{"id":753153,"date":"2026-06-22T15:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/753153\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:48:22","slug":"unfiltered-afl-champion-kane-cornes-reveals-ongoing-battle-with-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/753153\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfiltered: AFL champion Kane Cornes reveals ongoing battle with anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Port Adelaide<\/a> champion Kane Cornes has revealed an ongoing battle with anxiety that contributed to his AFL<\/a> retirement. <\/p>\n

The Channel 7 footy expert won four best and fairests and a premiership across his decorated 300 games for the Power before infamously retiring mid-way through the 2015 season to pursue a career in the fire brigade. <\/p>\n

Since then, the 43-year-old has become one of the strongest voices in the AFL media, a commentator and panelist for Seven and on radio. <\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

On the field, he was was known as a running beast that strangled some of the game\u2019s best midfielders into the ground. Off the field, he was quietly struggling mentally. <\/p>\n

In his 2015 autobiography, Cornes reveals his famous father Graham \u2014 a South Australian footy legend \u2014 blames himself for his son\u2019s anxiousness after an incident with a babysitter who had fallen asleep while looking after him. <\/p>\n

Asked by Hamish McLachlan if he thought that was the genesis of his mental struggles, Cornes wasn\u2019t so sure. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said on Unfiltered.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI went through a really hard stage with that when we\u2019d just won the premiership. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought something was wrong with me in my head, so I was getting all the scans and stuff and going to the doctors. I\u2019m like, \u2018Something\u2019s wrong with me. I\u2019m not feeling right, something is wrong\u2019. <\/p>\n

\"KaneKane Cornes has revealed his ongoing mental health struggles. Credit: Unfiltered<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Dr. Peter Barnes knows me really well; club doctors know you as well as anyone. And he said, \u2018Nah, I don\u2019t think so. It\u2019s nothing physical\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyway, so one day I said, \u2018Nah, Barnesy, something\u2019s wrong with me, something\u2019s in my head\u2019. He said, \u2018Alright, no worries. We\u2019ll book you in: X-ray, CT scan, CAT scan, brain scan, everything, all in one day\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo all the results come back, they\u2019re fine. And Barnesy said, \u2018Told you there was nothing wrong with you physically, but there\u2019s something wrong with you mentally. So we\u2019ve got to get on top of this\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he was unbelievable. Like he was answering calls when I couldn\u2019t sleep. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we just went through a really difficult stage. Dad was a great support in that. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why it happened. Dad points to that (the babysitting incident). I remember that; they went out and I was with the babysitter and the babysitter couldn\u2019t hear me and I couldn\u2019t get out of the room and I was screaming and it was a horrific moment. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t put that down to the anxiety that I\u2019ve had later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornes admitted he still feels anxious now, explained he is \u201cbetter at dealing with it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just highly strung, worrier, you know, think the worst. So if that\u2019s anxiety, which it probably is \u2014 worrying about what\u2019s in the future. But I think a lot of people may have that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"KaneKane Cornes was a champion of Port Adelaide. Credit: Daniel Kalisz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

McLachlan added: \u201cBut being an AFL player, where it\u2019s highly scrutinised and you\u2019re tagging a lot of your career, trying to stop the best player of the opposition. That\u2019s not the right career choice for someone who\u2019s anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornes said it was the mental side of the game that ultimately ended his career, not the physical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was great physically. I reckon I could have played three years ago, like at 40. So physically, it was never that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, I marvel at the mental strength of those that are playing for a long time because you have to be so mentally strong. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I mean mentally strong in that you forget what\u2019s happened. So you have a bad game, \u2018OK, forget that, I\u2019ll move on\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t. I was horrible if I played poorly. I didn\u2019t speak to people, even the ones that I loved, for a couple of days. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it reflected on me as a person if I played badly. So in the end, when I was ready to retire, it was nothing physically. I was fine. I was still winning the time trials and doing everything that I had and in as good a shape, never injured. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut mentally, I just had enough and just the weight of expectation and pressure that I put on myself ended up, you know, getting me in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Unfiltered on Wednesday nights after The Front Bar or stream anytime on 7plus<\/a><\/p>\n

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