Kane Cornes has questioned the merits of a large cohort of Essendon players travelling overseas together for an off-season trip, warning them to stay out of trouble.
After a disappointing season both on and off the field for the club, a group of roughly 30 Bombers are believed to be headed to Ibiza to let their hair down.
However, the Port Adelaide great suggested the trip could’ve potentially been arranged at the behest of the club, arguing that the players had left themselves open to getting into trouble overseas.
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“The only successful thing the Essendon players have planned this year is a footy trip,” he told Nine’s AFL Sunday Footy Show.
“I was really surprised to see a large-scale footy trip that I thought was extinct about 10 years ago.
“Clubs really dislike and advise their players not to do trips like this because of the risk of getting into trouble. It would be a warning to them not to get themselves into any trouble.
“I would’ve thought a better use of Essendon players’ time would be to be at Marvel Stadium yesterday for Essendon’s historic AFLW performance or to be at the MCG next week to see Collingwood and Geelong, two big clubs going at it in a final that Essendon haven’t been exposed to.
“Without a coach and with the mess that the club is going through, I was really surprised to see 30-odd Essendon players going away together on a footy trip.”
Cornes’ view on the trip didn’t sit well with ex-Tiger and Bulldog Nathan Brown.
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“I think you’re a wet blanket at times, Kane,” he said.
“They’ve had a hard year, they deserve to be able to go away and clear their minds. You can’t tell an adult male what they can and can’t do, where they can and can’t go.
“In that time where Collingwood players went to Bali, multiple players, not just Jordan De Goey, Collingwood didn’t say, ‘You can’t go there’.
“They need to be able to go away and enjoy each other’s company away from the highlight of football and AFL media in Melbourne.
“I just think you’re barking up the wrong tree, and you do this a bit.”
Brown’s view was backed up by veteran AFL columnist Damian Barrett.
“The club doesn’t own the player and I think you need to get your head around this,” he told Cornes.
“They live a life, they play football for the club, they get paid to do so. They’re contracted under certain arrangements to present their services for the club, they can’t tell them what to do (during the off-season).
“They’re grown men, Kane, they can stay out of trouble.”
The Bombers trip comes as the club embarks on a search for its next senior coach as well as CEO after a recent off-field exodus.
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