Kane Cornes Unveils 'Wheel of Blame' for Essendon's AFL Crisis
Channel 7 commentator Kane Cornes has introduced a striking visual tool he calls the "wheel of blame" to dissect the catastrophic situation unfolding at the Essendon Football Club. The Bombers have rapidly become the most talked-about story in the new AFL season after suffering two devastating 10-goal losses, leaving them anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
While it is still early in the season, these heavy defeats extend Essendon's losing streak to 15 consecutive games since their last victory over Richmond in Round 12 of the previous year. Coach Brad Scott is already facing immense pressure, but Cornes' analysis suggests the problems run much deeper than the senior coach alone.
The Detailed Breakdown of Responsibility
When pressed to identify who is accountable for Essendon's current plight, Cornes presented a detailed pie chart featuring numerous names with varying degrees of involvement spanning the past two decades. According to his assessment, former list manager Adrian Dodoro shoulders the largest portion of blame at 21%, slightly ahead of coach Brad Scott at 19%.
The high-performance team follows closely at 17%, while former captain Zach Merrett, whose off-season saga continues to haunt the club, accounts for 11%. "It's not one person. This goes back years. You'll see some of the portions of blame here, but this is the mess that the footy club is in," Cornes explained during his appearance on The Agenda Setters.
He elaborated further, stating, "So clearly Brad Scott is the coach. He's going to have to take some ownership of it. But not all of it, just a 19 per cent slice. We know about the recruiting. We don't even need to speak about the recruiting. That's been done to death, but it is a significant piece of the wheel of blame."
Merrett's Role and Internal Club Dynamics
Cornes was particularly pointed in his criticism of Zach Merrett, refusing to absolve the former captain from responsibility. "I don't want to absolve Zach Merrett from blame here, because I read articles where Zach Merrett's off to the side, and then everyone else is lumped in with the Essendon criticism," he said. "He is as much to blame significantly as others when it comes to the situation that the Essendon Football Club is in. He was the captain. He wanted to blow the whole place up."
The commentator also targeted what he described as disruptive "coteries" within the club's supporter base. "These rich people, who go talk and whisper and try and knife everyone year after year after year. All I hear about is influential people that try and knife everyone. It doesn't matter who's the coach. The next coach will have the coteries whinging behind their back trying to knife them."
Other figures receiving smaller allocations in the wheel of blame include former captain and coach James Hird at four percent, current players Darcy Parish and Ben McKay both at two percent, and the fans at three percent.
Growing Disconnect Between Coach and Club
The wheel of blame revelation followed comments from fellow panelist Caroline Wilson, who identified a "growing disconnect" between Brad Scott and the Essendon Football Club. This observation came in response to Scott's post-match criticism following Sunday's loss to Port Adelaide, where he described some players as "selfish."
Wilson suggested Scott's remarks extended beyond the playing group. "I feel there is a disconnect between Brad and Essendon and I don't reckon he was only talking about the players when he talked about selfishness," she stated. "It's eerily reminiscent of his last year or two at the North Melbourne Football Club."
Wilson traced the current turmoil back to the Zach Merrett saga, which she believes directly led to the departure of both the club president and CEO. She highlighted concerning internal moves, including new chairman Andrew Welsh's decision to place Dean Solomon on the coaching panel without Scott's full endorsement.
"Why would you do that if you weren't not sure about Brad Scott, who was only extended at the start of last year by David Barham, because David Barham said, 'I know they're going to be coming for him'," Wilson questioned.
Broader Leadership Vacuum and Future Concerns
The panel discussion also revealed that former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley had been approached for a director of football role at Essendon but wisely declined the opportunity. Wilson suggested Hinkley recognized the club's instability, noting, "why would he take the job a director of footy when Essendon is a basket case and there's all this carnage when he could well step in next year as senior coach?"
Wilson concluded with a grim assessment of Scott's future at the club. "Merrett is not going to go away for them, and in my view is that Brad Scott is now under so much pressure and I just can't see it ending well for him, I'm afraid." She emphasized the fundamental leadership void at Essendon, stating, "There's no real leaders. There's no great leaders at that footy club, and that point has been made, many times, symbolised by the fact that their best player wanted out."
The Bombers' struggles represent more than just poor on-field performance; they reflect systemic issues that have plagued the club for nearly two decades. With no finals victories since 2004 and little hope of breaking that drought this season despite the expanded top-10 finals format, Essendon's crisis appears deeply entrenched in both recent events and historical failures.
