Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes believes North Melbourne players should not have stayed on the ground to celebrate Geelong star Mitch Duncan’s 250th game.
The Kangaroos were mercilessly beaten by the Cats at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night, with a 112-point victory greater than the Cats over the Roos since 1981.
Duncan was presided over from the pitch by teammates Tom Hawkins and Joel Selwood and cheered on by the rest of the team, while the North Melbourne players also helped form an honor guard for the 31-year-old.
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Cats beat the unfortunate Roos by 112 points 01:21
It was a play that provoked the anger of Cornes given the result itself, and the 300 players said the milestone was not deep enough to ensure the presence of the Roos given what had transpired on the field.
“Why would North Melbourne line up for 250? They just suffered one of the worst casualties in the club’s history, they’ve had 25 out of 50, that’s 250,” he told the Sunday Footy Show.
“He doesn’t retire, it’s not 300, it’s 250 and they’ve been left off the ground to line up with a player who was just destroyed.
“This is ridiculous. Get off the ground and start working on how you will improve.
“I could not believe it”.
North Melbourne’s loss was the biggest of the season, with its 25 50s also the lowest count of either side in 2022.
The club then faces Collingwood, a team with a streak of six straight wins, at the MCG.