OF all the tributes that will come with Kane Cornes' induction to the South Australian Football Hall of Fame, the greatest accolade remains the remarks made at Port Adelaide's match committee meeting before the 2004 AFL grand final.

"Kane Cornes on Simon Black ..."

Problem solved. Senior coach Mark Williams and his impressive team of assistants went to work on the other imposing aspects of the triple-premiership empire at Brisbane knowing one threat was in good hands. Very sound hands.

Kane Cornes, in his 69th AFL game, had 19 possessions and hit the scoreboard once, albeit with a behind.

Simon Black, in his 151st AFL match, had 15 and was scoreless - and offering numbers below his season average, let alone his Brownlow Medallist best form.

Job done.

"I loved the battles with Kane Cornes ...," says Black, with a serious tone of admiring one of the most-intense players to walk onto a football field. Perhaps even off the park. For a player of Black's standing to appreciate these duels tell so much of the game within a game that was built by Kane Cornes.

"The (2004 grand final) day was the best day of my life, really ... you just think it's going to roll on and be happy days and you might win two or three," says Cornes.

There was only one. There was a second grand final, the disaster of 2007 against Geelong at the MCG.

But Cornes never stopped chasing the second premiership medal. He never stopped chasing any target, any goal, any rival ... He was the image of persistence. And of the worry to deliver.

"I get anxious," Cornes said late in his career. "I probably think more about footy than anyone else."

Such dedication brings its rewards.

Kane Cornes enters the SA Football Hall of Fame - following his older brother Chad and his father Graham to create an extraordinary family gathering in football's great pantheon - with his reputation in Australian football to be remembered for far more than just a "tagger" - a very serious shadow.

"Kane would line up against the opposition player considered most likely to stop us from winning," recalls former Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas.

"Think about the pressure associated with that job, week, after week, after week for 15 years.

"Kane did that job outstandingly well - probably better than anyone else in the league - for his entire career."

Cornes' career was of 300 AFL games - the first Port Adelaide player to reach this milestone in the national league. He followed Russell Ebert, Greg Phillips, Darren Smith and Tim Ginever in the exclusive 300 Club at Alberton. 

He earned two All-Australian blazers - in 2005 and 2007 when the national selectors noted a player of extreme determination to win the ball, not just haunt an opponent.

He was crowned with four John Cahill Medals as the Port Adelaide AFL club champion - in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 while having to contend with Australian Football Hall of Famer and 2004 premiership captain Warren Tredrea for this honour.

He lived to the Anzac spirit to be draped with the Peter Badcoe VC Medal in the 2008 clash with St Kilda at Football Park.

He was inducted to the Port Adelaide Hall of Fame in 2019 to stand alongside the greats of the club's 152-year history.

"The Port Adelaide Football Club has shaped me into the person I am today," said Cornes in accepting his passage to the Port Adelaide Hall of Fame as the 38th person to earn such recognition at Alberton. That evening, Cornes joined Williams, inaugural AFL captain Gavin Wanganeen and premiership captain Warren Tredrea as club Hall of Famers from the AFL era of 1997 onwards. Those four names are key pillars in Port Adelaide's breakthrough 2004 AFL flag.

Kane Cornes is a polarising figure. He was as a player. He is a media commentator.

But no-one can dismiss that in any role - on and off the field - Cornes applies himself with extraordinary determination to achieve excellence. It is manic. Almost obsessive, as noted with his marathon running. But it is the true image of a man who has worked tirelessly for his chance - and then to repeatedly prove he was worthy of being an AFL player.

"Kane’s relentless pursuit of excellence was the No. 1 thing that stands out for me – he actually wants to be the best," Williams says. "Whatever he sets his mind to, he will deliver – that’s what he’s about.

"I did describe him as the closest thing to Nathan Buckley at one point and got lambasted for it. But it wasn’t about his kicking skills or his marking, it was all about his drive. He really wanted to get there and his work ethic and his commitment to the task that he set himself was first class, the No. 1 of anyone who I have ever coached."

Cornes followed older brother Chad Cornes to Alberton at pick 20 in the 2000 AFL national draft in which he had anticipated packing his bags to move to Perth to join West Coast.

"We had pick 20, which was pretty important for us," recalls Williams. "Looking at his stats and the tapes from the combine, he was a 3.8 20-metre runner. That says, you’re slow and I’m not all that sure about picking slow players.

"He was a bit skinny. So I’m thinking, ‘I’m not sure where this guy is ever going to play'. He also brought with him the Cornes tag with Graham and the interaction between Port Adelaide and Glenelg and Port Adelaide and the Crows, and all those things.

"It was going to be an interesting selection. So, Kane came with a bit of pressure behind him. He also came as a humble person who just wanted to try hard to see how far he could go."

After indicating just how much he wanted to play in the big time - challenging Williams when he was not selected for senior duty - Cornes finally made his AFL debut in round 10, 2001 against Hawthorn at the MCG. Port Adelaide won. Port Adelaide won 151 of Cornes' 300 AFL games that span two contrasting eras. He was there at the start of the rise to the 2004 AFL premiership. He was there at the end of the dark chapter of 2010-2012 and the revival under Ken Hinkley from 2013.

He lived a challenging contrast at the selection table too. From the total faith shown in Cornes before the 2004 AFL grand final, there was the "casting aside" by 2011 when he was dropped after three rounds to end his run of 174 consecutive games - and the manic response in 2012 when Cornes played in every game and claimed his fourth John Cahill Medal.

In essence, nothing has come easy to Kane Cornes. And everything he has earned and achieved along his 16-season AFL career came from hard work.

Even the passage to history as Port Adelaide's first 300-game AFL player was not easy while Cornes sought the best path from football to life after football, first as a fireman and now as a media commentator accustomed to being in scorching debates.

Cornes took his farewell in his 300th game - on May 24, 2015 at Adelaide Oval against Richmond. The final count was 300 games, 3752 kicks, 3308 handpasses, 1556 marks, 7060 disposals, 93 goals, 86 behinds ... and he can probably recall every one.

Kane Cornes

Games: 300

Goals: 93

AFL Premiership player (2004)

AFL pre-season Premiership player (2001, 2002)

Port Adelaide Best and Fairest (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012)

Port Adelaide life member (2010)

Port Adelaide Hall of Fame (2019)

All-Australian (2005, 2007)

State of Origin - Dream Team (2008)

Peter Badcoe VC Medallist (2008)

Best First Year Player (2001)

Most Improved Player (2004)

Leading Disposals (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)

AFL Leading Disposals (2007)