Kane Cornes calls out West Coast Eagles for 'ridiculous' pre-season antics

Kane Cornes has slammed the West Coast Eagles for their "ridiculous" decision to allow players to turn up to their AFL pre-season clash in fancy dress. For an intra-club trial match, Eagles players rocked up in a range of outfits. Elijah Hewett and Reuben Ginbey came as Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, while others dressed up as superheroes and sports stars from various codes.

The decision, however, was heavily scrutinised by Cornes who says it isn't time for fun and games on the back of last season's dismal season. "I'm completely going to be on an island with this and I'm happy to be on an island on my own ... pull up your socks West Coast Eagles, who turned up to their internal trial all wearing the most ridiculous outfits you have ever seen," Cornes said on SEN.

MASSIVE: AFL announces huge change after Brayden Maynard incident

NOT NICE: Rory Sloane makes reference to wife amid pre-season setback

"It's a takeoff of the NBA, it's a bit of fun, I get it, but there were players with overalls with nothing on underneath, there was players dressed as superheroes, there was suits with beanies, there were Hawaiian shirts. It was ridiculous. For a club that has won five games in the last two years, I want a bit more professionalism and an attitude that speaks to that.

"It's not Mad Monday, it's the first day of your season and we don't need you dressing up like superheroes and being photographed and plastered all over social media. Let's get serious." West Coast finished with the wooden spoon last season, and have won just five games in the last two years.

Kane Cornes questions Luke Beveridge's pre-season silence

Last week Cornes called out Luke Beveridge for not fronting the media in pre-season, highlighting the fact that even Sam Mitchell has done so despite a serious health issue. The Western Bulldogs have gone through a bit of a cleanout, with assistant coaches leaving and reports that head of football Chris Grant and Beveridge are not seeing eye-to-eye.

Several key players are also out of contract at the end of the 2024 season, leading the AFL great to question why Beveridge hasn't spoken publicly about the situation to ease fans' fears ahead of the 2024 season. "I want to ask if there’s more that goes into coaching than just coaching the team because there’s one coach in particular that I think has gone missing publicly this off-season," Cornes said on SEN radio.

"What is the responsibility for a coach like Luke Beveridge to front up more and be more accessible to the media and therefore the club’s fans? There’s been a lot of change at the Western Bulldogs, they’ve just completed the review, we haven’t really heard from anyone, in particular, Beveridge, since Chris Grant has essentially been demoted. There have been stories about tension between them, they’re in the lowest two to three clubs in terms of supporter bases in Melbourne and I think we need to hear from him more. He’s essentially been invisible this summer, Bevo. I’m calling it - where’s Bevo?"

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.