Between 2000 and 2003 Cornes and Tredrea formed one of the best forward partnerships in the AFL, with Chad playing up the ground demonstrating his great contested marking ability.

The new position worked wonders as Cornes began to single-handedly dominate games, earning himself his first All-Australian award, and finishing third in the Brownlow medal.

The move to centre-half back was a key reason for Port Adelaide's dominance, which culminated in their first Premiership in 2004, defeating the Brisbane Lions by 40 points.

He had a key defensive role on Brisbane Lions' forward Jonathan Brown during the Grand Final, restricting him to just one behind for the match.

Cornes finished the 2007 season with 643 disposals, and led the competition in kicks, and went into the Brownlow medal count as one of the favourites.

Despite not expecting to have a good season, when they did make the Grand Final the belief appeared to be strong but they were unable to win their second flag, going down to Geelong by a record 119 points Port looked to bounce back from their Grand Final humiliation of the previous year when they took on Geelong in the opening round of 2008.

Cornes suffered a broken finger in Round 6 against St Kilda but returned just three weeks later despite the nature of the break being very severe.

Post retirement, Chad Cornes remained with GWS in a full-time coaching role with their backlines, a position he held from 2013 to 2015.