- Premiership winner with Port is now with Channel Seven
- Sat down with footy legend dad Graham for revealing chat
Footy controversy magnet Kane Cornes has risked leaving his mother ‘shattered’ by delivering a blisteringly honest take on his childhood – before revealing his mental health was so bad at the peak of his playing career that he thought he had brain cancer.
The Port Adelaide great is due to join Channel Seven’s AFL coverage from next month after creating headlines with his defection from Nine – but before that, he had an intense interview with his footy legend father Graham.
When Graham – who excelled as a player and coach in South Australia – said he thought his son’s childhood was ‘tough’ after he split with Kane’s mother when he was three, he got an exceptionally raw reply.
‘It was just a sad environment,’ Kane told News Corp, referring to the time he spent with his mother Pam.
‘I guess when we came to your [Graham’s] house, it was a bit more upbeat and we did things and it was the fun time.
‘I remember, you know, on a Sunday night when you were dropping us home, I didn’t love going home.
Kane Cornes (left) is pictured with his mum Pam and fellow footy great brother Chad
The former Port Adelaide star (pictured right with his mum and brother) has delivered a blisteringly honest take on how his parents’ separation affected him
‘Mum would be shattered to hear that but it’s almost like your grandparents when they are the fun ones and you hand [the kids] back to the parents.
‘She [Pam] worked hard to do everything she could for us.
‘I remember going to a friend’s house and asking to stay one night and then I would ask to stay for two nights. Then I’d end up staying there for the week.’
The 300-game Power great has been upfront about his battles with severe anxiety and depression before, and he gave footy fans another shocking glimpse into how badly he’s been affected in his chat with his father.
After Port won the 2005 premiership, he struggled so much he ‘started to think something was wrong in my head’.
‘I went and got all these brain scans because I thought I had brain cancer,’ he revealed.
When he consulted the Power’s team doctor and all his scans came back fine, he wasn’t set at ease.
‘I thought I was going insane,’ Cornes said.
‘It was probably 12 months of trying to work out what was going on inside my head and the lack of sleep.’
Cornes had previously explained that he has no memories of his father and mother being together as a couple, and that Pam ‘didn’t handle the separation well at all’.
Cornes (pictured with Chad and their father Graham) also revealed he thought he was going insane when he was hit hard by mental illness at the peak of his playing career
The veteran of 300 games for Port Adelaide (pictured) made headlines last year when he defected from Channel Nine to their arch rivals Seven
‘To see your mum really sad and in emotional pain – she was rarely in a happy or good place – is tough. That is the lasting memory I’ve got from my childhood,’ he said.
Asked whether his anxiety is due to his parents’ separation, he replied, ‘Dad thinks it is.
‘I remember as a child having a real fear of being left alone. He [Graham] said he came home one night from being out, and the babysitter was on the couch asleep.
‘He got out of the car and was confronted with the sight of me clawing at the glass on the window, tears running down my face and crying hysterically, “Mummy. Daddy. Mummy. Daddy!”
‘Dad thinks it was from a sense of abandonment, and that the marriage breakdown was the genesis of my insecurity and anxiety that I have always had to deal with through my life and, in particular, football.’
Cornes is now known as possibly the most outspoken AFL commentator in the country, unafraid to offer his unvarnished views on just about anything to do with footy – and other sports.
He got into a war of words with Nick Kyrgios during this year’s Australian Open when he slammed the tennis star for appearing to criticise Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz for posting photos of a practice hit he had with world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
Cornes then branded Kyrgios a ‘child’ and ‘the most disappointing Australian athlete ever’ after the star’s comeback from injury was ruined by his straight-sets, first-round loss to Jacob Fearnley at his home grand slam.
