He captained Glenelg in 1978 and was a member of the premiership team in 1973, taking a spectacular mark in the last minutes of the game and calmly kicking the goal to regain the lead.

In 1977 Cornes took a memorable spectacular mark against Norwood which is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.

He made his VFL debut at the age of 31 in 1979 and played five games with Ron Barassi's North Melbourne before returning to South Australia after he was dropped from the team.

But inspired by the brilliance of Michael Long, the Bombers mounted an amazing comeback to win the game by 11 points.

However, the Crows finished eleventh in 1994 and at the end of the season, Cornes was replaced by Robert Shaw because the club wanted a new coach.

Other members of this Adelaide-based band are Greg Mallen, Simon Wilson, David Heath, Dean Fioretti, Travis and Rob Dragani, and "Polly" Politis.

He cited the success of the annual New South Wales–Queensland series in the National Rugby League (NRL) and blamed the narrow-mindedness of clubs and coaches for undermining the concept in Australian football.

In 1968, he was drafted under the National Service Act 1964 and served in Vietnam as an infantry soldier with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment.