Graham Cornes humbled by induction into Australian Hall of Fame
Congratulations Cornesy… you deserve to be a hall or famer on behalf of Glenelg and SA Football. We’re proud to have had your endorsement of Raine & Horne Glenelg.
See extract of article in today’s Advertiser about Graham, by Michelangelo Rucci..
“GRAHAM Cornes entered the Australian Football Hall of Fame last night admitting he was overwhelmed and overcome by guilt. A long-standing critic of halls of fame, saying they are “exclusive while our game is inclusive”, Cornes became the 33rd South Australian to be honoured.
Cornes is now a hall of famer at his club Glenelg, in his home state and nationally.
“I’m overwhelmed, I’m humbled and I’m also feeling a little guilty about the whole thing,” said Cornes, who declined to be a Hall of Fame selector at the Glenelg Football Club.
“I’ve never wanted to sit in judgment of my teammates – and I’ve never felt comfortable about Halls of Fame because they fail to honour the good foot soldiers in a football team. They are exclusive. Our game is inclusive.”
Cornes, 64, was recognised for his contribution to Australian football dating back to 1967 when, as a teenager working at BHP in Whyalla, he was called back to Adelaide to make his SANFL debut with Glenelg against then-premier Sturt despite not knowing his teammates.
It started one of the most illustrious playing and coaching careers in league football across three states, including New South Wales where Cornes played for St George while on national service that took him to Vietnam.
Induction to the Hall of Fame acknowledges Cornes’ critical upholding of SA’s football pride as the ultra-successful Origin coach who from the 1980s beat Victoria in an unprecedented run of six games and the inaugural Crows coach who gave the Adelaide Football Club a sound foundation from 1991.
Cornes last night recalled he never played in a winning SA State team against Victoria. His determination to make sure SA did not lose to the Big V in the 1980s – while the SANFL was being constantly raided by rich VFL clubs creating a damaging talent drain – protected SA football during its darkest era.
“Our biggest problem here had been our gigantic inferiority complex,” said Cornes.
But Cornes changed this – and with it SA’s destiny in the AFL.
Cornes left the day-to-day challenges of football at the end of the 1994 AFL season when he was dismissed as Crows coach. He then moved to the media making a mark in all forms, in particular as a powerful opinion-shaker as a co-host of Radio FIVEaa’s top-rating afternoon sports show and columnist at The Advertiser.
“I left the game,” said Cornes of his exit in 1994, “not wanting to be bitter. I wanted to be proud of my involvement.”
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