- Tony Jones takes aim at ex-Channel Nine colleague
Veteran sports anchor Tony Jones has taken a cheeky dig at former colleague Kane Cornes as footy’s media war goes up another notch.
Jones, who has stayed loyal to Nine for nearly 40 years, took the swipe at Cornes while hosting Marvel Stadium’s 25-year celebration lunch on Wednesday.
While delivering a speech to the room at the function, Jones singled out Channel Seven director of sport Chris Jones.
‘I knew him when he was a little cub reporting for Channel 9,’ Jones said.
‘He’s kicked on now. Big man on campus. So when I talk about keeping up with the Joneses, that’s the Jones you’ve got to keep up with.’
Jones then touched on Seven’s signing of Cornes and journalist Caroline Wilson.
Tony Jones (pictured) has taken a cheeky swipe at former Nine colleague Kane Cornes
Commentator Kane Cornes (pictured) joined Seven’s footy show The Agenda Setters this year
‘Give us back Caro, you can have Kane, but give us back Caro,’ he joked.
‘You’ve got a big month ahead of you so all the best to you and your team.’
Earlier in the month, Eddie McGuire launched a broadside at Wilson after the veteran journalist exposed the identity of an undercover security guard hired to protect the safety of several AFL head coaches.
The league reportedly told Wilson not to bring the man to attention on Channel Seven’s The Agenda Setters footy panel show – but the scribe ignored the plea.
The request ahead of the show followed the league adding beefed-up security for Michael Voss, Luke Beveridge and Simon Goodwin for games at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
According to Nine’s McGuire, the AFL was ‘absolutely out of their minds’ and ‘incandescent with rage’ at Wilson after she exposed the guard.
‘They asked Channel Seven specifically because of the delicate nature of personal security and family security of AFL employees, not to run the story about the security guard,’ McGuire said on Footy Classified on Wednesday night.
‘Not only did they run the story, they ran it absolutely open and the man involved here is an executive and a top professional in undercover surveillance and security.
Jones joked that he’d like to see Caroline Wilson (pictured) back at Nine – but not Cornes
‘She (Wilson) said “the AFL would be furious with me”. Well, she got that part right.
‘I can tell you they are absolutely out of their minds that this bloke has now been put in jeopardy. It’s not just the football that this guy does.
‘Not only that, it has brought to bear all the issues on sensitivities and privacy issues with not only the coaches, but the families of the coaches.’
McGuire then questioned how the free-to-air network can salvage what is becoming a rocky working relationship.
‘Channel Seven are the home of football (as the host broadcaster) and they put a ton of money in,’ he said.
‘But (after this saga) the balance between the ton of money and where they are at the moment is more fractious now than it has ever been.’
McGuire added that if the AFL had told him not to run a story after pointing out security concerns, he would have canned the piece.
‘It is very sensitive, this is a security issue, (so) I wouldn’t have run the story,’ he said.
