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‘Genuinely embarrassing’: Kane Cornes slams Crows players’ anthem disgrace and pre-game antics
Adelaide Crows players have come under fire for ‘embarrassing’ pre-game behaviour before their humiliating finals defeat.
Ben Talintyre
September 16, 2025 – 8:29AM
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Adelaide under fire for pregame antics
The Crows have come under fire for their antics before their finals clash.
Adelaide Crows players have been called out for their “embarrassing” behaviour before their semi-final defeat to Hawthorn on Friday night.
Crows stars Josh Rachele and Riley Thilthorpe were both seen joking around pre-match and then also during the national anthem before the first bounce.
In the end, the lack of focus pre-game translated onto the pitch as they were blown away by the Hawks, bringing to an end a dismal 2025 finals campaign.
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As a result, Adelaide became the first minor premiers since 1983 to bow out in straight sets after back-to-back defeats to Collingwood and Hawthorn.
The pair’s arrogant, unserious preparation has been honed in on as a major cause for their finals disaster, with Kane Cornes fuming at the team’s behaviour.
Cornes pointed out that Rachele rocked up in a fake beard, in a dig at his friend and teammate Thilthorpe, showing they weren’t fully focused on the task ahead.
But it was the pair’s anthem antics that drew the greatest ire.
As the camera panned to the 23-year-old Thilthorpe during the anthem, he poked his tongue out, while both he and Rachel were seen smirking at one another throughout the national anthem.
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Josh Rachele rocked up in a fake beard. Image: Channel 7
Riley Thilthorpe poked his tongue out during the national anthem. Image: Channel 7
And safe to say Cornes wasn’t impressed as he reviewed the incident on Monday.
“The last thing you want to do in a team game is make it all about you,” Cornes told AFL.com.au.
“Josh Rachele had been out for 10 weeks, and the first glimpse we got on the broadcast ahead of the game was this (wearing a fake beard).
“You can laugh, but it’s genuinely embarrassing. And there’s Thilthorpe with the tongue out during the national anthem.
“I just didn’t know what Adelaide was doing. Maybe the message from Matthew Nicks had just been to relax and have fun, but they got it all wrong.
“Some people will say that’s pedantic, and we’ve got to let players show their character. But I looked at that and thought, ‘if they lose and they played poorly, this is going to come back to bite them in a big way.”
Former Port Adelaide player turned pundit Kane Cornes. Picture: Michael Klein
Several Adelaide players didn’t take the national anthem seriously. Image: Kayo
Kane Cornes lifts lid on interaction with Crows fan
Meanwhile, footage showing Cornes giving a Crows fan a personal send-off midway through the third quarter of Adelaide’s semi-final loss to Hawthorn went viral over the weekend.
And Cornes has revealed it stemmed from an anthem incident, where the 42-year-old former Port Adelaide star copped a spray from the Adelaide fan.
“This was extraordinary,” Cornes said to David King on SEN on Monday.
“I was with Dwayne (Russell), we were in a good mood and set for a big game.
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Cornes gives spectator a send off
Kane Cornes has given a spectator a bake as he left…
“The national anthem started, and I stood up like any respectful Australian, and this bald, middle-aged Crow idiot turns around and looks at our box and starts screaming at me to stand up.
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“I said, ‘I am standing up, you clown’.
“Dwayne thought he was having a crack at my height, he thought it was a short joke because there was no logical explanation for it, so I was giving him a few death stares, and we moved on.
“Halfway through the third quarter, someone said, ‘Look, he’s leaving’, so I couldn’t resist, I had to give him a little bit of a send-off, and he refused to engage. That’s ok, he can crawl back under the rock he’s been under for the last seven years at Adelaide.”
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