Cornelius may fly Pie nest

GLENORCHY premiership coach Aaron Cornelius has given a strong indication of his desire to fly the Pies’ nest to expand his coaching credentials following the side’s exit from the 2017 season.

The defending TSL champion was bundled out of the flag race by Launceston on Saturday, capping a spluttering campaign that was derailed by injuries to a host of key players.

Having spent four years at the helm at KGV — resulting in two grand final appearances including last year’s triumph — the former Brisbane Lion high-flyer has revealed he is actively looking at other opportunities as he chases his AFL coaching dream.

However, Cornelius has also declared should his search prove fruitless, he will return to Glenorchy in 2018.

“I love coaching and I have really enjoyed the last four years,” he said.

“It might be five, it might be six, I’m not sure.

“There is no set direction, but hopefully one day I can find myself there [in the AFL].

“I am [looking], I think it is the natural progression on my [coaching] pathway.

“But the more jobs that come up, the more I will apply for. For me it is about finding a role that would suit me on the natural progression to potentially be in the AFL.

“They [the Pies] need to start making plans, which I am heavily involved with at the moment, and if a chance arises hopefully I will be able to take it.

“But for now I am solely committed to coaching the Glenorchy footy club and making plans for next year and how our group looks.”

After leading by 26 points late in the second quarter Glenorchy was overwhelmed by the Blues.

But it was not helped by injuries to Mitch Hills (achilles) and Zac Web- ster (hamstring) before the halftime break.

A fractured foot to skipper Brayden Webb also hurt the Magpies’ chances, but Cornelius denied he rolled the dice by taking underdone players into the cutthroat final.

“It was Brayden’s other foot, Zac played the week before and we got him through 85 per cent of game time,” he said.

“Big Mitch had a bit of soreness, it was his knee which was the problem the week before.

“A couple of our key players had injuries but I don’t think it affected the end result.”