Jordan de Goey cops truth bomb from Kane Cornes after 'lack of respect' in Pies win
Kane Cornes has delivered a harsh reality check for the superstar Magpies player.
Jordan de Goey has been brought down a peg by Kane Cornes despite his virtuoso performance against GWS in the preliminary final, with Cornes declaring the Collingwood star has "underdelivered" this season. De Goey produced one of the best performances of his career as the Magpies scored a 58-57 win over the Giants at the MCG, racking up 34 disposals and 13 clearances.
The midfielder will be key to Collingwood's chances of beating Brisbane in Saturday's grand final, but Cornes has moved to pour cold water on the hype. On 'Footy Classified' on Tuesday night, the Port Adelaide 300-gamer was asked if he had changed his tune after writing in the pre-season that de Goey needed to lift his game.
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An opinion piece written before the season by Cornes described de Goey as "inconsistent" and "underwhelming" throughout his eight seasons at Collingwood. Cornes was also highly critical of de Goey's off-field indiscretions that have plagued his time in the AFL.
But Cornes doubled down on Tuesday night, declaring: " He's shown a lot of maturity, but when I wrote that piece it was accurate and it still is accurate to this day." Cornes highlighted the fact de Goey was suspended for three games for "knocking out an 18-year-old" after an incident with West Coast player Elijah Hewett in round 12.
"I think he's had a solid year for his talent," Cornes said. "At the age of 28 by round one next year, on what he is capable of, he's underdelivered.
"It was as good a game that I've seen him play on Friday night but across the board, he hasn't consistently delivered that. But credit to the club for backing him in because I thought he had played his last game for Collingwood last year."
At the end of last season, de Goey had the chance to pursue free agency and was linked with a move to St Kilda. Instead, the dynamic utility signed a five-year deal with the Pies and hasn't looked back.
GWS ripped over 'lack of respect' towards Jordan de Goey
Speaking on Saturday after Collingwood's win, Cornes was left gobsmacked that GWS paid such little "respect" to de Goey. “I was amazed at the lack of respect,” Cornes said. “From the first minute of the game, he was winning clearances.
“(They tried) Finn Callaghan and Callan Ward on him but they didn’t understand how dangerous he could be. They didn’t give him the respect he deserved and I think the Giants will rue that."
Cornes said Brisbane would have tag de Goey with Josh Dunkley in the grand final, although the Lions star will also have his hands full with Nick Daicos. The 20-year-old Daicos said he has "no idea" if Dunkley will shadow him in the decider, but is prepared for close attention regardless.
"I'm pretty focused on how we can approach it as a team," Daicos said. "I'll try and bring my A-game, I can play a variety of positions, so I'll test him out that way if Josh comes to me."
Despite de Goey's extraordinary performance against GWS, he was actually left stranded on the bench in the frenetic final stages of the game. "It was actually a pretty good situation to be in - I didn't have to do much. It was everyone else's turn to get the job done," he said of the high-stress moment.
"Obviously Billy had that stoppage and had a really good clearance. In terms of being able to relax, it was probably the best part of the game."
with AAP
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