Cornes, who last month joked about cutting his finger off, revisited the idea on Wednesday when probed by the media.
The All-Australian player was joined at the press conference by Adelaide Thunderbird’s defender, Geva Mentor, with the aim of bringing the games of AFL and netball closer together.
But the look on Mentor’s face when Cornes said he’d consider losing the finger if it meant another spell on the sidelines showed the vast difference in thinking between the two sports.
“I had a bit of a joke a couple of weeks ago and said I’d cut the finger off, but the worse case scenario, if I shattered it and the pins and screws were displaced; you might have to think about cutting it off,” Cornes said.
“A few players have done it, but that’s just an absolute worse case scenario. If it was a choice between missing eight weeks of footy and cutting your finger off … you’d have to think about it.”
Cornes, who was also sporting six stitches in his right ear, revealed he was frustrated by his impaired ability to gather and mark the ball, but said the injury was minor compared to what some other players took the field with.
“The surgeon said I have to be wary of smothering, punching and things like that until about eight weeks when I’ll be able to use it fully. If I shatter it again, it’s not good news. So there’ll be a couple more weeks of being careful and then I’ll be flat out again,” he said.
“But guys have got stuff wrong with them every game they run out and a finger is probably a little thing compared to most things other guys go out with.
“The coaches have no worries about it and the doctor is obviously quite happy with it or he wouldn’t let me be out there. I’m 90 per cent sure it’s going to be fine.”
