Expert AFL commentator and Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has shredded a common excuse AFL coaches sometimes use after a loss.
Speaking on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, Cornes showed a clip of Richmond coach Adem Yze who was speaking after the Tigers’ 28-point loss to Brisbane on Saturday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL coaches must drop ‘expected score’ excuse.
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Yze said after the game, “I think we went down on the expected score by 10 points.”
And it was pointing to the “expected score” that particularly irked Cornes.
“Adem Yze speaking after they lost to Brisbane … please, don’t use ‘expected scores’ as an excuse ever again,” Cornes said.
“And he’s not the only coach that does it. I’ve seen Simon Goodwin do it. I’ve seen others. It means nothing.
“Expected scores and where you were supposed to kick the goals from, means nothing.”
Cornes then showed a graphic of a ladder of ‘expected scores’ from the 2024 season.
“That’s the ladder and what it would have looked like on expected scores (last year). The Lions would have finished on top of the ladder. They actually finished sixth after the home and away season,” Cornes said
“Look at the Giants and their ‘expected scores’. They would have finished 13th. They actually finished fourth. Did anyone think the Giants were the 13th worst side in the home and away season on the ladder?
“So just a warning for struggling sides who are trying to find some positivity for their fans and their players, it’s not ‘expected score’.”
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AFL champion Luke Hodges wondered if the coach was passing blame and putting it on the players.
“(Are they saying), ‘We got him into a good position to (kick the goals).’ Are they just blaming them?” Hodge wondered.
Cornes said: “Finishing is also a coaching issue.”
Hodge, however, said there was plenty to like about the young Tigers who put plenty of pressure on Brisbane during the loss.
“We all thought the Lions were going to win by 50, 60, 70, points on the weekend. And at times it looked like that way, but some of the things (the Tigers) did, they jelled as a side,” Hodge said.
“They’ve only been together for a little bit of time (but they’re showing good signs).”