game, after you put in a performance like that? Let’s line up for a guard of honour for a player who left the club after two years and went on to play in three premierships in a row at Hawthorn and cheer him off for game 250.”

Is 250 games worthy of a guard of honour from the opposition?

According to Cornes, the Crows had no need to mark Gunstan's milestone and should've gotten straight off the ground. “Adelaide to me, (coach) Matthew Nicks is a really nice guy, but I think he’s too nice,” Cornes said.

“I think Jordan Dawson is a really lovely, nice guy. I mean if your daughter brought him home for dinner and he was her boyfriend, you’d be pretty happy I reckon. Same with Matthew Nicks. There’s a lot of niceness about the Adelaide Football Club.

“I could not believe, for game 250, which is a good milestone for Jack Gunston - don’t get me wrong - but it’s not guard-of-honour worthy. Your season is finished, you’ve lost your 10th in a row at the MCG, you’re not playing finals, and you line up for a player who left after two seasons to go and win three flags at another club. It was unbelievable, I couldn’t believe it.

“Got off the ground. It was a shocking performance, their most disappointing of the year, they’re not playing finals now, get off the ground and work out how you’re going to turn it around.

“If I’m Taylor Walker, if I’m Jordan Dawson, I’m going ‘why are we lining up for 250’? It's is not a milestone that we celebrate for another club. How do you reckon the Crows fans - so Gunston gets drafted to the club, he leaves after two years - Crows fans are at home going ‘that’s the performance we put in’.

“Now we’re lining up for a guy who left after two years and played in three flags at Hawthorn. I couldn’t believe it. Why are we so nice?”

AFL fans agree with Kane Cornes about Adelaide Crows gesture

Fellow panellist Nathan Brown said: “I agree with you on this one. I quite often disagree with you, but I agree with you on this one.”

And fans tended to agree with Cornes on social media - particularly Crows supporters. One wrote: “As an Adelaide supporter I was disgusted we did this."

Another added: “It is cringe. Embarrassing by Adelaide. I have never agreed with Kane … until now. The 2018 pre-season affair was a disaster, now we have gone so far away from having any mongrel this rebuild is now our story and will go on forever.”

However others firmly disagreed and said there was nothing wrong with the Crows showing some class in defeat. The Hawks kicked 10 of the first 12 goals to seal the victory, winning 16.11 (107) to 12.8 (80). While the rebuilding Hawks were outstanding, Adelaide were woeful and are now winless in their past 11 games at the MCG - going back to the 2017 season when the Crows made the grand final.