Cornes became the first player to be investigated by the AFL for staging, following an incident where he fell to the ground after alleged contact from Geelong defender Corey Enright at Skilled Stadium in round four.
An incident involving Cornes was one of four examples used to illustrate the AFL’s new anti-staging rule in the laws of the game DVD issued to the clubs at the start of the year, but the 27-year-old said he could only recall one time where he’d dived for a free kick.
“This year I haven’t dived. There’s been contact made [in each instance] and I’ve fallen over," Cornes said on Wednesday.
"I think there was one against Barry Hall three or four years ago [where I dived]…that probably wasn’t one of my best efforts,”
"I wouldn't have thought [I was a stager]."
It was reported that Cornes had been put on notice by the match review panel, but the dual All-Australian said he was yet to receive any correspondence from the AFL.
“I haven’t even had an official warning yet. I think they investigated the incident against Geelong, but nothing came of it,” Cornes said.
“I haven’t even given the issue much thought. It’s been good for you guys (the media) to talk about, but for me it hasn’t really been an issue.”
The contentious new rule was brought in for the 2010 season in a bid to stamp out staging across the competition.
Under the rules a first-time offender would receive a written warning, with fines to be issued to repeat offenders, but at this stage no player has been charged with taking a dive.
