The Power are tenth on the ladder, with a 4-6 record having played six top-eight sides from 2007, including the Swans twice, in the opening ten rounds.
They tackle Carlton at AAMI Stadium on Sunday before heading to Skilled Stadium for the club’s second clash with the reigning premiers this season.
The Power is confident the bye after round 14 will mark the start of the club’s surge towards September.
“You look forward to that (the draw in the second half of the season). The first half of this year has been the hardest draw I’ve ever been involved with,” Cornes said.
“It hasn’t worked out great for us, but once we get over that hurdle of the tough start, hopefully we can win a couple more games before the bye and really come home strong after that.”
Cornes trained without a glove on his injured finger for the first time at the Power’s main training session on Wednesday afternoon.
Dom Cassisi rejoined his teammates after missing Sunday’s clash with Fremantle with gastro, but forward Brett Ebert remains in doubt with his injured ankle.
Matt Thomas, who has recovered from a plantar fascia injury, is also available.
“Dom will definitely play. You don’t often miss with the flu, but he was really sick on Sunday. He’s all right now, so he’ll definitely play,” Cornes said.
“Ebo is probably still 50-50. He’s really working hard on the rehab and every time you look at him, he’s got ice on it. He’ll give himself every chance, but he’s probably doubtful.”
Coach Mark Williams used the notion of making the finals to inspire his team to victory in Subiaco, but Cornes said Port Adelaide’s focus this week was on a more immediate issue.
“Out focus is to finally win a game at home,” he said.
“We beat St Kilda here a few weeks ago, but apart from that our home record is terrible this year, to be honest. To get back to 5-6, I think … we’ll go one step closer to being in the eight.
“And we don’t just have to win home games, we pretty much have to win every game at this stage. For such a disappointing season so far, we’re still not too far out of the eight. If we can get on a bit of a roll, you never know what could happen.”
