Following Port Adelaide’s 86-point loss to North Melbourne last night, club great Kane Cornes has labelled the side “pathetic”.
The entire Power team was outscored by Kangaroos forward Ben Brown last night, who now leads the Coleman Medal race with his 10-goal haul.
After getting smashed in disposals, inside 50s, clearances and contested possessions at Marvel Stadium, Cornes accused the players of not wanting to come out and play.
“It was an absolutely pathetic performance from a side that could have pretty much sewn up eighth spot tonight,” he told AFL.com.au's The Round So Far.
“They didn’t want to be there, which is a pretty strong thing to say about a football club.
“I think on the whole, up until this point, it’s been a reasonable year for Port Adelaide with the young players they’ve developed, considering the players that left in the off-season.
“Prior to this, I would’ve definitely given them a pass mark.
“Now, they still may make finals… but that was completely unacceptable tonight.
“They need to take a hard look at themselves, it was a player issue that they looked like they didn’t want to be there, they didn’t want to apply any pressure and North Melbourne were far too hungry around the footy.”
Port Adelaide now travels to Optus Stadium for a must-win clash against Fremantle on Sunday at 4.40pm AEST.