Footy greats turned TV commentators Kane Cornes and Dale Thomas in war of words over ‘the dumbest comments I’ve heard in a long while’

Channel Nine’s polarising football commentator Kane Cornes has fallen out with Channel Seven colleague Dale Thomas ahead of his move to the rival network next year.

The Port Adelaide championship winner has had a successful and controversial career at Nine and SEN, but recently announced he will move to Seven next season.

Cornes came under fire during the AFL finals after being criticised for suggesting injured Port midfielder Zak Butters was ‘soft’ after the club took a thrashing at the hands of Geelong in the opening week.

Butters was substituted at half-time with a rib injury, with scans showing he was suffering from bone bruising after the heavy defeat.

Cornes said Butters “wanted to be substituted or they substituted him out,” suggesting he didn’t want to be involved when the game was still in the balance.

“I think it’s a real challenge for Butters right now – a lot of players are playing in pain at this time of year,” Cornes said. “I think he had to go through that – his team needed him.

‘He’s really going to have to grit his teeth this week, yeah, it’s going to be painful. He can’t do any damage; it’s just tolerating the pain, and he’s going to need a huge performance on Friday to respond.’

Butters (left) was substituted during Port Adelaide’s heavy defeat to Geelong with a rib injury

Former Collingwood star Dale ‘Daisy’ Thomas has criticised Cornes for his comments, despite the fact they will be colleagues at Channel 7 next year

Football analysts and former players have been queuing up to criticise Cornes for his comments, with Thomas calling Cornes’ words ‘complete nonsense’ on Triple M’s Midweek Rub.

“And if (Cornes) were sitting across from me at any given moment, behind the microphone or in the pub, I would tell him this is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Thomas said.

The former Carlton and Magpies star doubled down on his bet when he spoke to News Corp this week.

“There are odd moments when I agree with Kane, but I’ve always taken the position that I want to support the players and not lose sight of how difficult it is to play,” Thomas said.

Butters was accused by Cornes of a lack of willpower, in comments that have been widely criticised

However, Cornes is unfazed by the criticism and said Butters would be the target in the club’s knockout final against Hawthorn this week.

“What about Butters this weekend? Port Adelaide said he’ll be playing this weekend,” SEN Breakfast presenter Tim Watson asked Cornes.

‘We know he suffered a blow to his ribs, but he has no other serious damage to the ribs.

“This is a man’s game. This is a brutal match. This is a final. Do you target him if you are Hawthorn in any way?

“Do you make a note of the fact that, ‘Okay, this guy is painful, if you get a chance…’ I’m not saying break the rules, punch him, beat him up or anything like that.

“But make sure you tackle him hard to the ground when you get the chance?”

Port Adelaide’s star player trained this week and has been selected to play despite the injury he sustained against Geelong

Cornes reiterated his earlier comments, saying Butters would be “vulnerable” against the desperate Hawks.

“You don’t go around it. You don’t knock him off the ball and risk a suspension,” he said.

“But when he’s out there to be tackled, do you give him a little extra oomph? Do you put your hand on him when you come off the ground?

‘Steven May played against Adelaide earlier this year and he had actually broken ribs and he played against Taylor Walker… May went back in the first game and took an intercept marker.

“I just thought there was an opportunity to force it or make some contact. They didn’t, and he started off really well.

‘That’s the opportunity and Zak has shown that he’s probably a bit vulnerable when it comes to off-the-ball play and that’s when you get him into trouble.’

“I think they would be crazy not to do that in a final where so much is at stake.”