Kane Cornes has called on the AFL Players’ Association to reduce the amount of time off given to players over Christmas after a spate of pre-season injuries in recent days. Will Day of Hawthorn became the latest high-profile injury on Thursday when he was seen being taken off the training paddock with his arm in a sling.
The young gun suffered a suspected right shoulder injury – continuing a torrid run for the 24-year-old. He dislocated his collarbone in 2024 and missed the finals last year with a foot problem.
Will Day (L) and Max Gawn (R) have both suffered pre-season injuries. Image: AFL Ratings/Getty
He joined a growing list of pre-season injuries, after Melbourne Demons captain Max Gawn fractured his finger on Monday. Gawn will miss two weeks of training, but won’t be in any doubt for the start of the AFL season and should still be available for State of Origin next month.
Carlton and North Melbourne lost Jesse Motlop and Jackson Archer to season-ending ACL injuries earlier this week, while Collingwood stars Dan McStay, Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe have all picked up niggles that have put them on ice. Other big names like Clayton Oliver, Cillian Bourke and Toby Greene have also been put on modified programs.
Kane Cornes calls for major AFL change
Speaking on SEN radio on Thursday, Cornes said players are having too much time off over Christmas and being forced into too much high-intensity training upon their return. Clubs have to get enough running into the players’ legs to prepare for regular season games, but it’s proving too much.
“It happens every year but seems to be worse this year,” Cornes said. “This is absolute carnage. Time is going to run out on a lot of these players (to be ready for the season).
“There’s a number of factors in this – you condition the players now during match-play which is different to how it used to be. You used to be able to condition players with pure running and then you would transition into match-play.
“Players are having so much time off, they have de-conditioned. Couple that with the fact they don’t have time to reintegrate with running skills to get up to speed, they are just straight back in and we’re seeing it. It’s brutal.”
Will Day has endured a torrid run of injuries. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Cornes said the players association “think they are doing the right thing” by giving players an extended Christmas break, but in actual fact “they’re harming the product and harming the players and their careers.” He added: “They’re not ready to be put through what clubs are putting themselves through after such a long break.
“Most people would think ACL injury, bad luck, nothing to do with conditioning or brain-body connection, but there is a factor that it is connected. We need to change the way clubs are training the players. It has to change across the industry. It is harming the product and their careers.”