{"id":709588,"date":"2026-06-02T03:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709588\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T03:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:46:13","slug":"afl-2026-latest-news-matthew-lloyd-hits-back-at-kane-cornes-and-tom-morris-claims-about-james-hird-paul-little-tyson-stengle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709588\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Latest news, Matthew Lloyd hits back at Kane Cornes and Tom Morris claims about James Hird, Paul Little, Tyson Stengle"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Essendon legend has categorically denied claims he\u2019s been part of a secret push to have James Hird reinstalled as Bombers coach, hitting out at two media commentators in particular. <\/p>\n

Plus, a Geelong All-Australian has taken another positive step in his bid to get back in the senior selection mix after a long period out. Read on in AFL Daily.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2018CATEGORICALLY WRONG\u2019: DONS GREAT HITS OUT AT \u2018INCORRECT\u2019 CLAIMS<\/p>\n

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd hit back at suggestions that he\u2019s been part of a behind-the-scenes push for James Hird to return as Bombers coach. <\/p>\n

Lloyd refuted claims made by SEN\u2019s Kane Cornes and Tom Morris last Saturday that he was privately advocating for Hird\u2019s return alongside former Essendon president Paul Little. <\/p>\n

Morris said on SEN\u2019s Crunch Time that Lloyd was one of those \u201con (Hird\u2019s) side\u201d, while Cornes added that he was \u201cone of those pushing\u201d for Hird, which included \u201csecret coffees left, right and centre\u201d in a plot to \u201cundermine\u201d Brad Scott. <\/p>\n

Lloyd, who said he \u201cwasn\u2019t happy\u201d upon hearing the pair\u2019s remarks, instead stated he merely wants to see Hird be a part of the process. <\/p>\n

The iconic Essendon goalkicker made a point of discrediting Cornes and Morris on Footy Classified on Monday evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019ve got dragged into that at all. I did text Kane today and let him know that I wasn\u2019t happy,\u201d Lloyd said on Nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just said that I think James should be able to be part of the process. I\u2019m not pro James, I\u2019m not against James. I just want James to be part of the process. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf they decide he\u2019s not part of the process, so be it, because at the end of the day I want Essendon to pick the best coach, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never met Paul Little in my life \u2026 I\u2019m the least political person. So, that is categorically wrong. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo Tom Morris and to Kane Cornes, who put that out there, that\u2019s factually incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The criteria for Essendon coaching role? | 04:08<\/p>\n

CATS GUN TAKES STEP IN RETURN BID<\/p>\n

Geelong forward Tyson Stengle continues to trend in a positive direction in his return bid, taking part in the club\u2019s training session on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The livewire goalkicker took part in drills at Kardinia Park as the Cats continued their preparation for Thursday night\u2019s clash with the Crows in Adelaide. <\/p>\n

AFL Tonight\u2019s Drew Jones posted training vision to X<\/a> that showed Stengle changing directions and leading into space, noting the forward was \u201ctrending in the right direction in his individualised program\u201d. <\/p>\n

Stengle recently returned to Victoria after spending some time in his home state of South Australia, having taken personal leave from the Cats in January. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s believed the 2022 premiership player would have to undergo a substantial block of training and conditioning before even playing in the VFL, let alone the prospect of an AFL return. <\/p>\n

The Cats have been noncommittal on several occasions when probed on a possible Stengle return timeline. <\/p>\n

Stengle most recently played in Geelong\u2019s grand final loss to Brisbane last September. He kicked 52 goals in 2022, when he won his first All-Australian blazer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Essendon legend has categorically denied claims he\u2019s been part of a secret push to have James Hird…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,696,651,345042,25297,258315,345047,39202,11231,60462,345046,3231,48340,681,675,48822,345048,345045,647,677,345044,117784,132250,8016,701,345043,345049,36861,1124,85,1144,82592,660],"class_list":["post-709588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brad-scott","tag-brisbane","tag-cats-gun","tag-coaching-role","tag-denied-claims","tag-dons-trying","tag-drew-jones","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-grand-final-loss","tag-groundswell-surrounding","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-james-hird","tag-jon-ralph","tag-kane-cornes","tag-matthew-lloyd","tag-matthew-lloyd-hits","tag-media-commentators","tag-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-paul-little","tag-positive-direction","tag-positive-step","tag-premiership-player","tag-queensland","tag-secret-coffees","tag-secret-push","tag-senior-selection","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-tom-morris","tag-tyson-stengle","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}